how do you find time

[disney]

im sorry but im really stuck dont know if any one can help me its just this e y f s thing dont understand it im afraid at the moment i do daily diarys for my mindees under 5 and im finding this hard to fit in . but after speaking to a lady on the phone who is soon to come and see me i dont under stand how im going to have any time to do this she said i have to do a daily diary , observations list , photos of each child under 5 and my own daily diary .

to be honest im struggling to keep up on my other paper work alone recipts , invoices , news letters , policys , medical , holiday forms , contracts , behavoir course , activities , accounts and loads more that i have missed let alone caring for my mindees and what about my own family

i do love minding or i did once but this is putting me off as observations will be for 4 at the moment hope some one can understand me im very tired x

[sarah707]

You need to come up with a method that suits you that is not taking up loads of time...

For each child start a little book ... put in pictures they have done, photos of them learning and achieving, notes to back up what you have seen and heard them do ... then look at the eyfs for that child's age and see where it all fits in.

Then, think about how you can move their learning forward ... simple things, you're not a teacher and nobody is expecting you to be one. Maybe the child likes painting and enjoys colour mixing - so let him finger paint with red and white, to make pink ... then lay a sheet of paper over, gently press it down and let him see the picture. Next he might like to make a butterfly wing using the same technique, but this time you're teaching him symmetry.

It's all about doing the things you already do, making it fun and showing you're doing it ... that's the writing down bit and you should be able to do it while the children are playing on their own.

If you make it too complicated, you'll not be able to keep doing it, week after week, so sit back and look at what you've got and what you're doing and think about how you can simplify it all.

Hope this helps

[allison.k]

i'm glade you wrote this post. i feel the same, it's very overwhelming. i felt like i was the only one who felt like this and haven't said anything to any one and just bottled it up

[katickles]

Theres loads of us that feel like this.

I think its going to be a cse of working out your own system that meets the requirements & then it will all click into place.

We'll all get there in the end - & if not we will all just have to moan away on here

[Jules27]

so glad someone has asked this... i've not got any mindees yet but have been panicing about the 0-5 thingy. Glanced through the pack I was sent and all looks rather daunting..... wish it was in plain english as to what Ofsted expect from us!!!!

Helpfull response from sarah though

Jules xx

[Pauline]

I think what Ofsted don't always take into consideration is the fact that we have to do EVERYTHING.

A nursery has someone to do the cleaning, staff are given times away from the children during the day to do paper work and fill out books, they have cooks for the food, different staff to collect children from school.

No allowance seems to be being made for childminders who do ALL those jobs and more, on their own.

Don't worry you are no way alone in what you are saying!

[liz252]

Oh god I'm glad I came across this post. I totally see why you're worried as I feel exactly the same If I'm honest I'm sticking my head in the sand at the moment as my next inspection is in 2 years so I'm hoping it'll all blow over by then! I make tiny observations every now & then & tell the parents daily what we've been up to & that's about it at the moment. Oh, and the parents get all the photos we've taken at the end of every month. But we're out & about so much at the farm, park, lakes etc. that I really dont have the time or energy to sit down every night & write a report, diary plus linking it to EYFS. Really annoyed by the whole thing to be honest

[childminder54]

why dont we all lobby the goverment because i think we all donot want to do this there are more people to that stupid goverment so lets try to tell him were to stick the eyfs... i wish

veronica

[Gherkin]

Sorry, i might set the cat among the pigeons but I do not actually mind the EYFS. Things did become much clearer once I had the training that is running in my area.

As for observations we have been told that really we only need to do an average of one a month on each child.

I have started to use the form in the NCMA's Active Learning book (you get this free at the EYFS training in my area). An example of one of my obs was:
Activity: drawing
What happened: Child A was given the opportunity to choose between felt tips and crayons and used a mix of both. Child A said "I draw my daddy" and then drew eyes, nose, and mouth.
I took a photo of the childs drawing and pasted it into my obs sheet then drew an arrow to show the face.
Checked in the grid section of the EYFS to confirm which areas I thought it linked into.
Next steps: more opportunity for mark making, and drawing. Look at using different materials.
As Gordon Ramsey would say JOB DONE!

I do do daily diaries for each child but they really note down the basics of what we have done, what they have eaten and nappy changes. If we have had a really busy day it does not get done but I then make sure that I have a more indepth conversation with the parents.
As for a daily diary for myself I am a bit hit and miss with this but need to do it otherwise I forget loads of what we do. The photos help though.

The thing that suffers for me is my accounts. I haven't done any since posting my tax return online.

[Chimps Childminding]

I for one am finding all the paperwork really daunting, not just the EYFS but looked at the SEF form last night (then wished I hadn't).

Must admit I am seriously considering whether I am up to this job anymore

Can't seem to get my head round anything at the moment, paperwork, house, not to mention the ironing mountain that keeps appearing from nowhere. That's the sort of job I used to do at the week-end, now its planning, filling in obs sheets etc. just don't seem to have enough hours in the day, or enough days in the week any more!!!!!

[disney]

yes i know its not fair is it ? but some one said as a joke about lobbying the goverment about it its not really a joke surley are opions count a little dont or maybe not you see pauline has had some good and interesting points about when you work in a nursey & having different staff to do things

but is it me or dont you think that being a minder is getting harder and alot more work involved are they trying to push us out as in my small village their is 9 mindeers as of last yesr and as all this eyfs ect their is now 6 and 3 are finishing next year its sad isnt it

i know some changes are for the good and safety of all but some of it is just so over the top really x

[sue m]

I absolutely agree with everyone. I honestly thought it was just me. My confidence is very low since I've been depressed and I like lots of us I have a lot of personal problems to worry about at the moment without all this paperwork. I really don't have a clue what I'm doing and the parents have never used a childminder before and haven't a clue what I'm supposed to do either but they bring their kiddies 11 miles to me 3 times a week. I suggested a short term contract so they could see how the traveling went which we've done and they said they don't mind the drive as long as the kids are happy with me and they can see they are. Dad comes in for a chat every afternoon - but not for to long - when he collects the kids and Mum came to pick them up for the first time to collect them on Thursday and rushed to get them and their bags in the car and thenrushed up to me and gave me a hug which was lovely and totally unexpected. I'd only met her twice before when we did the citis and then the contracts. I KNOW I can look after children and after 6 days with L and P, I'm really fond of them already but Ofsted make it so hard to stick with. I got another 'parcel' in the post this morning, an Early Years Childcare Service Training Programme 2008 - 2009. It's another thick book. I've brought my kids up and been a childminder 15 years with a 5 year break and I'm 55, I just want to look after the children, love them and play with them and they can learn their colours and numbers etc but that is all I want to do really.

Sorry for the rant!!!!

Love Sue

[sue m]

Sorry, that of course should be the VISIT and the contract!!! More senior moments!!!!

[disney]

thats fine hun you go ahead and rant like you said you have been doing it for 15 years ! the minder across my street as also been doing it for that long and because of ofsted is giving up after xmas and she as always been full & the parents love her and have said they dont realy care about eyfs .

also when i speake to my mindees parents they have all said they can understand the forms and safety ect but do not want evidence of eyfs as its a matter of trust beetween minders & parents and when they are still quite young they can talk any way ! most parents are happy with daily diarys


also had a couple of parents you know that said to me i could take photos for my own personal use but no way could i use them in any course work or show them for my work they did say its not personal but they did not want their children looked at only in my private album . so probs thei as well x