At The Pond - Edition 33 – March 2013 Explore the animal life at a pond and engage in activities to promote counting and an understanding of size, shape and space. This ...
Latest News
Netherlands Agencies
Childminders_in_the_Netherlands I recently came across this extremely interesting article produce by the ...
UKCMA
The UK Childminding Association (UKCMA), an association dedicated purely to childminders, is ...
More Great Childcare
The recent report written by Elizabeth Truss outlines proposed changes to the ...
Professional Associations
The NCMA are changing their name to PACEY – Professional Association of ...
Smartphones & Tablets Viewing
We are very excited to announce that the Essential Childminder Magazine ...
Revised SEF
The Ofsted Self-Evaluation Form (SEF) has been updated to reflect the revised EYFS and ...
Conditions of Registration
Ofsted will no longer set conditions or issue variations on registration certificates. ...
New Ofsted Inspections
Ofsted have released the guidance for their new inspections which will take ...
![att47820[1]](http://essentialchildminder.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/att478201.gif?w=192&h=74&crop=1)
Nutbrown Final Report
Dear Colleague, I wanted to let you know that I have today published my final ...
New Parents Guide to EYFS
4Children welcomes the publication of the new Parent’s Guide to the Early ...
Qualification Changes
Boosting quality of Early Years childcare professionals is vital say 4Children ...
Deregulation Petition – Sign Here!
An on-line petition has been created against the de-regulation of childminders. It ...
Results of NCMA Survey
CHILDMINDERS REJECT PROPOSALS TO REFORM REGULATION AND INSPECTION NCMA, the childminders’ professional ...
Concerns over the future of childminding
Concern is being felt and an increasing unease is flowing through the ...
Latest News
New Childminder Association
We have some great news! On Monday 25th March you will be able to join as a member of UKCMA and discover a host of benefits including the opportunity to voice your opinions and have your say. Members can also get their questions answered by our online community, rate the feedback given and follow the ‘Hot Questions’.
Members’ features will not only include up-to-the-minute news and articles but an industry-specific social media wall with access to feeds from all the relevant sources and social networks without the need to have your own social media accounts.
You will also be able to tap into a packed information section full of articles and resources for download as well as UKCMA’s 24 hour Helpline for around the clock professional support*.
On top of all of this, our associate insurance provider, Morton Michel, will also
offering all UKCMA members a free pack of contracts (worth up to £26) to any
childminder who chooses to insure with them.
We will be in touch very shortly with more information ahead of our Members’ section launch.
*The 24 hour Helpline is not able to provide legal advice
The UKCMA team
http://www.ukcma.co.uk
Easter
EASTER - Edition 21 - March 2012
Everything egg shaped in this edition. Paint them, hide them, create with them.
This edition focuses on the meaning of Child-led and Adult-led play. What exactly does this mean? and how is it shown in planning? Read our article to find out more Sarah explores Absent Parents further in the second article in the series and don’t miss the second installment on the revised EYFS.
Packed with so much more dont miss out! Click here to purchase.
Music
MUSIC - Edition 30 - December 2012
An extremelly noisy edition for you this month. Make your own instruments, clap the beats and explore sounds and notes with some wonderful printable templates.
This edition contains part 2 of the Self Evaluation Form series and introduces planning for outside play. We also have an extremely interesting article from ICAN on developing communication and laguage through singing.
Packed with so much more dont miss out! Click here to purchase.
99p Sale!!
Our back editions are continuously available for purchase as themed planning resources, do you have the complete set? Are there any issues you have missed?
Take advantage of our 99p sale to complete your collection.
NO VOUCHER CODES
NO COMPETITION ENTRY NEEDED
All of our 30 editions are only 99p throughout December and January.
REMEMBER NONE OF OUR EDITIONS EXPIRE… EVER!
Make your purchase, chose the front cover of the edition you would like and it will be instantly available for you to read.
Twinkl Christmas Resources
It can be difficult during the winter months to keep children entertained indoors when you’re done with all your puddle splashing outside. What’s even more difficult is coming up with genuinely worthwhile activities that you and the children can all enjoy! I’ve chosen a selection of resources from the twinkl resources website. twinkl produce beautiful hand drawn resources that look great stuck up on your walls, and best of all, kids love them too.
First off, I like this useful snowman sequencing activity, cut out the squares and treat it like a jigsaw, putting all the parts in the right places. Turn it into a speaking and listening activity using time connectives, “first of all, then we”, use logic and reason, “that must go first because”.
Christmas trees are always a winner and this Colouring Christmas Trees would be a lovely activity for children to take home to show their parents. Younger children can practice their fine motor skills and pencil control by colouring in the tree, whereas older children can design their own tree! Use this as an opportunity for talking about patterns and contrasting colours, what works well together and why.
No Christmassy type activity is complete without making your own advent calendar! This is one of our most popular resources and it’s easy to see why. We’ve a massive collection to choose from so the children in your care could all make different ones. There are loads more Christmas related ideas over on twinkl, why not take a look!
Advent & Christmas
ADVENT & CHRISTMAS- Edition 5 – November 2010
Christmas activies galore along with a focus on Road Saftey Week. The Cheeky Monkeys report on their trip to the local firestation and ECM provides a printable Smoke Alarm Checklist.
Packed with so much more dont miss out! Click here to purchase.
Christmas
CHRISTMAS – Edition 17 – November 2011
The second of our Christmas editions with over 40 Christmas crafts and ideas, along with a feature on Road Safety Week. Sarah continues her series on the Observation, Assessment & Planning Process and Claire looks at Para Willi Syndrome, while Fiona gives us a fantastic recipe for pumpkin soup following the Halloween season.
Packed with so much more dont miss out! Click here to purchase.
Xmas & New Year
XMAS & NEW YEAR - Edition 29 - November 2012
An exciting selection of activities to enjoy throughout December all with a festive take and an interesting twist.
This edition includes the first installment on completing the revised self-evaluation, a feature on valuing super hero play and working with children with english as an additional language (EAL).
Packed with so much more dont miss out! Click here to purchase.
Guy Fawkes
GUY FAWKES - Edition 28 - October 2012
Explore the exciting world of glitter, colour and loud noises in our Guy Fawkes edition.
Our regular Baby Spotlight looks at toys which can be made at home and the value of these over plastic baby toys. Scrapstores are a treasure trove of recycled items, which are perfect for sensory and imaginative play.
Packed with so much more dont miss out! Click here to purchase.
Halloween & Fireworks
HALLOWEEN & FIREWORKS - Edition 4 – October 2010
Fun and spooky activities to celebrate this fun time of year. Including a printable Childhood Illness poster showing exclusion periods, along with a keeping safe feature and printable Firework Safety Code.
Packed with so much more dont miss out! Click here to purchase.
