Job profile! Childcare providers & nannies: professionalize childcare

Television formats such as "Super-Nanny" show that there is a broad interest in the topic of child rearing and childcare in Germany. How does the job description and the Business start as a childminder?

The Bad Mother Discussion - a German Problem?

Whether children better exclusively from their own Mother have to be brought up or whether they can be cared for at least part of the time by a childminder or a trained specialist is a highly controversial issue, especially in Germany, in contrast to other countries.

A recent survey by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) also showed that mothers who work full-time are generally more satisfied. According to the institute, 39 percent of all mothers with children under the age of 14 are not gainfully employed. Around 58 percent of them would like to go to work, but cannot for family reasons.

A huge market, then, for entrepreneurs who work with childcare Money to earn want since opened. In fact, good and adequate childcare is in short supply in Germany. Many parents in Germany are looking for a place for their child. Long waiting lists are on Agenda. In the meantime, politicians are also working to close the huge supply gap, especially for children under three years of age - but it will hardly be possible to pound new crèche places out of the ground in the short term. The Solution for many mothers therefore means: childminder.

Becoming a childminder: what is important?

The books on the subject (advertising)

The German Children and Youth Report shows: In Germany 140000 children up to the age of six are looked after by child minders, sometimes also by child minders. The way in which childcare is implemented varies: there is care by a nanny who works in the parents' household, there is the childminder who looks after one or more children in her own apartment and there is the so-called day care, in which up to eight children are looked after in rented rooms. Often the care is organized and financed by the parents. There is also the public, legally regulated day care, which the youth welfare office arranges and supports financially.

However, looking after a child as a childminder means more than watching the little ones play and putting them to bed at noon. Rather, the children also need family attention and, in the event of grief, comfort, a great deal awareness and variety - for example in the form of new games or excursions. The daily routine should be tailored to the children. And in the event of illness or vacation, a good childminder will also organize a substitute - for this she needs to be well networked with colleagues.

The important thing is that there is no standard formula for this work. Every child is different and you have to take a close look at what one child needs and what the other. For example, does a child have linguistic Problems, you have to talk to him a lot. But the children shouldn't be pressured; rather, a childminder must always adapt to their needs. Therefore, you should never take on more children than you can handle - a number over five is considered critical and even those with a certain professional experience.

Childcare as a business idea?

For a long time, day care was still often regarded as a kind of additional activity. This also applies to the payment: According to the German Youth Institute in Munich, a childminder with four full-time foster children comes after deducting all expenditure usually only to 900 euros per month. Only gradually, thanks to growing demand, does the image change; In Denmark, Sweden and Finland, on the other hand, childminder has long been a real child Job with fair conditions and corresponding salary. In Germany, too, efforts are now being made towards greater professionalisation.

Someone, of all people, shows that childcare can become a good business idea with his Vocational Training actually has nothing to do with pedagogy: with his Concept Children's centers Kunterbunt eV, lawyer Björn Czinzoll offers working parents flexible care: The children's centers are open Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 19 p.m., have an extensive additional service, and are always created in cooperation with and near Companys and are still public - which means that public funding can flow in and the socially innovative support service can be offered to companies free of charge. Over the next few years, more than 100 new children's centers are to be opened nationwide. 2006 was for the Idea the Social Entrepreneur Award.

Prerequisites, education and training

Discounts for your success (advertising)!

There are currently neither uniform standards for supervisors nor binding aptitude tests. That means: if you want to work as a childminder, you can theoretically start right away. In some cities, a police clearance certificate is sufficient as a qualification to be ordered by the youth welfare office.

In practice it is natural useful, because you already have sufficient experience in dealing with children, e.g. because you have some yourself, that you have educational training or come from a related professional field, e.g. from pediatric nursing or the social sector.

Further education or studies?

The German Youth Institute also has a further educationCurriculum Vitae developed, which covers 160 hours. If you want to complete it, you have to go through modules such as »support for children«, »observe and perceive the development of children«. The Federal Association for Child Day Care awards certificates for successful completion. The time required for this varies depending on the federal state: sometimes it is 15 hours, sometimes 60 hours. The association also places childminders and ensures professional exchange.

In addition, for several years there have been various courses in the field of early childhood education, also for prospective day care workers - such as the Bachelor of Arts Education and Education as a child at Alice Salomon University Berlin, the bachelor's degree in early childhood and elementary education at the Heidelberg University of Education or the bachelor's degree in childhood education at the University of Erfurt. Almost all of these are two- or three-year courses at teacher training colleges, church colleges and universities of applied sciences. An overview of the offer can be found here: http://www.bildungsserver.de/zeigen.html?seite=3432

The job description will probably become even more professional in the coming years: The introduction of standardized tests and quality seals, features that enable parents to recognize a good foster home, are considered likely. Finland is the model here. Here, prospective childminders have to complete a 250-hour course including an exam.

Formalities at the start-up in brief

As a childminder, you are a freelancer. This means that you only need a tax number from the tax office. A business registration is not required. According to Section 43 of Book 8 of the Social Code - Children and Youth Welfare, a permit is required for activities in child day care.

The German Pension Insurance also classifies your work as a childminder as an educational activity and therefore assumes that teachers, educators, carers, etc., have priority insurance in accordance with Section 2 of Book VI of the Social Code. The decisive factor is how the profession is carried out and not what the job title is.

How big are the career opportunities?

Although there is a comparatively large market in which many parents are looking for suitable childcare offers, at the same time there has been a veritable run among female entrepreneurs in recent years to become self-employed as child minders. The reason for this are TV formats like the Super-Nanny, the main one Women came up with this idea.

But not everyone is suitable for this job: A study in Brandenburg showed that every seventh day care post has good to very good educational quality and every seventh has insufficient. Two-thirds were mediocre. The training of childminders in the east is usually better than in the west, many of them have a degree as educators there. Who successfully wants to work as a childminder should therefore appropriate qualifications can prove.

Of course, the appointment by the youth welfare office offers good opportunities, but there is another way: who sees himself as a service provider and offers the parents a flexible, on their needs offers a tailor-made caregiving relationship, can also exist independently of the youth welfare office in the increasingly professional market.

Top books on the subject

Read text as PDF

Acquire this text as a PDF (only for own use without passing it on according to Terms and conditions): Please send us one after purchase eMail with the desired title supportberufebilder.de, we will then send the PDF to you immediately. You can also purchase text series.

4,99€Buy

Advice on success, goal achievement or marketing

You have Ask about career, Recruiting, personal development or increasing reach? Our AIAdviser helps you for 5 euros a month – free for book buyers. We offer special ones for other topics IT services

5,00€ / per month   Book

Book eCourse on Demand

Up to 30 lessons with 4 learning tasks each + final lesson as a PDF download. Please send us one after purchase eMail with the desired title supportberufebilder.de. Alternatively, we would be happy to put your course together for you or offer you a personal, regular one eMail-Course - all further information!

29,99€Buy

Skate eBook as desired

If our store does not offer you your desired topic: We will be happy to put together a book according to your wishes and deliver it in a format of yours Choice. Please sign us after purchase supportberufebilder.de

79,99€Buy