Setting up to become a Childminder

Although I was previously a childminder before having Tinnie I never really felt I had my setting the way I wanted it. Having worked in nurseries previously I always pictured my setting to be similar but the balance of having a home and setting is a hard one to achieve in a small house. 

This time around I have put together a plan of how I would like the garden and home to look and will be as frugal as possible to get it the way I want. I have been looking while on maternity leave at Reggio and Montessori learning environments and hope to involve these when looking at equipment. 

The important thing to remember is that until you know the age you are going to be looking after and the children's interest you will not be able to properly buy your resources or prepare your setting. If you are planning to look after under 2's you will need to resource accordingly and ensure displays are low down. Include mirror and interactive displays where possible. If you are looking after older children thinking about number's, mark making and area's very imaginary play may be more of  a focus. 

I plan to make the following changes to achieve my dream setting ( I will across off how far I have got so far):

• Purchase or make a teepee for the children's book/cosy area which can be moved 
• Resource the outdoor area to include chalk boards, play house and other outdoor toys.
• Larger storage
• decor to brighten up the play area. 

I'm sure this list will grow.

Planning to buy new equipment and storage is not easy. The cost of toys to cover a wide range of  ages and stages of development can be pricey when they are not all home made. I decided that the best way to try and achieve my goals was to declutter the house and sell what I could. Getting rid of old electronics is a great way to make some space and extra cash online very quickly, such as selling an old ipad and other gadgets which have been replaced by newer models. I found some baby equipment that I do not need at the moment so I am going to do a boot sale and many DVD's and computer games which I will sell on musicmagpie.com . So far I have made roughly £300, it has amazed me that I could make so much from the thing's taking up space in our home. This has funded the play house and plants for the garden. We are getting there.. slowly. 

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