Mariedoo's Reviews
Childminder
Below are the parent reviews for Mariedoo. Back to Mariedoo's profile
Average Rating: (5 from 24 reviews)
Marie was the first non-family member that we ever left our 1 year old daughter with, and we couldn’t be happier with not only the level of care, but the home-from-home environment she provided. Marie nurtured our baby in a way that made us feel relieved and reassured at first, then happy and fully content over time. We realised the confidence our little one had developed when only after a week or so, she marched into Marie’s self-assured and excited to spend time there. She was always happy to be left at Marie's. Marie engaged brilliantly with our daughter, embraced who she was (including her well-loved beaten-up teddy bear) and pushed her development, to the point she learnt so many new things (including feeding herself independently) under Marie’s care. She cooked lovely nutritious home-made food that our daughter loved (we were told on a weekly basis that she ‘ate well’), and took her to interactive play days every time she was with her, which our daughter benefited so much from. Marie kept a log of everything that took place while our daughter was in her care – it’s a lovely little book that we’ll treasure forever. We owe so much to Marie for socialising and increasing our daughter’s confidence, and we can’t recommend her highly enough. I’m only disappointed that my daughter couldn’t have spent more time with Marie, but sadly we had to move away from the area. An outstanding childminder in every sense. Thank you, Marie!
The reviews are all true, Marie is the best person you could possibly wish for to look after your child. She looked after our little boy a couple of days a week from 3 months old and we had no concerns at all because we knew he would be as well looked after as if he were home. She has helped shape him into a happy, confident and sociable little boy and we couldn’t be more grateful. His face lights up when he sees Marie’s house and we know he has the best time with her. All of our friends and family know about Marie - we call her Marie Poppins because she is the dream childminder- really lovely and friendly but takes no nonsense- our boy always does what Marie tells him to do. When we decided we needed to move for more space, the only thing we both didn’t want to leave for was Marie! We wish Marie could look after Fox forever. We hope she will still be childminding in five years and we can move back to north London and reunite Fox with her!
Our little girl was with Marie from age 11 months until 2.5 and it was honestly the best start for her in a wonderful setting. Heading back to work and leaving her with Marie, I felt so reassured and happy that she was being so well looked after. We wanted her to have that bit more attention than a busy nursery but also the benefit of being with other children so this was a perfect combination of the two.
Not only did they do great activities at her house with lovely garden, they went out every morning on trips to farms, parks, groups with lots of other children and even places like the Transport Museum - she was seeing such fabulous and exciting places!
The food was homecooked and delicious and we often heard how our little girl would want more!
The best thing for us was the communication and updates we got each day, something my friends weren't always getting from their nurseries - we had a one to one chat with Marie at pick up to hear what had happened that day and also received a book at the end of the of the day with a brilliant update. Not only that Marie created a beautiful large book of photos documenting their activities and how it related to the early years skills. This is something we still treasure now!
by N19Mum about Mariedoo on 26/03/2022
Response by Mariedoo on 26/03/2022:
Thank you Lyndsey for the fantastic review and your kind words. I really appreciate it.
My daughter attended Maries 4 days between the age of 1 and 3.5 years. Marie’s became a second home for her where she absolutely loved going because it was a loving, homely, stimulating, fun, safe and supportive environment where the children flourished. Marie is a wonderful childminder who genuinely loves her work and it shows in everything she does.
Marie puts a lot of time into planning the week, from trips to activities at home to snacks and food (my daughter (now 5) still talks about Marie’s food and how she wishes I could cook more like her!) Marie also has an educational focus to her activities and encourages the children from an early age to think about letters and numbers, writing their names etc. (things I would never have thought to do at home!).This set my daughter in very good stead when she started school. There is lots of reading and LOTS of creative work - drawing, painting, stencils, collages, glueing etc. and lots of physical and messy play in the garden with water, play doh, clay, sand, dried pasta, you name it!
We loves that Marie expects respectful and kind behaviour from the children (towards the other children and adults) and she is fair, clear and compassionate in how she ‘works’ with them. She has a well-thought out routine that the children love and thrive off - there is always something going on and the children have busy, stimulating days (but it’s a calm and organised used kind of busyness).
As a parent, choosing who to leave your child with when you go to work is one of the biggest decisions you have to make…I lost count of the number of times I thought how lucky we were to have found Marie.
Our son was with Marie and her assistant from around 12 months to 2.5 years old. He was so happy there and the care he received was brilliant. He was so cared for and developed a lot of confidence during his time there. We were very sad to have to leave when we moved out of London and, even now, he talks about Marie and his friends. Marie provides such a huge range of activities for the children and takes time to make a scrap book for each child, with photos and details of what they have been up to. Our son still loves it look through this with us to remember his time there. I would not hesitate to recommend Marie to anyone.
We cannot speak more highly of Marie and her team. The care, support, guidance and love she gave to our daughter was second to none. Our daughter joined Marie when she was 9 months old and we've sadly just left because we relocated to Bristol. Our daughter came on leaps and bounds under Marie's doting care - she began eating with a spoon just weeks after starting and ate a wide variety of fruit and veg and home cooked meals, she learnt how to put her own shoes on and she has become such a confident little girl who loves socialising and is kind and caring to other children - I genuinely believe this is down to Marie's expertise and experience as a dedicated childminder.
The setting at Marie's house is perfect - so spacious and light and with a big garden which the children are out playing in all year round. In the summer we always arrived to pick our daughter up and found her playing in the garden, riding a bike, jumping on the trampoline. Our daughter came home every day with a piece of artwork she had completed, or a plant she had potted - she is now a glueing and sticking addict and just loves to paint!
The hardest part about leaving London was leaving Marie and her team and knowing what a hole it would leave in our daughter's life. We highly, highly recommend Marie - it was the best start we gave our daughter. Thank you Marie!
Our son started with Marie at 9 months and is now 3 years old. We can't recommend Marie highly enough. She provides a loving, safe and engaging environment for children which allows them to develop and flourish.
Marie was incredibly considerate during our son's induction period and really helped us to ease him into a nursery environment. Once he was settled he developed lots of new skills really quickly and was happy and content.
As he grew up he was able to make lots of new friends and developed a really strong bond with all of the children and Marie's assistants.
Marie provides nutritous, healthy food and snacks which our son absolutely loves. Each week she schedules groups and activities for the children including gymnastics and arts and crafts. She provides a daily report for each child and keeps a wonderful progress book that includes development milestones and pictures of personal events such as birthday parties.
Marie has provided a second home for our son and for that we are incredibly grateful. She is a wonderful childminder that we highly recommend.
Our daughter joined Marie when she was 9 months old, for 3 days a week, and she instantly fell in love with Marie, her assistant, Maureen, and Marie's home. As this was our first child, and we felt she was quite young to be going to a nursery/childminder, we were quite nervous but when meeting Marie at her home for the first time we felt instantly at ease and looked after.
Our daughter has totally flourished under Marie's care. She eats amazingly well, is learning so many new skills from the other children, participates in many different activities and is absolutely exhausted when she gets home! It's so wonderful to see all the artwork she does, the photos from the groups they attend and when it is a sunny day, and we go to collect her, she's outside playing in the big back garden.
Marie is super organised and it's really easy to communicate with her and discuss any concerns we might have about our daughter. Maureen, is so enthusiastic and a complete natural with the kids - our daughter adores them both. It feels like we are getting such a professional service but within a completely nurturing, natural and loving setting.
Our daughter is still with Marie and we can't wait to see how she continues to grow special bonds with Marie, Maureen and the other children and what adventures she'll get up to next at gymnastics!
My son started with Marie when he was around 17 months old and this was my first experience of leaving him in childcare. It was without a doubt the best decision we made to leave him in Marie's care, she is incredibly experienced as a childminder and has all the energy, love and support for each and every child. I recently changed his childcare arrangements as I'm now on maternity leave with my second child and the hardest part was saying (a temporary) goodbye to Marie - he still asks me now if we can go to 'Marie's house'.
I would highly recommend Marie to anyone looking for childcare for their child, particularly if this is the first time the child will be left in care. Marie has a warm and inviting home and keeps them all happy and entertained with the daily visits to playgroups, soft play, farms and much more.
She has also provided so much support when it comes to teaching good manners, learning how to eat with a fork/spoon, language development and even potty training. We all miss her very much!
by KatieLM about Mariedoo on 05/02/2018
Response by Mariedoo on 24/02/2018:
Thank you so much for your kind words I do appreciate them.
My daughter was with Marie for a year before we had to leave because due to a change in my work situation. I was so sad to take her away from what became her second home.
Marie combines many years of experience with a youthful spirit and a reliable routine with lots of new ideas and activities to keep things interesting. She has a warm welcoming home which is always full of fun. I love the fact that they get out of the house every morning to go to different groups and activities and have the afternoon to sleep, relax and play.
Marie loves creative activities and every event and season is celebrated through art, music and dressing up.
My daughter gained so much confidence in her care and I would highly recommend Marie to anyone looking for a more intimate alternative to nursery.
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