It’s 9.59pm and a text message pings. It’s a plea from a parent who is desperate to get his child to me a bit earlier in the morning because he has an urgent meeting first thing. We agree on an arrival time of 6.45am (not the 6.30am he had hoped for) as my childminding day usually starts at 7am...

Welcome to a day in the life of a childminder!

I became a childminder eight years ago when my own children, twin girls, were one years old. When deciding whether I would return to work, my unpredictable and sometimes long hours requiring a nursery place or a nanny were big factors. Having reflected on my personal circumstances I decided I could work from home and become a registered early years provider. Despite the challenges of gaining qualifications whilst working AND looking after my family, I have never regretted my career change.

I wake up at 6 o’clock the following morning and after getting myself ready, I wake my own children at 6:30am. There are repeated prompts to get out of bed, clean teeth, brush hair, find homework etc. 

At 6.51am my little mindee arrives and is handed over, still sleepy, but transferring easily into my arms. The parent says a thousand thank yous and calls back “you’re a life saver!” as he leaves.

Hearing the doorbell spurs my children into action. They confirm who’s arrived before they get a wriggle on, appearing downstairs in 10 minutes. The mindee is now awake with hands washed. He calls my children’s names so he can say hello to their Syrian hamsters who are very popular with the little ones.  

It’s time for breakfast. Cereals include unsweetened low salt varieties, porridge, fresh fruit, wholemeal toast with jam and a glass of milk or water. Children are encouraged to be independent as soon as possible, so get to scoop their own cereal.  Mindee is supported to put spread on his toast and he pours his own milk from the little milk jug. Water is provided in a water dispenser so he can push his cup against the lever to dispense water himself.

Our setting is based on the Montessori principle of helping children to do things by themselves. Therefore, plates, cutlery, cups and resources are provided in sizes and at heights where they can access and use what they need independently.

Once breakfast is over the children tidy up, scrape their plates into the little food bin and stack their things into the dishwasher. Scraping food into the bin is so popular it has been known for them to scrape their plate then ask for more of what they just scraped. After tidying up they wash hands and faces before going into the conservatory, which is the main playroom.

My co-childminder arrives just before 8am and my children head off. These days they take themselves to school – enjoying the independence that comes with being 10 years old and the invention of smart watches with GPS tracker!  

Our other mindees begin to arrive and our childminding day begins in earnest.

I create a weekly newsletter with our planning theme and an outline of what our learning outcomes are expected to be. It also includes parent notices, art activities, outdoor games, outings/trips and Language/Maths focus of the week. We always allow for the unexpected. Children sometimes arrive wanting to do something else or there is an event or change in weather which alters our plans. We were once heading to the playground and saw an air ambulance land on the common.  After watching for a little while we realised they were doing a practice drill. They allowed the children to explore the helicopter, climb inside, ask lots of questions and take pictures.  An unexpected but exciting opportunity.

The newsletter is shared with parents via the online system we use to communicate with our families.  We also use this to record aspects of the children’s day including arrival/ departure times, food, nap times, nappy changes, evidencing developmental progress, as well as policies, permissions, contracts, invoices, accidents/incidents, and reports. We use WhatsApp for WOW Moments.   

Standard COVID arrival procedure includes children packing their personal items into their possessions box on arrival, hanging up coats/bags, washing hands and having their temperature taken. Parents are also able to take temperature readings at home and record them in the system.

Back to our day, and we’re off to the local woods for our weekly forest school session with Sankofa to Nature.  Going out every day gives children daily practice of dressing independently when putting on their all-weather suits, jackets and welly boots. Thirty minutes is the average time we allow children to get themselves dressed and use the toilet. This gives them thinking time for trial and error and working things out. It also allows their friends to help them if support is required, but they must put their own suit on before helping others.

Once dressed we pile into our 8-seater camper van and we’re off for the morning.  Our music of choice is singalong tunes to our destination and short audio books on the way back.

Forest school allows children to take risks, be outdoors in all weather and to engage with nature. My favourite David Attenborough quote is “No one will protect what they don't care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced”.  Supporting children to have a love of nature and to understand how we connect with it is important to me, so we go out every day.

Our 3 hours in the woods includes challenging ourselves on rope swings and bridges, climbing fallen trees, going for a bug hunt with magnifying glasses, chopping wood, making a fire and toasting fruit and marshmallows.

Energised by our Forest School session we head back home. Lunch today is a hearty minestrone soup with cheese toasties and cucumber followed by yoghurt.

After lunch it is quiet time.  Some children have a nap, listening to baby Einstein lullabies and a story. Children who don’t require a nap have quiet play.  They self-select activities from the low shelves in the conservatory.  The doors are fully opened so children can free flow between inside and the garden.

With soothing music and gentle reminders, the non-napping children go about their business, choosing activities including 1-2-1 learning from iPad learning apps (Barefoot Atlas, Endless ABC, 123 or Reader and more), layered puzzles, mark making, arts and crafts activities, or exploring books.

Meanwhile, I prepare the evening meal. Today will be a simple but wholesome roast chicken dinner.  I receive a message from a parent asking if they can discuss something at pick up.  I reply saying that will be fine.

Whilst watching the children, my co-childminder is also uploading pictures from this morning’s adventure to children’s profiles and assigning EYOs.  She creates a summary of their morning for their daily diary.  We aim to have some pictures and a diary summary, so parents can view it during a break in their day or whilst heading home in the evening.

At 2.30 pm, chicken and spuds are in the oven and I begin waking our nappers. We always ask parents how children slept the night before – it’s important we work with families to get the nap balance right.

Once everyone is awake, we discuss our morning, read some books together, sing songs, talk about the days of the week, the weather, and have a group natter. Our outdoor game today is ‘what’s the time Mr Wolf?’ in readiness for playground games at school. My co childminder supervises arts and crafts as well as activities based on the number and letter sound of the week, and children access free flow play.

At 3.45pm my girls return from school, wash their hands, and say hello to everyone.

Dinner is ready by 4pm and the children wash their hands ready to eat. We family dine, so we all sit around a large table where children look for their name. This encourages name recognition. Children are supported to use appropriate cutlery and try different foods.

After dinner, the doorbell rings, causing excitement and floods of tears in equal measure because some children cannot bare that their parent hasn’t arrived first whilst others are not ready to leave. Parents used to be welcomed into the setting but nowadays have to remain outside and children are brought to them.

It’s the parent who asked to speak to me earlier. Mum has a concern that her little one is not progressing well with potty training. I’m surprised by this as her child is dry all day and doesn’t display any issues at the setting.

After a little more back and forth with Mum we’re both even more puzzled! When her child arrives at the front door ready to go home, we include the child in the conversation. Mum asks, ‘why do you ask me to do it for you at home?’. Child’s reply ‘I thought you liked doing it!’

The next half hour goes by in a blur of handover and updates to parents.

Our setting closes at 5.30pm which allows us time to deep clean the areas used for childminding with the fogging machine we’ve invested in. Whilst I clean and set up for the next day’s learning, my assistant completes diaries and updates children’s profiles.

By 6pm my co-childminder leaves and I take my children to their 6.30pm swimming lesson. As they swim, I update the system with pictures and observations I’ve taken during the day. I flick through emails, respond to enquiries, and read daily updates from the early years sector.

Back home the girls have a snack and get ready for bed. There is homework, bedtime reading, and a school project deadline looms, but we’ll tackle these tomorrow. I’m preparing to become a forest school leader, so I spend an hour or so reading various publications before calling it a night.  I’m tired, but it has been a fun day.

Tomorrow we go to Box Hill!