Natasha_

Happy Son, Happy Mum!

My son spends 2 days a week with Tasha, since he turned 1 at the end of July 2024 and his development has come in leaps and bounds since then! Not only is he more confident physically but his social skills with other children and his communication has improved significantly. This can be a testament to the care and attention Tasha puts into her time with the children she looks after.

During the days my son is with Tasha, I receive regular updates via WhatsApp, both in the form of photos showing what activities they're doing, and messages to let me know how his eating and naps have been. We also have a little catch up when I pick him up at the end of the day so I have a really good idea of how his day has been without even being there! Tasha also provides a written review of his progress every couple of months, highlighting milestones reached, which is always lovely to read as a parent.

In terms of activities, Tasha organises lots of fun, creative tasks when they're at home, including painting, making animals out of conkers and creating pictures with hand prints (including a birthday card for my husband which I was very grateful for!), all of which we get to take home as a souvenir of his day. Tasha also makes sure the children spend time outside, at the park and local farms, as well as other stimulating environments like play groups and role play cafes, which I know my son LOVES!

Tasha is also extremely adaptable when our plans change (e.g. changes in my work schedule) and, if she is able to, will always accommodate having my son on another day of the week, which gives me peace of mind. Equally, she is conscious never to have too many children at one time and I always appreciate her saying if she is unable to swap days for that reason, otherwise this could be detrimental to my son and the other children if they were not able to receive her usual level of care.

At the end of the day, I have been so grateful to have found Tasha as she goes over and above my expectations of what I thought having my son in childcare would be like, and the fact that I always have a happy boy to pick up just says it all. I'm also pregnant with my second son and am desperately hoping Tasha will have a space so he can join the fun too, when the time comes!

Thank you Tasha :)

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by Lauren about Natasha_ on 25/10/2024

Response by Natasha_ on 25/10/2024:

Thank you so much Lauren, this is such a lovely review and I am so glad you’re all happy! Looking after your son is a real pleasure ❤️

Amazing childminder

Natasha was my first childminder with my first child, I was absolutely terrified about finding someone but she really set my mind at rest and Percy absolutely loved her. She made the whole process really easy and really set the bar when it comes to childcare.
She was always in constant communication, sent pictures and gave regular updates about his development. She would take him for trips out, they had plenty of activities and play and the other children also always seemed to really love her and be happy.
An absolutely fantastic childminder for us and I can’t praise her enough.
Thank you :)

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by Lucy A about Natasha_ on 06/01/2023

Response by Natasha_ on 07/01/2023:

This is so lovely! Thank you so much it means a lot to read this. It was honestly a pleasure to look after Percy and you were such a lovely family to work with!x

Smiling children say it all!

My daughter loves going to Natasha's setting. Constant updates and smiling photos keep me assured my baby is being nurtured there, and all the other children I've seen are clearly happy too.

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by kgarner about Natasha_ on 23/05/2022

Response by Natasha_ on 23/05/2022:

This is so lovely thank you! Your daughter is a pleasure to have and such a happy little girl. The other children also loved having her here :)

Doesn't have work ethics and communication skills

I wanted to see the environment before we drop our 4.5 years old daughter to her house. She said that she is available and we can drop our daughter for settling. Due to an unexpected situtation, we had to change the shedule in our second talk only before we signed any contracts. She said it is fine and offered us a video call which we were only 30 minutes late as I was working late in the evening and asked my husband to do the video call but forgot to gave him the number. Eventhough she had my husbands phone number, she didn't call and after 30 minutes, my husband sent her a message explaining our excuse, but she replied and said that this is the third time we had changed the circumstances (which it was not) and she was not sure it would work and she could not cater a space.
After talking to her for 3 days, she suddenly changed her mind. I would expect understanding. I can not rate childminding service but I am sure that she needs to work on her work ethics and communication skills.

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by Emine Ay about Natasha_ on 13/05/2022

Response by Natasha_ on 14/05/2022:

Hello,

Thank you for your review. I was half expecting this. You asked for a space for your child which I was happy to cater to, you then changed the days you wanted your daughter to attend which I was again happy with. I then went on to change appointments to meet with other parents as I would have your child in the setting and I prefer to do my meetings one to one to safeguard children in my care, you then changed the dates again which again I was fine with.

When I suggested we do a settling as your daughter is shy, you refused and said you had a very busy work schedule, usually I would not accept this as it is not fair on children for them to come into my setting without settling in sessions but due to her age I thought it may be a little easier for her so I helped you out and gave the benefit of the doubt and was still happy to help you for the short period of time you required me to have your child. May I add I would never usually accept a child without settling in sessions so if I wasn’t trying to help you I would have refused you a space.

You asked if you could call me so I gave you my number to talk with yourself over the phone, you never called. You never acknowledged my message until 9:15pm (these are not my working hours and I am not permitted to work unless it is for existing parents of children who attend my setting). You then asked if you could do a settling in session the next day which initially you refused. At this point I had already made plans which meant I would be out of the house with the children in my care which then defeats the point of a settling in session in the setting. I also don’t know how your daughter would have been so would have had to have cancelled the plans I made for the children. May I state again the children in my cares feelings and safety is primary, therefore I was not going to cancel activities which I had already told their parents we were doing and their children were excited.

After messaging me late the Thursday night you then asked if I could do a settling in on Friday to which you initially refused and I could not arrange for this to happen as I had made plans. I therefore suggested a video call you asked if the video call could take place at 5:30 so you could see the setting. This is a tricky time for me but I managed to clean the children up after dinner and have them ready for home time so I could quickly show you the setting and talk with your daughter and husband. He never called, he then messaged me after 6pm which again is after my working hours. I would not meet with new parents after this time so I therefore would not take a video call. I have my own child who goes to bed at 6:30pm every night and that is his set routine. I was not going to change this because somebody forgot to call me and expected me to talk after 6pm. Again May I add if your child was on my register this would be different. Yes I had your husbands number but if the agreement was for him to call me at half 5 I was not going to call him as I was working at the time.

I then said that I could not offer your child a space because in the short period of time we spoke through message you actually messed my business around too much. I am very professional and I take massive pride in how I care for the children I have on a day to day basis. I am hoping that all of my parents would be able to state that I have great communication skills and ALWAYS keep them updated on their childrens day as well as progress.

Again thank you for your review.

Great babysitter!

Natasha is a great babysitter! We had been looking for someone to stay with our 18 month old son for an occasional evening out, and I am so glad we found Natasha! Our son loves her, and she was able to get him down for bedtime without any tears at all, a big achievement in our household! We will be using her services regularly :)

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by BellaA about Natasha_ on 25/03/2022

Response by Natasha_ on 26/03/2022:

Thank you so much! I’m so glad you were all happy and it was a pleasure to be able to help! Speak soon x