When nanny has a second job

Part time working has been on the rise in all industries but nannies are being hit by a triplewhammy of parents choosing to work part-time, using free help part of the week to reduce childcare costs and taking advantage of Government funding. This means more and more nannies are coming to interview with another job already, which can seem an administrative nightmare. Chin up though, as it’s not that scary!

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6 scenario based interview questions to ask at a nanny interview, and the responses you should be getting

 

Scenarios are a great way to test out how quickly your potential nanny can think on her feet and see what her natural reactions to everyday situations are. A lot of the questions you ask in an interview lead a nanny to respond in a certain way. Any clues that she’s gained about your childcare style will help her answer them, but she doesn’t need to have additional information because it’s all about how she would react.

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Child development: Steiner

Austrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1865) developed a holistic theory of education based on three 7-year cycles of development. He believed that education needed to respect these cycles and the type of thinking or feeling that a child experiences. The first cycle from birth to the age of 7 children are immersed in action and are motivated to play and create. From 7 to 14 children explore ‘feeling’ and from 14-21 they develop their cognitive or thinking abilities.

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Sickness during pregnancy

As nannying is an industry dominated by women it’s inevitable that each year nanny employers will find themselves dealing with a pregnant employee. However delighted you may be for your nanny on a personal level it’s entirely understandable that you might be feeling anxious about your new responsibilities as an employer. We have previously looking at managing pregnant employees and what might happen about your nanny returning to work, so let’s look at some less likely scenarios – when your nanny suffers from some kind of pregnancy related illness.

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Child development: Montessori

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was the first female doctor in Italy. She specialised in paediatrics and worked with children from disadvantaged backgrounds, setting up a nursery for children where the only toys were simple objects and staff were told to observe rather than intervene. Based on the results of her experiment she developed her own method, now known worldwide as the Montessori method, founded on her observations.

She believed education starts at birth and that children have special periods where they are more able to learn certain skills. It is the role of the adult to identify these periods and offer the child specially adapted activities. She felt that all children were naturally able to learn and curious about the world around them, learning through movement (particularly the hands) and the senses (which led to the development of her sandpaper letters), and show spontaneous self-discipline when in an environment that meets their needs.

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