EIF – Childminder Perspective

Our sector is full of uncertainty and confusion at the moment; the main reason being the introduction to the Ofsted EIF in September.  There is currently so much speculation surrounding the new framework and many practitioners, particularly those in the home-based childcare sector feel overwhelmed and unsure what this means for their practice.  Ofsted have…

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Pebbles On Tour!

We have recently embarked upon the biggest adventure of our Pebbles lifetime (and careers!) to date!  We aren’t advocates of celebrating the children leaving to go to school via ‘Graduation Ceremonies’ or end of preschool performances, instead we try and incorporate all of the interests of all of the children into an outing, and this…

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Tokenistic Pedagogy

The Early Years and Education Sector are currently full of a range of exciting, interesting and thought provoking pedagogies and learning styles. Nearly every Early Years setting or school now holds ‘Forest Sessions’ or are naming themselves as certified ‘Forest Schools’, anyone within a coastal radius has a ‘Beach School’ edge and the Curiosity Approach…

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Fragile: Handle with care.

You may or may not be aware that we are currently undertaking training in order to become a ‘hygee’ accredited setting and as part of this transformation we are reducing the amount of plastic toys in our environments, instead introducing not only wooden resources, but real, china items and other materials to the children. One…

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Hot Off The Press! Our E-Book!

We’ve been a little bit quiet on the blog of late, but the reason for that is….. We’ve written an e-book! 📕 Our over-riding mission (in addition to providing the highest quality childcare) has always been to raise the profile of home-based childcare as a viable career and childcare option and we hope this book…

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Product Review: Nexus Wooden Pirate Ship

Disclaimer: This post has been produced in partnership with Nexus. We were not paid for this article, but goods were sent in exchange for an honest and frank review.  This product arrived in a compact but well presented box, with large imagery of the enclosed product which being avid pirate fans, excited our children as…

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Product Review: Nexus Threading Board

Disclaimer: This post has been produced in partnership with Nexus. We were not paid for this article, but goods were sent in exchange for an honest and frank review.  We had actually been considering buying this item on our recent visit to the Childcare Expo when we visited the Nexus stand and so we were…

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Championing Home-Based Childcare

The past month or so, we’ve been busy doing something we are both incredibly passionate about; championing home-based childcare to the wider Early Years sector and community. Home-based childcare and awareness of this type of provision is slowly increasing and we are keen to do our bit to champion the hard-work home-based childcare providers do…

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Boys Will Be Boys

The idea that boys develop at a slower rate than girls is a common one across the Early Years Sector as well as wider communities. Is there any truth to this or is it an old wives tale that has developed and grown over time? Well, in actual fact there is some research to support…

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Developing Your Team

Last week, Chloe celebrated her 3 year anniversary at Pebbles Childcare and so this week’s blog will focus on why some childminders choose to take on an assistant, how this can be done and the benefits and drawbacks of developing and building your staff team within a home-based childcare environment. There is a common misconception…

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Chinese New Year

Celebrating and encompassing significant celebrations and events are fundamental to our practice and something we hold in the highest esteem. Chinese New Year is a festival that we have always celebrated from the outset and so the children are incredibly aware, confident and excited when we re-introduce this topic each year. In addition to creating…

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Foraging

As you all know, we are huge advocates for outdoor play and learning and this plays a significant role in our daily routines, activities and outings, and the children’s learning and development is enhanced as a result. However, we often find that there is one aspect of outdoor play and learning that is commonly overlooked…

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