New Career

[Kerri-Louise]

Afternoon

I currently work in Admin but my heart has always been in Childcare. Im a very bubbly person and been sat in a office all day is starting to make me feel quite down! When i left school i went to college and studied childcare for a year but i never got EMA and the only money i had was from babysitting therefore i couldn't afford to carry it on. 6 years later im now 22 and starting to regret my decision. Ive thought about Childminding for a while but im not really sure what i need to do? also i have to think about how it would work out financially for me

Any help/advise would be much appreciated

Kerri x

[moggy]

Hello, there are some of your questions answered in this recent thread:

starting up

As for finances- you would be best to find out what the demand is in your area, talk to other childminders- are they full, do they have waiting lists or are they struggling to fill their spaces? Find out what the hourly rate is in your area (varies enormously round the country from £3.50-£5.50 approx per hour), how many hours do you want to work a week and how many days- full time can be hardwork if you are doing 10 hour days! How many children do you want to care for (there are limits- see Ofsted guidance)? with a bit of maths you can see what your potential income might be, but we are not all full to capacity all the time so you need to allow for quiet periods and gaps between mindees. It can be 3-6+mth to go from starting to reasearch the idea to being registered but you can carry on working at your current job while you train and apply for CMing (that is what I did). See NCMA website for lots of info on starting up. Do you have children yourself?

[Kerri-Louise]

Thats really helpful thankyou, No i dont have children yet. My original plan was to wait until i had children but because of how im starting to feel i decided to start looking now. What do you think? Do you know many people that do it without children?

Thankyou x

Hello, there are some of your questions answered in this recent thread:

starting up

As for finances- you would be best to find out what the demand is in your area, talk to other childminders- are they full, do they have waiting lists or are they struggling to fill their spaces? Find out what the hourly rate is in your area (varies enormously round the country from £3.50-£5.50 approx per hour), how many hours do you want to work a week and how many days- full time can be hardwork if you are doing 10 hour days! How many children do you want to care for (there are limits- see Ofsted guidance)? with a bit of maths you can see what your potential income might be, but we are not all full to capacity all the time so you need to allow for quiet periods and gaps between mindees. It can be 3-6+mth to go from starting to reasearch the idea to being registered but you can carry on working at your current job while you train and apply for CMing (that is what I did). See NCMA website for lots of info on starting up. Do you have children yourself?

[moggy]

Thats really helpful thankyou, No i dont have children yet. My original plan was to wait until i had children but because of how im starting to feel i decided to start looking now. What do you think? Do you know many people that do it without children?

Thankyou x

Personally, I don't know any CMs who are not parents themselves, but they do exist! To be honest, I think most clients look for some experience with children- have you worked in childcare at all? volunteered somewhere? looked after nieces/nephews? or could you do this somehow to gain experience- help at Beaver Scouts or Rainbows in the evenings/weekends, find a Saturday activity club to help at (assuming you are working Mon-Fri at the moment)?
It can also be a very lonely business so think about how you'd feel working alone at home. I think it is different if you have your own child around because for many of us that is why we are doing the job- to be at home for our own child(ren). For most of us who have, or have had, young children ourselves we are familiar with toddler groups, soft play, rhyme time sessions etc, it might be good to get yourself to some of these places as that is where you're CM work life will probably revolve around, get a feel for it and maybe you can pick up some useful contacts (other CMers, parents etc).

[mum24]

Hello,
I was in a similar situation to yours, when I decided to start childminding. That was nine years ago and I have never regretted it. The only thing I would say is that it is a very unreliable income wise. There are times when it is very financiallly rewarding and other times when there is very little happening, this can happen for all sorts of reasons, such as mindees just getting older and moving on, or parents moving away for work - I had that happen to me last year, two sets of parents moved to another part of the country and my two other mindees turned 13 and 11 respectively and didnt come any longer.
I would ask around other childminders in your area if there is much business at the moment, maybe as you don't have children yourself you could offer ovenight care, or early starts and late finishes for shift workers, the kind of hours that most childminders find it difficult to cover as they have their own family needs to consider. These hours usually pay better also.
If you need a regular income I would think carefully before giving up a permanent job.
I hope I haven't repeated what you have already been told, I admit I haven't read all the replies, so sorry if I have duplicated information.

I also meant to say, some people may prefer that you do not yet have your own child/ren, as many do worry that the childminder will put her children first, and not necessarily be fair to their little one. I know the opposite usually happens, but this is how some mums think.