Barbara's Reviews
Childminder
Below are the parent reviews for Barbara. Back to Barbara's profile
Average Rating:
(5 from 8 reviews)
My daughter has been going to Barbara 5 days a week since she was 11months for the passed 4 years. Over that time she has become incredibly fond of Barbara and will miss her very much as she transitions into school.
Barbara treats the children as her own. She is very caring and nurturing towards them and there is always an emphasis placed on learning in all activities she engages the children with.
She creates a great balance between indoor and outdoor activities (weather allowing), taking the children on woodland walks, visiting parks, farms, and garden centres which has given our daughter an invaluable lesson on connecting with nature.
When indoors, Barbara engages the children with play based learning sessions. On one day it might be games (like k’nex) that develop their motor skills, another may be craft activities using paints, colour pencils, glue to spark their creative side and practicing their writing skills, and there’s always an element of reading from a wide array of books that Barbara stocks or from what the children have chosen from their visits to the library. She teaches them life skills and lots of learning opportunities by visiting the library and going to play groups, develops their social skills by having the chance to meet other children.
My daughter has started Reception now but keep asking if she can still come to Barbara as she misses and loves her very much and Barbara will always have a special place in her heart.
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Barbara has looked after my oldest son for 4 years and my younger son for nearly 2. She has been incredible in teaching, guiding and supporting their development. They do lots of great activities each day and we get daily update pictures. She writes such a detailed journal for every child every day where we can write back any comments. She makes homemade meals for them every day so I know they are eating healthily, they both tell me they like her pasta bake more than mine! We get baking sent home most weeks too which is lovely. I have saved all their artwork too.
My older son has just started school and I have to thank Barbara for the wonderful, kind, caring little boy he’s turning into to. He has absolutely loved going to hers for the last 4 years. She was his stability throughout Covid as I work for the NHS she was able to look after him for me still and this helped him and us so much. Barbara made a wonderful art/learning journal that she gave us on my sons last day. She is very good at communicating with us and has been great in helping us out with extra days occasionally when needed. My son will miss her so much when he goes to school and will look forward to seeing her when he collects his brother.
I couldn’t recommend Barbara more highly to anyone who is looking for childcare for their little ones.
Mrs J
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My son has been going to Barbara on Thursdays and Fridays for the last 2 years (since he was 1 year old) and he absolutely loves her. He goes to another setting for the rest of the 3 days but asks to go to Barbara instead every morning! She is so kind and caring and really gives importance to teaching new skills and words through various different activities through the day.
She encourages messy play on the tuff tray, takes her kids to the woods nearby and given them magnifying glass and teaches them the names of different flowers and plants along the way. She takes them to Christmas tree farm and Ruxley manor occasionally. Also takes her kids to parks, libraries and kids classes which they love.
My son has learnt how to crack an egg like a pro now (hes just turned 3!). She has been teaching him how to bake since he was 1 year old by engaging him in the process of baking. The days they bake, she sends home the cakes to enjoy! and they are yum!
As an early learning specialist, she has really taught him a lots of words, numbers and sentences and corrects him when needed. She also send a detailed review of their day in a notebook which i will treasure for life.
She has a lovely cat named Luna, and through Luna she has taught my son to be gentle with animals and how to approach them. When we go out, he is not scared of dogs or cats anymore and approaches them in the right way.
The days i send my son to Barbara, i feel very relived that he is in a safe and loving environment where he is learning and being looked after properly. He has had an amazing time there and i would totally recommend Barbara to anyone looking for a space to send their darling child to.
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Barbara has looked after both our son (now 7) and daughter (now 4) since they were six months old until they started school.
As they started with her so young, we really wanted a small and nurturing setting which Barbara provides. She does amazing things with the children such as baking, creative play, messy pay and various woodland walks (all the while teaching them about nature) as well a trips to petting farms and parks. Her communication is great, she writes in a journal every day information such as what food they have eaten, how much they have slept and even when they used the toilet/nappy. She was also always on hand to give advice if we needed it when our children were sick.
We would thoroughly recommend Barbara's Childminding Services to other families, thank you Barbara.
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Barbara has been caring for our son for 3 months now, he started with her when he was 11 months old. In that short time our son has completely fallen in love with Barbara, as has the rest of our family. We are very sad to be leaving her and are only doing so because we are moving (we would happily take her with us).
You could not ask for a better childminder. Barbara is so kind and caring, she really treats the children in her care like family. Our son settled with Barbara very quickly which was so reassuring as he had been stuck with only his Dad and I during lockdown. As first time parents Barbara was so helpful and took the time to answer all of our silly questions. She helped us to celebrated his first birthday which meant so much to me as I had to be at work.
She goes above and beyond in all aspects of her job. Barbara writes a very detailed account of their days together including how and what our son ate, naps, nappies and all of the amazing activities he has enjoyed. She often sends photos which I love as it can be hard missing things when working fulltime. Barbara never misses an opportunity to teach the children and does great work with the early years provision, as an EYFS teacher myself I really appreciate this.
Even in lockdown Barbara keeps the fun going with baking, music time, woodland walks and so many more fantastic developmental activities. After only a few weeks with Barbara our son went from taking his first steps to racing around confidently. 'Barba' was our sons first word!
We could not have found anyone better to look after our son. Barbara's partner in crime (her cat Luna) is just as fantastic, she is great with the children and is helping our son learn how to care for and be gentle with animals.
I could go on and on about how fantastic Barbara is but when it comes down to it, our son LOVES her, he is happy to see her every morning and he is happy when he comes home. I know he is safe and cared for with Barbara and that he is having fun and learning. Barbara is always there for us as parents as well, we have the upmost confidence in her as a childminder, genuinely good person and friend.
Barbara we can not thank you enough, we will miss you so much! We look forward to keeping in touch and please know that one day when we return to England you will be our first call!
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I employed Barbara to take care of my 18mth old toddler a few months ago and she took the time to engage him, and the other infants under her care. As a result my son grew in confidence which has helped with his personal development. Barbara is caring and encouraging which she displays in the messy play or baking activities, which my son seems to like. He also learnt to say "Barbara" during his time with her. Usually he doesn't say a lot so this was a wonderful surprise for me and the whole family.
One thing that stands out for me is Barbara's keen documentation of my son's indoor and outdoor activities through written summaries of his highs and lows in his development book, or through pictures and videos. As a full-time working parent it feels like I miss out on so much during the week. However, I didn't feel that quite so much knowing that Barbara would capture those important moments.
I stopped using Barbara's services recently as she is a bit further out distance-wise, and my son's usual nursery were finally able to offer the days we required. However, should I need further childcare in future, I would not hesitate to contact her as she has proved invaluable.
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Our daughter Lucy has been cared for by Barbara since September 2011 from when she was 14 months old. Being first time parents, we were very nervous about leaving our daughter with someone we didn’t know. Lucy seemed very relaxed in the house as soon as we walked in. Lucy was keen to get stuck into all the toys. We took time to look through Barbara’s policies and observe Lucy in a new environment with other children who were already in Barbara’s care at the time.
We have to say from the moment we met Barbara we were put completely at ease, she is incredibly friendly and very open. Barbara’s home is impeccably clean and she dedicates her home to the children she looks after. Her living room is stacked full of toys for all age ranges as well as huge amounts of toys in the garden.
Barbara will have new topics or themes for each month or term as per the Early Years Foundation Stage. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old. All schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS, including childminders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes. Barbara will incorporate EYFS into show and tell, story time, library trips, farm visits, park visits, picnics, painting, drawing, toddler groups, singing, dancing etc. Educationally Lucy has thrived whilst being in Barbara’s care and proved to be an intelligent little cookie.
Barbara has always been approachable when enquiring how Lucy was doing during the day. Both my husband and I felt like we could always speak to Barbara providing it was an ok time to talk.
Lucy flourished since she has been at Barbara’s. Lucy has gone from tottering, not saying any words, to running around and conversing at the expected level a 4 year old should talk. The daily diary tells us exactly what has happened during Lucy’s day – what she’s eaten, what activities have been done, how long her naps were, any funny incidents, new words, naughty moments etc.
The feedback given by Barbara is honest and she is very open to feedback from parents. ‘Naughty’ incidents are dealt with in a fair and appropriate way. The amount of activities Barbara does with the children is wonderful – show and tell, story time, library trips, farm visits, park visits, picnics, painting, drawing, toddler groups, singing, dancing etc.
Lucy has been with Barbara from 3 days a week to 5 days a week and we feel completely at ease in leaving her in Barbara’s care. Indeed every day we have to chase Lucy round the house to convince her to come home with us after a fun filled day with Barbara! In all the time Lucy has been with Barbara, there has not been one day where we have been greeted at the door with tears or concerns from Lucy.
Barbara is a hard working lady and rarely takes time off for sickness. In the 3 years Lucy was with Barbara there has only been a few days where she has only been ill. In respect of holidays Barbara will let you know well in advance of any up and coming annual leave. You’ll find that Barbara will not always take her full allocation of annual leave for the year, which is very honourable as Barbara feels responsible for the children in her care and the general response from Barbara as to why she hasn’t taken all of her holiday is because she doesn’t want to let the parents down with taking time off. Barbara treats each child in her care as she would one of her own.
Lucy left Barbara’s care in June and started primary school in September. Since then I have had another baby and Barbara started looking after him at 5 months old.
Barbara has become a member of the family and is more than a childminder. She is a friend, parental coach, confidant and role model.
We have absolutely no reservations whatsoever in recommending Barbara as a childminder.
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Barbara has been looking after our son since he was 6 months old and we have found her care to be a real home from home for him and we would highly recommend her.
She is always doing activities with him like messy play (paint, jelly and even spaghetti!), musical toys cooking.
She often takes him on trips out to the local nature reserve, toy library, play groups, farms and garden centres which he loves.
We also get daily written feedback about his progress so we don't feel like we are missing out too much.
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