Of a Childminder
7.00am - My day begins as I prepare the breakfast table and tend to my own children.
7.30am - The first child, school age arrives with Mum, she says goodbye to mum, removes her coat and shoes and rushes over to the drawing paper and crayons.
8.00am - More children have arrived and they tuck into some breakfast.
8.30am - We all get our shoes, coat and bags together and get in the car to travel to school. We park in the school car park or nearby and walk safely into the school playground.
8.50am - School opens and the school age children say their goodbyes and rush into school with their friends. The reception children are taken to their classroom entrance and are watched to ensure they are safely in school.
9.00am - We collect another little one on the way to playgroup. Her mum hands her over telling me what exciting things she has been doing over the weekend.
9.10am - We arrive at playgroup, the place is buzzing full of excitable children. I help set out the toys and equipment and the little ones offer their help too.
10.15am - We break for snack time and the children help put some of the toys away. We pass around the snacks and drinks and they all sit patiently chatting to one another. We all take part in a craft activity making something seasonal and the children look at their work with pride as I write their names on to take home.
11.00am - We all help with clearing up and then get into a big circle to sing and dance to our favourite nursery rhymes and wave bye bye.
11.45am - As we arrive at my home the children are excited to play in the garden and chase each other to the gate asking me to let them in. We play in the garden on the bikes and scooters, one of the children climbs up the slide shouting "watch me".
12.15pm - We come inside and wash our hands ready for lunch. I prepare lunch while watching the children play with their choice of toy from the playroom. One pretends to be a princess with a pink satin dress and play shoes while the other is lining jigsaw pieces up.
1.00pm - Lunch eaten and time for a story and quiet time. The all choose a story and we sit down together to read it. They watch and listen intently as I put on the voices of the characters or as they wait for the next part of the story. I finish the story and two say "read it again". We talk about what is happening in the story and what they like best about it.
2.00pm - We all sit and play with the playdough. One of the children says they can make shapes, another says they are making a cake. We name the shapes and talk about how many candles we are putting on the cake. The conversations are interesting as creative play initiates lots of chatting.
3.00pm - We all prepare getting ourselves ready for the school run. We get all our belongings and get into the car.
3.30pm - The school children come out of school and we greet them and walk to the car. We meet parents of two of the little ones in the playground and I tell them all about what we have learned that day, what we've eaten and if they've had any sleeptime along with any new likes.
3.45pm - A trip to the local playground for lots of fresh air and the school age children meet up with their friends.
4.30pm - We all head home and I prepare something to eat.
5.00pm - The school children are quick to start making themselves a junk model, play with the lego or play games on the PC.
5.30pm - Two parents arrive to collect their children. I explain briefly as they are rushing out of the door to collect other children elsewhere. We say our goodbyes and look forward to seeing them again the following day.
5.55pm - Time for the final child to go home, dad arrives and helps their child with their school bags saying 'goodbye'.
6.00pm - Now the house is quiet, time to tidy up and make a cup of tea before preparing a family meal and helping my children with their homework and reading.
