Would you rather be in a small group with family members or in a large daycare group? Many parents ask themselves this when looking for childcare. But what actually characterizes a childminder and what are the differences to childcare in daycare?
Day mothers: what makes them special?
Before we introduce you to the differences between child minders and daycare centers, it is first important to know what actually characterizes a child minder: The care provided by child minders is generally summarized under the term child day care and is a legally recognized form of care in a family environment. Legally, it is on a par with childcare in a daycare center. According to Section 43 of Book VIII of the Social Code, every childminder needs a permit from the youth welfare office to carry out their work, which is valid for five years. The criteria for this permit differ depending on the federal state. However, many federal states have the following conditions:
- The person must demonstrate personal aptitude for caring for children. That means: She treats children in a loving way, is responsible and interested in further training.
- You must present an extended certificate of good conduct for the protection of children and young people.
- It must have suitable rooms with enough space and opportunities to play and sleep and which enable the children to experience nature in the immediate vicinity. In addition, the rooms must be set up to prevent accidents.
- The food that she offers is balanced and prepared under hygienic conditions. It has to be nutritious and of course the little ones taste good too.
- You must have completed a basic qualification in child day care of at least 160 hours, often 300 hours.
- She has to train for at least 20 hours a year.
A child minder may look after a maximum of five foreign children at the same time – her own children are excluded. In individual cases, permission can only be given for fewer children. If the caregiver has a pedagogical training, in some federal states they can look after more than five children who are present at the same time.
Various forms of child day care
Just as there are different sizes and types of day care centers, there are also different forms of care in day care:
Care in the parents' household A child minder can look after your child (or several) at your home. Colloquially, one speaks of a nanny or nanny. In this special case, however, the childminder does not need permission from the youth welfare office, but works for you in a salaried employment relationship and is dependent on your instructions. If you would like to know more about this form of care in an employee relationship, you can contact Federal Ministry of Family Affairs to inform.
Care in the household of the childminder Many child minders use their parental leave to look after other children at home. To do this, they need the permission mentioned above and must meet the same criteria.
Supervision in other suitable rooms In addition to the parents' household or the childminder's household, childcare can also take place in other suitable rooms. This form of care is not available in every federal state, but most federal states make use of it.
Care as large day care In some federal states, several child minders can join together in what is known as a large day care facility. There they usually look after the children with a care ratio of one to five.
In these points, the child minder is the same as a daycare center
- Education and training mandate: Education, upbringing and care – that is the job of child minders and educators in daycare centers. So you can be sure that your child will be cared for in a child-friendly manner in both forms of care and that attention will be paid to age-appropriate support in development. Every caregiver must give the children opportunities and suggestions for encouraging their development.
- Pedagogical concept: There is always an educational concept in day care centers. Most child minders, for example, also developed a pedagogical concept during their basic qualification.
- Social skills: Your child will meet children of different ages at the daycare center and at the childcare center and will learn social skills. The children trust each other, try to solve conflicts, help and comfort each other. You learn in a social environment.
- Infections: Infections are also part of day-to-day care in daycare or with a childminder. The first year of care in particular is characterized by many small infections for most children. Whether a cold, gastrointestinal virus or hand-mouth-foot disease: Unfortunately, all of this can be expected when many little people come together and put everything in their mouths.
- Cases of illness: Of course, educators and childminders are not exempt from infections and sometimes fail. In the event of illness, a colleague known to the children usually jumps in at a daycare center and thus ensures that the children can continue to be looked after. However, due to a lack of staff and a high workload, things often look different in practice: Many daycare centers have to help themselves out with trainees or freelance workers.
Child minders are legally equivalent to daycare centers in the event of illness: Substitute childcare should be regulated by the youth welfare office, as prescribed by Section 23 of the Eighth Social Code (SGB VIII). But also with child minders it often looks different in practice: The youth welfare offices are overloaded and do not get around to assigning a substitute to all child minders. In such a case, a committed childminder has built up a network and can fall back on substitutes so that the failure is not at the expense of the parents. Unfortunately, this is not always the rule either.
Different age groups: In both groups there are children of different ages who can learn from each other. For example, how to paint a house or that it is not allowed to hit other children with a shovel. Of course, the supervisors accompany the process and the rules of the groups, but the older children also pass on their knowledge to younger people.
Care by the childminder or in the daycare center: these are the differences
- Training: Supervisors in the day-care center have completed several years of training as state-recognized educators. For child minders, however, there is no uniformly regulated training. You have to ask whether the childminder who is suitable for you is a trained educator or a mother with basic qualifications and possible further training. In addition, social assistants support the educational work in the daycare. If there are children of inclusion in the day care center, speech therapists, occupational therapists and other specialists can also join. A childminder cannot usually offer this.
- Group size: With a childminder, the children are looked after in much smaller groups – a maximum of five children per childminder is allowed. Of course, this also means that much more intensive care is possible and that the caregiver takes much more consideration of the special needs of the children, e.g. B. the individual development of the child can take. The close sibling-like constellation with the other children is particularly enriching for only children. And: a child who is cared for by a childminder does not have to share the toys with so many other children.
In daycare centers, on the other hand, the childcare key is not uniformly regulated and varies greatly from one day care center to the next. In 2018, the average childcare key was according to Destatis – Federal Statistical Office for children under three years of age 1 in 4.2 and for children between two and eight years even 1 in 8.4. Intensive individual care, especially for older children, can rarely be implemented in daycare centers. In addition, the children in daycare centers are often exposed to an extreme level of noise – this is also exhausting for children and requires strength. For shy or noise-sensitive children, childcare from the childcare provider who looks after fewer children may be the better alternative.
- Care times: Day mothers can usually adapt their care times much more flexibly and individually to the needs of the parents, daycare centers are usually more rigid in terms of time allocation. In many day care centers, the children have to be there during core hours and may not be brought later or picked up earlier. Even early and late shift are usually only offered by the large daycare centers.
- Reference person: In day care centers there are often shift changes and thus also a change of contact person for the children. With child minders, the children are accompanied by one person throughout the day. This constant caregiver is particularly important for young children, children with special needs and children from families with refugee experiences in order to be able to develop optimally.
- Social control: Regardless of the type of care, the personal impression is particularly important, as is trust in the carer. Trust in a childminder is especially important if she works alone, because there is then no social control as in a daycare center with several employees.
- Deals: A daycare center has several rooms available in which various offers can take place. They are specially tailored to the needs of children. Be it a gym, so that enough exercise is provided even in winter, or a studio where the children can find lots of materials to try out. The more educators work there, the more diverse are the educational aspects that they bring in. Since most child minders look after the children in their private households, the space and play facilities are of course more limited than in daycare centers. But child minders also have child-friendly and lovingly furnished rooms and individual offers of activities.
- Involvement of parents: In daycare centers there are parent representatives for each group so that you can find support for your concerns in the event of a conflict. With a childminder, on the other hand, because there are few parents, an agreement can often be found more quickly, since the whole group does not first participate in the discussion as in a daycare center.
- Care of your own children: Many child minders also look after their own children. If you have the feeling that a conflict of interest could arise here, you can always seek a personal conversation. Most child minders can handle this situation well. Listen to your gut feeling.
If you decide to have a childminder, you should definitely sign a care contract with the person. You can find out what should be in the contract in the Childcare manual.
This article originally appeared on Eltern.de.