Karen Ch's Reviews
Childminder
Below are the parent reviews for Karen Ch. Back to Karen Ch's profile
Average Rating:
(4.56 from 9 reviews)
My son has been with Karen since January 2022 and he adores both Karen & Keith.
Karen offers a ‘home from home’ setting where the atmosphere is always happy, relaxed and full of fun.
My son has enjoyed some wonderful outings and experienced whilst in their care; he is encouraged to explore his environment and try new things.
Karen prepares delicious fresh food for the children which my son loves!
Her home is spotlessly clean and well maintained with a heavy focus on areas of interest for the children to explore (the playroom has extensive choice for all ages).
During the summer months, the children enjoy the garden, parks, and farm visits and we receive picture messages each day of our son and the activities he is enjoying.
Karen is a wonderfully caring lady who’s priority is always the wellbeing of the children in her care, often going above and beyond to ensure that the children and their families have a positive experience.
This lady is one in a million and our family wouldn’t be without her :)
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Karen and Keith are both excellent, professional and my daughter loves them both.
My daughter has been going to Karen since January 2022, where she started as part time and quickly grew to a full time arrangement. Karen has been very flexible with accommodating my needs if things change last minute. I get really cute photos both for day-to-day services as well as when they go on outings.
I would not look else where for a better child minder. I do foresee my daughter staying with Karen until she is at least school-going age.
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My daughter is 17 months and has been going to Karen since just before Christmas for 3 days a week. First of all she cried when being dropped off but soon settled. She loves going to Karen’s and often shouts at Keith when he leaves or just because.
Karen is French so sings a lot of French and English songs to our daughter. I love the fact she is gaining a new language at such a young age.
Karen takes her out once a week for lunch and I often get lovely park pictures when the weather suits. My daughter always eats Karen out of house and home but she never complains (only when it comes out the other end).
I would recommend Karen to anybody as she is just lovely and enjoys having the kids about.
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Leaving a review for Karen; she is one of the most caring people I have ever met. She childminded both of my children and although they no longer need a childminder they still see her often. She took them out everyday to the park, swimming, out for lunch etc. My job often necessitated longer hours which Karen always accommodated without question; nothing was ever too much trouble for her. She is engaging, caring, kind and considerate and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending her wholeheartedly.
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Leaving another review for our fabulous Karen. Although we have moved to the North of England our work has required us to at times be back in London. I did not hesitate to ask Karen if she would look after my 1 year old and 5 year old. And of course the reliable and kind hearted woman she is she has stepped in to cover weekends and school holidays. Thank you Karen! My kids adore you!
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My son went to Karen for approximately 6 weeks, and although Karen is caring and good with children I feel that communication and reliability was a big issue for us which is why I had to find someone else. Messages would not be replied to for hours on end, and trying to arrange time and days beforehand was always more stressful than it needed to be. Karen actually cancelled on us on the most recent occasion, then did not offer any alternative day or time and we were still charged for the day, which is not acceptable.
When trying to resolve the issue, she was very rude and told me to go elsewhere, which of course I did as I had already been looking for someone else by this point.
Within the first week she told me she could not do an agreed upon day as she was in Paris, and only told me once I had contacted her first, which meant I had to take two days off of work.
She would also leave my son with her husband when she had to run errands, and he is not a registered Childminder so this is not acceptable for us either.
She would not attend Childminding groups or take the children out to soft play as agreed at the beginning of the contract. It was never clear what my son had eaten that day, and communication throughout the day was lacking so I had to chase for information.
The additional costs we were charged were not mentioned in the contract and Karen charges 5 pounds per drop off within Stevenage, which was not agreed upon at the beginning of the contract and is expensive on top of her £6 per hour fee. She was aware we needed drop offs twice a week and sometimes was either late or would be ‘busy’ with other children so we had to make alternative arrangements to collect our son, but still be charged.
The last thing I want to mention is that my son came home with a very bad bruise and bump on his head, which Karen said over the phone was a ‘little bump’ I completely understand that children especially little boys hurt themselves at this age but when I saw how bad it was I was angry and feel it could have been avoided with more care.
Overall I would not recommend Karen as a reliable Childminder and would advise to look elsewhere if like me you need clear communication and reliability.
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by
Danielle
about
Karen Ch
on 08/02/2022
Response by
Karen Ch
on 08/02/2022:
In life one should always look for the positives – I scored 5 stars for Setting and 5 stars for cleanliness. The other criteria at least received a star.
I have enjoyed the profession of childminding for over 20 years now and only had rave positive reviews about my care. Most of the parents I have been associated with over these years are still close family friends.
My Initial response was that how could anyone sit down and write such a review? For the sake of good measure, I will deal with the points.
• Paris was for my birthday and of course they were informed – why not?
• We go out most days weather permitting but due to covid we visit parks and other places of less risk. I never requested any remuneration for trips out. Despite the lunches etc.
• My husband was on several occasions asked for a lift.
• He arrived with a bump to his head, and I was told this happened at his relatives.
There are always negatives one can bring up if a person if so minded – he often came without a coat, and I would lend him one so that we could go out.
Let us put this into perspective I have childminded on a full-time basis for over twenty years – this was 8 part time days, and the child was often late.
The care was indeed for six weeks but unfortunately the child did not attend for two of these weeks.
One was the Christmas holiday week and I failed to receive payment and the other being the last week when they had family difficulties and again I was unpaid.
This was a young family who I wanted to help in life. When Danielle initially came to see me, she was absolutely frozen as she had walked pushing the pram from the town centre to Great Ashby. I drove them home to save them another cold journey.
As any child minder will tell you these opening weeks are to settle the child in and to make sure they adjust accordingly to the new setting.
In this case the settling in period was not easy.
We spoke at length many time and agreed to continue and monitor the situation.
It was further complicated by the fixed days changing most weeks. Monday became Tuesday etc
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At my setting I have never offered collection or drop offs all the children are dropped off and collected by the parents.
Due to my initial kind gesture on the first day, I was then requested to drop him off home. I didn’t know what to say a cab for this distance is £10 one way, so I halved it and hoped that would cover the petrol for both there and back. That same initial week I was requested to take home on the second day which I was not paid for. I must point out the I didn’t even receive the five pounds as it was always rounded down to £4. If I was owed say £16 pounds in fees, I would receive £20. They were young I thought and just looked the other way.
But I stopped the lifts when this happened for a second week. Relatives eventually arrived late but again I never considered any charge. Now reading the great review - lifts were expected for free!
On the last week of this escapade Danielle rung me minutes before the arrival time and said there had been some sort of altercation at home and the partner was not around to bring the little boy over to me. Then I was offered £10 to collect. I was unable as the car was in for its service.
We must remember I am a child minder not a free taxi service and this could potentially impact on other children. Subsequently the child did not appear at all that week and no payment was forth coming.
As the situation was becoming intolerable, I rang a child-minding colleague explained the situation and she kindly agreed to take over. This information I duly gave to Danielle when she made contact the following week and childcare remained seamless.
I have never sort to collect the four unpaid days or for that matter the unpaid lifts as they are a young family at the beginning of there lives and I wish them all the best.
Yet despite my kindness I received this review. I do hope prospective parents will put these eight days into context when reading other reviews from my 20 years of childminding.
Karen has looked after my children since they were 6 months and 4 weeks old. They are now 5 and 1. The love, dedication and care she has shown them is hard to describe in words. My children adore her. They have blossomed in their development. Karen has a beautiful home, a fantastic playroom and garden. Her childcare setting is meticulously clean. My children are not fussy eaters thanks to Karen’s incredible talents in the kitchen. They eat wonderful home cooked meals from meatballs to lobster!. My children have fun with her and my son Williams first question is usually “am I getting to see Karen today”. My husband and I are police officers and can have our shifts changed at a moments notice. The understanding and flexibility Karen has, I don’t think any other childcare provider can match. She will assist us at a phone calls notice. William and Emily go on days out with Karen to educational settings, the park, swimming in the summer and even a trip to the shops is made exciting for William. They bake, make meals, paint, play. They never have a dull day.
We are devastated to be moving to the North of England and losing “Our Karen”. If we could make her come with us we would.
A truly wonderful woman, with the most amazing gift with children. Thank you for the beautiful light you are in our lives.
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Karen has been responsible for the welfare of our daughter on a full-time basis for several months now. During this time Karen has provided a safe and clean environment. Her professional outlook on her role as cover ensures the children get involved in different play activities, receive a well-balanced diet and best practices i.e. sitting at the table for meals. However, the most important quality Karen possesses is her ability to provide a happy and loving home where our daughter always feels part of the family as well as an individual. At all times Karen supports and organises our daughter’s activities and provides us with 100% reliability and support.
If there were a degree in childminding then Karen would pass with distinction! When we were searching for a childminder, we interviewed many, but none felt 'right'. We had already heard great things about Karen and we couldn't believe our luck when we met her. Our intuition told us that she was just perfect and she has well exceeded our expectations! Our daughter has some fantastic times with Karen and we could not do it without her. We are convinced that there are very few childminders who would make the effort to do all the things Karen does. We don't know where she finds the energy! We would highly recommend Karen to any prospective family.
We are extremely happy with the care our daughter receives, and the great progress she has made whilst in Karen’s care. Karen’s amazing home is always welcoming, clean and well organised and children have great fun playing with all the toys available and with the other children. Beyond all this though, it is Karen’s warm and friendly and fair approach which sets her apart from other childminders.
During her time with Karen our daughter has grown into a happy and confident little girl. Karen has played a huge part in her development in that she has given our child guidance in manners, play, sharing and of course her loving care. She has also successfully potty trained her in no time and taught her how to eat good and healthy nutritious meals (her home cooking is amazing, and she also provides healthy snacks) and her speech has developed amazingly fast with Karen. Karen ensures good personal hygiene in encouraging all the children to wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet. We cannot stress enough how we would not hesitate to recommend Karen as a childminder and have found her to be extremely competent and conscientious. We have 100% confidence that she would be able to offer any child in her care everything that is required and more.
Karen is an amazingly capable individual, extremely reliable and trustworthy. She is caring and nurturing but also instils good discipline in our daughter and has a great sense of fun. She has a wide breadth of experience in looking after children and always makes us feel confident in her ability to look after and care for our daughter. This is important to us because our daughter is our first child and Karen always provides good advice and sets a fantastic example. She provides a wide, fun range of activities including plenty of outdoor exercise in her beautiful and fully equipped garden and out of the house. Karen is excellent at planning activities for the children, with daily activities such as play time and crafts. Children under her care enjoy sand and water play, drawing and sticking, reading and puzzles as well as outings to the park, trips to feed the ducks and walks in the woods and forest, farm, shops, etc, and we know and feel confident that she is well supervised and has a lot of fun.
Karen has bonded extremely well with our daughter who has in return developed a close bond with Karen very fast, and we have been able to discuss with her progress and care on a daily basis. She is always happy to be dropped off in the morning. Karen provides a home from home environment. At no time has my daughter not wanted to stay with Karen and we have left for work relaxed every morning knowing that she is in a caring and safe environment. We will not hesitate to leave our daughter with Karen until it is time for her to go to school as we know just being around Karen and also the other children she looks after has benefited her enormously and we know she is fond of all of them. We have found Karen's home to always be a pleasant environment and the facilities, toys and learning tools are excellent, plenty and of the best quality and in excellent condition. Karen is a very generous and kind individual. We regard her now as part of our family.
Karen is a great communicator and has no trouble in gaining children’s confidence and therefore encouraging good behavior and kindness and compassion to others, skills which are important to us at home. When our daughter is hurt or feeling under the weather I know that she feels happy to be comforted by Karen and I am confident that she can administer either first aid or medication following all the correct procedures and completing the necessary records to ensure her health and safety.
Karen completes a diary detailing what our daughter has done each day. From this we have a complete picture of her whole day including what she has eaten, how long she has slept and all her activities. This helps us to feel involved with her care and we can talk to her about her day afterwards.
All in all we are thoroughly happy with the level of care our daughter receives and we are certain that being in such a positive and happy environment is helping her develop into a confident and self assured little girl.
We would have no hesitation in recommending Karen to look after your children, as she is a great and reliable childminder. We are more than satisfied with everything she does for and with our daughter and all the advice Karen gives us as a first time parents. Please look no further. We cannot thank Karen enough for all her support. We could not have wished for a more professional, caring and dedicated cover.
Heartfelt thanks to Karen!
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Karen’s childcare services are second to none.
I used Karen from 2005 - 2010, she looked after 2 of my eldest from 6 months. I have always wanted a big family and when number 3 came I decided to give up work and therefore no longer needed Karen. However Karen still plays a big a part of my children’s lives and am positive this will stay this way. She is fantastic with children and has raised 2 wonderful girls herself, she is passionate about everything in life and made sure both my children where healthy safe and educated. Being French the kids picked up on Karen’s’ mother tongue, she was happy to educate them and now both have French lessons to continue you this.
I can’t recommend Karen enough, thank you for your services.
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