We are a Polish family who arrived in Blackpool in April, 2018 with two kids: 3,5 y.o. Gustaw and 2 y.o. Barbara. Soon after having moved in we started to look for a childminder to take care of our children during the day. Here we were in a new country with two children who did not speak any English at the time, so we were very worried that the process of finding a right caretaker will prove to be a mission impossible.

Luckily, a miracle happened, and Lynn appeared in our lives. When we first met, we appreciated very much her energy, her kindness towards the children and her courage to take on two Polish speaking kids along with the one kid already under her care. We were also impressed by her experience. It didn't take us a lot of time to decide that we would trust her to become our children's childminder. Time has shown that we couldn't have made a better decision.

I’ve really seen my kids' progress since they have spent time with Lynn and the other children in her care. First of all and maybe most remarkably, after only a couple of months my children started to speak English. Thanks to Lynn's patient and careful approach and her willingness to listen, my children felt encouraged enough to speak in a language completely foreign to them to the extent that after a year in Lynn's care they spoke English as their first language (even if at home we were still speaking Polish).

Moreover, she has a great manner with all the kids, she is always kind and patient with them. On the other hand, she is very well organised and sets a clear set of rules, which is very assuring for the kids: they always know what is expected of them. She is very careful to listen to the parents and their expectations as to what the set of the rules should be. We appreciated very much that she really invested herself and treated the kids with true fondness and affection that they felt and reciprocated.

My children loved spending time at her house: it has a clearly separated, spacious area for the kids, filled with valuable and creative books and toys. The time spent there was never wasted: the kids were playing, drawing, making constructions and exercising. Lynn prepared various activities for them, helping them increase their communication skills as well as their cognitive and motor skills. Frequently they had so much fun they didn't even want to come home at the indicated time.

The house is situated in the quiet area of the town and surrounded by an impressive garden where my children used to spend time with joy and excitement. Their activities included also sand and water play, drawing and sticking, reading and puzzles as well as outings to the park and the beach, trips to feed the ducks and walks in the parks. She would take them to different toddlers groups, facilitating meeting other kids their age and developing social and emotional skills. She would also expand their horizons by taking them to special events (like a circus show or a scavenger hunt). My children were never bored or disappointed after having spent the day in her company.The Baby's Days app was updated regularly, so we could witness directly how our children spent their days. This helped us to feel involved with their care and we could talk to them about their day.

What was also very important to us, the communication between Lynn and us was very open and sincere. I’ve always felt very comfortable to ask questions about children and their day. Lynn also engaged in solving some of the problems that arose during that time: she was very helpful with recognizing the issues at hand and proposing solutions based on her many years' experience.

Children love her very much and consider her their true friend, even though we left the United Kingdom in September. They miss her dearly and she is kind enough to talk to them online from time to time.

Meeting Lynn and having her as our childrens' childminder was the best thing that could happen to us. She has been childminding our kids for more than a year, five days a week, and I would absolutely recommend her as a great, trustworthy and reliable caretaker. We have been extremely happy with the care our kids have received, and the great progress they have made whilst in Lynn's care. We couldn't have imagined anyone taking better and more loving care of them.

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