Childminder or Nursery

Registered childminders are trained practitioners who, in England, have to be registered with Ofsted or a Childminding Agency. Indeed, 92% of childminders are now rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. Childminders also are required to deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum as nurseries and pre-schools.

Your child will also benefit from personalised care, as childminders in England usually have no more than three children under five years. This allows for plenty of individual attention, time, and lots of opportunities for outings.

• Children’s individual needs can be met through individual attention from the Childminder and interaction with other children of all ages.
• Babies, particularly, benefit from the individual, family type care provided by Childminders.
• Low adult /child ratio - Childminders usually care for up to 3 children of pre-school age and 3 children of school age. This low adult/child ratio allows for children’s individual needs to be met.
• Flexibility and choice in hours of care - Children can be cared for on a full or part time basis from babyhood, throughout their pre-school, nursery and school years, and accommodate the varying needs of working parents.
• Family friendly - Childminding offers parents the opportunity for all of their children to be cared for in the same setting regardless of age, stage and ability. Childminded children are not segregated because of age or stage. This encourages siblings to bond and so encourages family relationships to fully develop.
• Part of the community - Children are cared for in their own community, enabling them to build and develop their own local connections and providing opportunities for close links with community based services and with local schools.
• Real life learning - Children looked after by a Childminder enjoy real life experiences like cooking, shopping, gardening, mealtimes etc. From these everyday activities the children can learn basic science, maths, social skills and language skills. Childminders follow the same Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum as other childcare settings.
• Support and back up - Childminders can provide support to parents by offering homework supervision, back up and emergency care where required.
• Affordability - Childminders can be the most affordable option for parents and as registered provision, are eligible for both vouchers and the childcare element of tax credits.

• Quality - Childminders are inspected regularly by Ofsted to ensure that they provide good quality care.
• ‘Home from home’ - Childminders are based at home. While this will be different to a child’s, it will nonetheless have many familiar elements. For many children, this ‘home from home’ experience is exactly what they need to provide the most nurturing environment while you’re at work, or study.
• Language and Cognitive Development - One of the striking findings from the SEED research (July 2017) is that childminders have a particularly positive impact on young children’s language and cognitive development. Not only did children have a wide vocabulary, but they were also showing fewer emotional and behavioural problems at age three. The results from SEED are perhaps not surprising. They reflect the long conversations and stories that take place in the comfort of a lounge or on a walk to the park. They reflect, too, the wide range of opportunities that are provided by childminders to support children’s learning and development. It’s not unusual to find childminders going with their children to libraries, museums and for children to be involved in shopping and preparing food. With each type of experience, the opportunities for children’s language - and therefore learning - increases.
• For more information see:
  
  https://www.babycentre.co.uk/a537538/pros-and-cons-of-childminders
  
  https://nicma.org/For-Parents/benefits-of-Registered-Childminding.aspx
  
  https://www.netmums.com/life/what-are-the-benefits-of-using-a-childminder
  
  http://www.pacey.org.uk/parents