The Good Child Care Guide

 The Good Child Care Guide
 Hilary Periera,
 Pearson Education
 ISBN:100273712632
 £9.99

 Star rating: 5/5

Sub-titled How to choose and use the right care for your child, this is a clearly written and well-structured book, writes Wendy Wood.

At less than 200 pages long, the guide examines important issues in surprising depth.

In particular, time is given to the parental journey through the complex feelings of doubt and responsibility often raised by the wish to share care, whether driven by a need to work or simply for child-free time.

The reader is informed of the whole range of childcare options and details, including legal regulations, national childcare standards, nursery staffing structures and curricula, the use of registered childminders and, crucially, costs.

Fears that a child may be neglected or abused are considered, and good advice offered on dealing with this and many other questions that parents will wonder about but may not be confident enough to raise or know how to address. The emphasis throughout is on reaching agreement or consensus between parent and carer, in the child’s interests.

I could not identify any relevant or significant area not explored in this text and would expect that any prospective users of substitute childcare will find all they need to know among these pages.

Wendy Wood is a trainer and consultant specialising in areas of child care and protection