Home based ECE services

This area of the site focuses on the information needs of home-based early childhood education (ECE) services.

Home-based ECE services are early childhood education and care services that arrange for education and care to be provided to children in private homes. These services are currently regulated by the Education (Home-Based Care) Order 1992.

The Ministry of Education has introduced an additional funding rule for home-based services where an educator is a family member living with the child. This is an addition to the existing funding rules and is effective from 16 October 2009.

From 1 December 2008 home-based services will be deemed to be licensed. This means that:

education and care can be provided in a home nominated by the child’s parent, instead of only in the child’s home, or the home of the educator. For instance, two families can decide to share a nanny with education and care provided in the home of one of the children
an educator’s own five year old child who is enrolled in school will not be counted in the maximum number of children allowed in the home-based setting.

Home-based services will also continue to comply with the Education (Home Based Care) Order 1992.

In this section you will notice that the generic term ‘adults providing education and care’ has been replaced with the home-based specific terms of ‘educator’ and ‘co-ordinator’. These terms will be defined in regulation.

A copy of the criteria can be downloaded from the right hand column.