that has put a smile on my face I know it is a way off at least I know now I will have a little bit more money left over the nursery fees are so much! but on his subject only our second week Lily loves it there and is already eating much better and seems to be doing so many new things since she started! x P.s I am not as happy having to leave her I am he one shedding the tears on my way to work
Thank you so much for all your replies. I suppose, if I really think about it, the main reason for them going into childcare for one day is for the social interaction. Im slightly worried that, because there is 2 of them, they will grow up to rely on eachother. I want them to grow to be individuals, to a degree, so im leaning towards nursery. They could go to family for that day but ive chosen not to.
Thank you again for your replies, you have given me a lot to think about. Going to visit both (if the cm I phoned gets back to me!) and see what I think as I dont think I can decide on prospectus's.
MummyJoo - Isnt it against Ofsted's Code of Conduct for a nursery with babies not to have a separate sleeping area? I thought this was the case as sleep is so important for young ones?
Our nursery doesn;t have a seperate sleeping room and it hasn't been an issue for us they were OFSTED inspected late last year and got good so it can't be against regulations.
We went for nursery as only one day a week and im a bit obssessed about them not growing up weird and twinney lol
They have loved it a formed strong attachements to the staff, about to move them now tho to nursery where they can go in seperate classes ready for school which is a bit daunting (well for me anyway lol)
Hey DB and GB - I have a friend with twins who deliberately put hers in different classes at school so that they wouldn't grow up to be 'the twins' and would learn to be individuals.
Her friend (with twins) couldn't do this, as the school only had a one-class-intake, but she did send them to preschool on separate days so she had a bit of 1:1 time with each at an early age. xx
I have twins and I have gone for a childminder. We did look at 3 nurseries and hated them all - seemed so regimental and school like - which when they are a bit older -fair enough but i personally thought not what I wanted for my one year olds. My childminder has got special permission to have my two as they are currently only 10 months old - ofsted have to get written consent for this and twins and siblings are the exception. At the moment they are spending just 5 hours a week with her - each week being upped a little bit more so by the time I go back to work (4 full days) in April they will be used to her. Hated the thought of having just two settling in sessions and then leaving them for such a long time.
The childminder has one other little girl 1 month older who she looks after for 2.5 days a week - so my two have 1.5 days on their own with her (Tues and Frid afternoon) and then Wed, Thurs and Fri morning with this other little girl. I wanted a homely atmosphere for my two - a constant figure in their life every day. My childminder has a lovely separate playroom from the rest of her family home with lots of toys etc, it has patio doors that open onto a large garden and she has a huge kitchen/diner for messy play. I feel truely happy that I have made the right decision for me and my two little ones.
She also takes them out to feed the ducks, to Tickle Tots so they get plenty of interaction with otherchildren. Luckily she has my twin buggy for when she is on her own and a triple buggy when she has all three.
In the end all I would say is have a good look at all your options.
they both have Key workers who spend quite a bit of time with them as the nursery has a good staff to children ratio. they get a vast amount of activities to try out, lots of other children to interact with and Ollie especially doesn't usually want to come home but spends ages showing us everything he has done that day.
I am a childminder and so is DH but I have also run a pre-school and worked in day nurseries and currently work as an assessor of a quality assurance scheme for pre-school settings. I have also worked as an NVQ assessor so I have seen A LOT of settings! I have seen nurseries and childminders I wouldn't leave my goldfish with let alone my children and I have seen completely excellent settings too. In answer to the questions so far... the maximum children allowed in a cm setting is 6 under 8's. Of these only 3 can be under 5 (or in full time school so actually they could be 4 if at the young end) and of those 3 only 1 can be under 1 unless you have permission from Ofsted. These numbers include the childminder's own children. It does also depend on the size of the property and sometimes also on the person. I mind with my husband and we have been registered for 12 between us but choose not to have that many LOL In terms of holidays, lots of cms now belong to networks so that other cms will cover them. Personally we try to take time off when our families do but because we currently have 8 part-time families we have had the week off between Xmas and New Year the last 2 years and apart from that we have had one week off in the summer in the whole 5 years we've been registered so don't assume that you will have to cover lots of holidays.
Can I also point out that cms can also offer the 15 hours funded if they are qualified and register to do so.
I would recommend visiting lots of settings and you will know when you find one you like whether it's nursery or cm.
Replies
x
P.s I am not as happy having to leave her I am he one shedding the tears on my way to work
Thank you again for your replies, you have given me a lot to think about. Going to visit both (if the cm I phoned gets back to me!) and see what I think as I dont think I can decide on prospectus's.
MummyJoo - Isnt it against Ofsted's Code of Conduct for a nursery with babies not to have a separate sleeping area? I thought this was the case as sleep is so important for young ones?
We went for nursery as only one day a week and im a bit obssessed about them not growing up weird and twinney lol
They have loved it a formed strong attachements to the staff, about to move them now tho to nursery where they can go in seperate classes ready for school which is a bit daunting (well for me anyway lol)
Her friend (with twins) couldn't do this, as the school only had a one-class-intake, but she did send them to preschool on separate days so she had a bit of 1:1 time with each at an early age.
xx
The childminder has one other little girl 1 month older who she looks after for 2.5 days a week - so my two have 1.5 days on their own with her (Tues and Frid afternoon) and then Wed, Thurs and Fri morning with this other little girl. I wanted a homely atmosphere for my two - a constant figure in their life every day. My childminder has a lovely separate playroom from the rest of her family home with lots of toys etc, it has patio doors that open onto a large garden and she has a huge kitchen/diner for messy play. I feel truely happy that I have made the right decision for me and my two little ones.
She also takes them out to feed the ducks, to Tickle Tots so they get plenty of interaction with otherchildren. Luckily she has my twin buggy for when she is on her own and a triple buggy when she has all three.
In the end all I would say is have a good look at all your options.
Mrs WB xxx
they both have Key workers who spend quite a bit of time with them as the nursery has a good staff to children ratio.
they get a vast amount of activities to try out, lots of other children to interact with and Ollie especially doesn't usually want to come home but spends ages showing us everything he has done that day.
good luck choosing the right place for your lo's.
xx
In answer to the questions so far... the maximum children allowed in a cm setting is 6 under 8's. Of these only 3 can be under 5 (or in full time school so actually they could be 4 if at the young end) and of those 3 only 1 can be under 1 unless you have permission from Ofsted. These numbers include the childminder's own children.
It does also depend on the size of the property and sometimes also on the person. I mind with my husband and we have been registered for 12 between us but choose not to have that many LOL
In terms of holidays, lots of cms now belong to networks so that other cms will cover them. Personally we try to take time off when our families do but because we currently have 8 part-time families we have had the week off between Xmas and New Year the last 2 years and apart from that we have had one week off in the summer in the whole 5 years we've been registered so don't assume that you will have to cover lots of holidays.
Can I also point out that cms can also offer the 15 hours funded if they are qualified and register to do so.
I would recommend visiting lots of settings and you will know when you find one you like whether it's nursery or cm.