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Hi

weve been told this could be an issue for us to, 41 / 40 couple with no childcare experience, we both have nieces and nephews but we haven't looked after them, we have a few friends we could help out too

But we're also wondering how much experience we need to get, just starting stage 1

Hi Housecat

yes indeed we all had to start somewhere !

Scouts/brownies, and reading schemes are quite common ways of getting experience but will be difficult at the moment because of the pandemic.

Yes it does vary between agencies, I had to switch agencies for several reasons, my childcare experience was not deemed acceptable for one and perfectly fine by another.

At the time my office was located next to a school and I ran a garden club for three years, it was an inner city school with lots of children from difficult backgrounds.

You could look at some of the mentoring schemes, usually aimed at older kids but the teenage years are often difficult so it would still be benefical.

When you are looking for an agency its something for you to clarify

Thanks Serrakunda; sounds like I'm looking at the right sort of things - it's yet another activity the pandemic makes more difficult!

I'll make contact with a few options over the festive period and cross my fingers that things will look more promising as 2021 goes on.

Hmm. I do wonder why sws still insist on this and whether actually it shows a complete lack of awareness of the differences between a securely attached, pretty regular child and our kids. I’m now 19, 16 and 14 years in snd no amount of previous childcare could have prepared me for the battles we’ve since had.

Far better to spend time reading up on his Camhs works (clue ... it doesn’t); read education code of practice and how statements /EHCPs should be written!

One suggestion would be to look at volunteering with a local charity such as the one I volunteer with - mine works with parents to support children with challenging behaviour. To assist them through the diagnostic process. To help them with education matters. To give hugs - virtual - at times when it’s all going t*Ts up. When no-one is listening. Supporting the parents to support their children. May not be hands on with actual real live kids but you’ll learn a whole lot more.

Good luck!

I agree with Donatella - when we adopted we had a 5 year old birth child so loads of experience but I can honestly say that it did not prepare me for parenting my AD in anyway. Parenting securely attached birth children is completely different to parenting an adopted child.

best wishes xx

Us too - we had 2 birth children and I’d worked with young children for many years - mostly under 5s including in a language unit in a day nursery. But I don’t think anything really can prepare you - so it’s building up a general knowledge base you’d be able to call on - reading as widely as possible is really important - including the old archives on AUK which were my greatest source of information and can really open your eyes - talking to people here (or meeting people who’ve adopted even better) - researching SEN as many adopted children will come into this category. I guess experience of securely attached birth children just adds another dimension and the range of possible ways people might deal with everyday problems. So maybe chat to people you know (if you’re happy to) or again read up a bit or watch TV programs on this- but don’t get too hung up about how you “should” deal with any particular situation. You could also look into what’s available in the way of volunteering - what would suit you - and maybe get something set up provisionally