I just started working in an infant room at a school that opened in October of 2023. I’ve been there since January and it was immediately obvious that the person who owns the school has no experience in ECE, she didn’t even send her own kids to a center. She constantly has input about the way things should be done that baffles the entire staff. Essentially, she thinks her background as a stay-at-home mother of 4 qualifies her to know more about child development in a care setting better than anyone on earth. For context, she only hires teachers with degrees in ECE related fields and lots of experience because it’s “only the best” for her school. But, she never lets us do what we know best because she knows best in her mind. We aren’t allowed to help soothe children to sleep before nap because they “need to learn to sleep on their own” and because “that’s what I did with my kids.” She completely disregards and does not account for the fact that we aren’t raising these children and they have parents of their own that need to be factored into the equation. Most recently, HFM broke out in our infant room. She made a comment to me-“I know it’s not anything you did wrong” but the implication was that she thought I had somehow brought HFM into the classroom. When one parent told us their little one had HFM, everyone figured the classroom community of parents would be notified, but she said they didn’t need to know. She said we would handle it on a “case-by-case” basis. We sent more than one child home with a fever and/or sores every day of that week! The parents were never notified. Am I wrong for seeing that as a terrible and irresponsible approach to a contagious illness outbreak? I really believed the parents had a right to know. It’s left me with such a nasty feeling about working there.

Hello, everybody!

I have a Bachelor's in journalism, and am currently working on a second Bachelor's in social work. However, since I started working for Childcare Careers I discovered that I really enjoyed working with and teaching children. I have recently been hired to be an assistant pre-K teacher for Children's Courtyard, and I am very excited about that.

I've looked into getting a teaching certificate, but it seems like it would be expensive and require another year of school. I don't think I have it in me to do more schooling. Does anybody have any advice?

I’m a preschool teacher and just need to know if it’s really not possible to live life on a preschool teacher salary. I have no desire to teach older than this age group, but I am having horrible anxiety that I will not be able to sustain having kids and living a happy life because everyone always tells me that it’s not possible. I guess I need to know from older teachers if it was possible to do these things with your salary? I love what I do and I can’t see myself doing anything else, but I also want to be able to have a family some day.

For context: I am starting my new position as an assistant toddler teacher tomorrow after taking two years off to finish college courses (not yet graduated). I was previously an assistant teacher in the preschool and pre-k classrooms at the same center I will be restarting at.

Should I create an "About Me" to give to the parents; and if so, what should I include? Thank you!

Figuring out what I want to do in order to finish my bachelors and get my state teaching certificate, I’m just getting done with my associates. My two options are either a local state college which is a WHOLE lot cheaper but only offers a Bachelors in grades 1-6. I’m really not interested in anything above grade 2, and would ideally prefer a Bachelors in b-2. Which brings me to my second option which is a private college which would cost 5x more and I’d definitely be taking out student loans. My advisor said if I do the state college I’d still be able to get certified for b-2 as well, it would just take a few more steps once I graduate, and I could always get my masters in B-2. Do you think I would be making a mistake by doing 1-6 if I’m really not that interested in the upper elementary grades?

ETA: the degree would be Special Education and Childhood Education 1-6.

OK so one of my new students that I’ve had not very long maybe like two weeks or three I said not very long when I have to leave like on Friday I had to go through the trash because said child had a very bad bowel movement in his diaper. It was very smelly.

So I left him with the teacher that shares the bathroom with me. I also only had like maybe three kids left so I left all of the kids with her well he started crying when I was leaving and then his mom showed up a few minutes later and was like why is my kid crying?

The teacher had to tell her it was because I left to go throw the trash. I’ve never had a child. That’s attached to me a specially this quick any tips on how to avoid this.

This is also the child that they moved up a little bit early because mom wants to start potty training. Apparently he will go potty on the toilet at home but he refuses at school. He screams and cries and when I try him sit him on the toilet he Steffens his body up and I can’t put him on the toilet.

Hello everyone! I have a little sister that is going to be starting her career this May after graduation and I want to build her something. As she will be new to this, she doesn’t know what she could use. I’m a moderately competent woodworker, so what’s something a new teacher could use?

I’m at a good center right now, in a good classroom, and I’ve been here for two and a half years.

But I think I’m ready to be done. I’m not actually taking home any pay after taxes and tuition for my two kids (preschool and infant room) and my oldest has a spot at the free pre-K at our local elementary school in the fall.

But this is such a good job. Good daycare jobs don’t come around that often. I spend about 40 minutes one way on a commute though. I wish I had better options closer to home. What will I do if I eventually want to come back to ECE? Is this just a temporary blah feeling that I should push through? This is half-vent, half advice. Thanks for listening.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had high-quality, well-paying daycares everywhere?

One of the parents told our school her daughter had lice, but it was treated, AFTER THE FACT. She had apparently had resistant lice for a few weeks. Now we have four other children we have found knits on. I am beyond frustrated with a parent who thinks this is ok. I understand sometimes finding alternative childcare is hard but she put the health and safety of the entire school at risk and is just acting like it’s no big deal.

Hi all I’m looking for advice on how help stop scratching and hitting behaviors from a 2 year old. This child is scratching other children in the face when they want something the other child has. We try to shadow them constantly and intervene before it happens but usually the incidents occur when we are helping another child or when we have our backs turned for a few seconds. It always happens very fast and with little warning.

I feel terrible for all involved because I know the parents are trying to work on it with them but the child is only 2 and does not have the words to communicate effectively yet. We have suggested cutting nails and modeling turn taking at home. Is there any other suggestions we can give the parents and anything else we can do in the classroom?

About 10 years ago I worked as an aide in an ECE setting for students with disabilities (moderate to severe). We used 123 Magic in the classroom and from my memory, it worked well for most of our students. I just found the book for teachers at a thrift store and am wondering if it is even worth reading? I don't know much about the theory behind it which is why I want to read it, but if the practices are outdated I don't want to waste my time. I know best practices change very quickly in our field.

I do not condone it, but there has been so many times when I’ve been a temp at many of my municipality’s preschools where kids between the age of 3 and 6 have hit my butt, or played the drums on it. Jokingly, but I’m still always shook by it. And I always grab them straight away and tell them that it’s not ok to touch those body parts on other people, and I talk to them about consent.

We have a motto that is roughly translated to “Stop! My body!”. It’s cute in my language and it rhymes too, so the kids learn it and it sticks with them. So I repeat it and they get it and then move along.

But is this a common thing with kids in general?? And with preschool/kindergarten personnel? Because they don’t seem to do it with my other colleagues. :( Just today my niece who is 4 years old played drums on my butt, and we had a convo straight after where I said that it’s not ok.

I know kids do it in an innocent way, and I always stop it straight away and talk to them. But I’d just like to know if you also have experienced this? And how did you react, what did you do?

I think I’m trying to find out if this is a thing where they’re not respecting my boundaries and if it’s really a question of respect for me, or if I shouldn’t take it THAT seriously or personal. But always feel awkward and kind of ashamed afterwards, and I’m kind of hoping that no colleague saw it because I also feel ashamed towards them. :(

I usually wear jeans, and a knitted sweater or a cardigan, and a simple t shirt.

Thank you, colleagues! I’ve only worked for about a year in this profession so I’m still learning.

EDIT:

thank you all for your reassuring words! I shalt continue to hold the butt boundaries consistently and firmly. And hopefully they’ll stop doing it before summer lol. The saga continues!

Do you guys find yourselves wishing they made the clothes they make for kids in adult sizes? Like, one of my kids was wearing this flowery t-shirt the other day and I just kept thinking, I would wear that if they made it adult sizes. That happens pretty frequently though, and when I mentioned it to a friend she said it was weird. So I just thought I'd ask you guys, because I have a feeling it has to do with my constant exposure to little kid stuff and we all have that in common! 😅

I worked this job for a while. I really wanted to be good. I put in a ton of effort and did research into teaching and dealing with kids. I wanted every activity to be something that would be engaging and help with skills. I worked so hard on trying to build good relationships with the kids and do everything by the book. I constantly was mocked and chastised for not getting fast results and for the kids not being scared or intimidated by me . “ I dont know who’s in charge the kids or you” , “sometimes i feel like the kids are the ones running the show..it’s your show” ,”if they were in the principals office they wouldn’t be acting like this”, “use your voice to make it clear to them that it’s not ok” .

Eventually I buckled under the pressure and started acting like the other staff but of course immediately got the book thrown at me and told that you should only ever “ be nice “ and “be a good role model” . Eventually I left and bumped into one of the kids with his parents at the grocery store, who said “it’s actually better now that you’re not there…not better but calmer” .

It seems like I just did a terrible job and don’t trust myself or my decision making anymore . I haven’t worked in over a year and it’s destroyed my mental health. No one who hasn’t worked the job seems to understand where I’m at so I thought I’d asks this group If anyone has any advice or similar experiences. Thanks

Hey everyone. i’m about to move to NZ soon as an ECE teacher. I’ve been in the industry for about 8 years.

just want to ask, especially those who are in NZ, what a typical day usually looks like in an ECE centre there? how’s the workload, ratio and all that?

and are parents usually okay with overseas teachers?

would love to hear your thoughts!

Hello, parent here. Just discovered this subreddit, I hope this post is okay to ask and have a discussion about what the heck is happening in early education and when did this start? I have an almost 3 year old, and Im trying to be an active parent but I feel like I'm in some sort of backwards world. Every single daycare/preschool we have visited uses screens. The absolutely best one I have found still uses movie time in the early morning and late afternoons. Every day. Watching a TV in school was like a 3-5 times a year occurrence in the 2000s. Now to top it off, speech therapy is pushing tablets on the kid. I try to insist that I really don't want him to use it, and I prefer cards, etc. but they still sometimes use it for things. I saw a post on the parenting sub about kindergarteners using freaking tablets and the parent wanted to introduce their kid to video games to "help them not fall behind".

It just seems like some kind of clown world and I don't know how to go forward. I don't want my kid using tablets and screens in school and then come home and continue using them for homework and fun. Every single school seems to give tablets or laptops to the kids. Is there any way to avoid this? How did early education go from no screens for kids to your small children absolutely need screens, even if the home is mostly screen free? And then there is all the complaints from teachers about screen addicted kids. How are the parents supposed to cope with this nonsense without being billionaires and sending the kid to an exclusive screen free school that the kids of these tech pushing jerks go to?

Please shed some light on what is going on in early education right now, and tips on how to avoid it. Thanks in advance!

I started working at a daycare a couple months ago. Before this, my only experience was taking a child development course where I got to work with preschool aged children. I currently work as a teacher assistant with toddlers and honestly it’s been all over the place. I was pretty much thrown into it, just going along with what everyone else was doing and learning along the way. This daycare has a preschool room as well.

But there’s a few things about this job that have me questioning the daycare and I guess I would like some input. We have 6 toddlers and 3 teachers, 1 lead teacher and 2 assistants. The lead teacher sometimes leaves me and the other assistant alone with the kids so that she can go do other work. But the thing is, is that a lot of times she just leaves the room without saying anything. And is it even normal for her to leave us like that when we’re just assistants? I don’t have my CDA or any qualifications. I’ve been left alone with the toddlers multiple times as well.

This past Friday made me really stop and think though. The lead teacher told us that she is going to be out all next week. The director didn’t even mention it to me until I mentioned it to her and she just went “oh haha yeah she’s gonna be gone next week.” We only had 3 kids on Friday and the other assistant was sent home early. When the third child left, the lead teacher tells me that she’s clocking out because there’s only two kids left. Why would I be left alone with the kids when it should be the lead who stays with them? And I’m pretty sure the other assistant I work with quit because her name isn’t on the schedule anymore. She’s been complaining about the daycare since she started which was a month ago. She told me she has a lot of experience and that this was the worst daycare she’s ever worked at. One of the preschool assistants will be with me next week but this just seems so disorganized. The director changed my schedule next week without even talking to me about it. Honestly there’s just no communication and this issue has been brought up to the director but nothing has changed. There’s more I could say I just don’t want to start venting and this is getting long. I hope I put the right flair lol

I recently accepted a coaching position teaching preschool gymnastics. It’s a traveling position that claims you’ll travel 60-70 miles a day. I’m compensated for 45 hours a week. $35k salary with $200 mileage reimbursement per pay period. I am paid bi-weekly. I completed my first week and traveled over 500 miles. I traveled 300 miles within the first two days. There is a bonus but it’s practically impossible to maintain due to the companies metrics. If I bonus it’d be an extra $500 a month. But none of my coworkers have their bonus and haven’t in month. I will be expected to also work one Saturday a month along with other weekend blocks when there’s events. There’s also a required monthly hang out for our team so we can bond….. but I don’t want to do that. I’m not sure if the company pays for it but they’re not paying us to be there and or why do you think I want to see any of you outside of work more than I already do?

I was previously a gymnastics coach and loved it. It was very personal and I felt I really made an impact on the kids. However, I hate this new job. It’s more draining than I expected. With some kids I feel like I’m actually helping them better their skills but I realized I’m just a babysitter. I thought when I accepted ed the position, it’d be a great opportunity. But I’ve been crying driving home. It takes everything out of me and I don’t feel like it’s even worth it. I don’t even have the kids all day but for a couple days of the week I teach 5-6 classes for 3 hours straight with over a hundred of kids. There is not a second in between those 3 hour blocks. It leaves me frozen after classes are over and I’m depleted mentally for the rest of the day.

I’ve talked to my family and friends and they are telling me I need to quit. I just need to hear my fellow ECE professionals opinions. I just want some advice and to talk to others who understand the struggle.

Lifting kids onto the changing table, carrying in groceries, lifting table to clean, carrying pre-k kids on my back when they have a cast, going up and down the stairs, speed walking to the bus stop.. kneeling down so many times a day to help kids put on their shoes, to go on the ground to their level..

Was just informed that the knee pain ive been feeling is patellofemoral pain syndrome and start physical therapy in 2 weeks. I don't know if it's a blessing that this field makes me fit, or a curse that it causes issues like this!!!

Just a little vent/talk. Wow.

Also, what is your lunch hour like? Do you work Monday to Friday, whenever the nursery is open? Or is it kind of like shift work where you might get the morning shift or the afternoon shift?

I'm thinking of doing an early years apprenticeship and I'd just like to picture what life might be like (26, currently work for Greggs).

one of my biggest icks is at pickup when some parents grab their kid and leave without saying as much as a “goodbye.” I totally understand having somewhere to be after school but wouldn’t you like to hear at least a little of how your child’s day went?

there are so many kids at my center (one little girl in my class included 🙁) who are there from 6:30am til 5:45. when mom comes to pick up she leaves as fast as possible. i try to give a quick synopsis of her day before mom literally cuts me off mid sentence to leave.

i guess it bugs me so much because i care about and love all my kids so much. i’m with them 8-9 hours a day while mom and dad only get dinner and bedtime (thank you corporate america). there’s important information from their day for parents to know. if i’m gone for a day i need a very detailed report from my co teacher about how everyone was the day i was gone 😂

this is all a super long winded way of saying i’m tired of being treated like a babysitter. it sucks that some parents don’t seem to understand/respect the role we take on as teachers and caregivers. we know just as much (and sadly in some cases more) about their child as they do.

Years ago and ex coworker did something that could've been so bad. Our toddler teacher (18-24months) was out one day for whatever reason so another teacher took over their class. After nap time they get the kids ready to go home and ready for snack. To get them ready they wash their bottoms with a wash cloth with soap and water. The next day the toddler teacher comes back and noticed they still had all there wash cloths. Apparently the ex coworker used one towel to clean all 8 toddlers. Do you realize how nasty that is. Luckily the kids were fine but like ewwwwww.

We recently moved Tennessee, and I was floored to discover that the allowed ratio for young toddlers (12-24 months) is 1:6 or 2:12, and that's what all the daycares do.

I just pulled my son (after 4 days!) from a center that had a bunch of other problems, but I'm not convinced that 12 kids 12-18 months with two teachers is ever OK. With outstanding experienced teachers, it feels like it would be a challenge to meet the kids basic needs. Unfortunately, this place seemed to have had a lot of turnover, so they were working with a lot of very new teachers and subs, and they seemed to have trouble doing even that. (I felt bad for the teachers, since it seemed like they were set up to fail.)

This is a question from a parent to the experts: Is this ratio ever OK for kids this age, or should we be switching to a nanny if we can possibly afford it?

I made an appointment for a few hours off in the afternoon. The thing is, it got rejected for being in the afternoon. If I reschedule I won’t get in for months. The support staff goes to the after school programs in the afternoon which means no extra staff. But if they wanted to they would make the time. I’m just so frustrated with my managements favouritism.

I have a few ideas. I could try to talk with them but I’m not sure if it would work. I think it would work if I gave them attitude. It sucks because I really don’t want to but that’s the only way they’ll listen. I could maybe get a written doctors note, but that’s even if I got in. I could call in sick and just stay on the down low. Or I could wait until the executive director who rejected it leaves for her vacation. I could tell my boss who’s below the executive director that I have it booked off, and they wouldn’t know the difference. I’m just really upset, and feel frustrated I have to result in underhanded tactics.

I have no idea what’s going on we’ve had 4 people (2 teachers and 2 kids) test positive for strep JUST THIS WEEK (one of the teachers was myself and it was a rlly rough case). and it’s only in my classroom and not in the infant or preschool room. should i be concerned?? how can we prevent anyone else from getting it? we spray bleach on all the toys when we close and consistently wipe down surfaces, and instantly bleach a toy if we notice a kid puts in their mouth. this is freaking me out lol ive never had an outbreak this serious!!

I've had a child in my mobile infant class for a year now, who is developmentally delayed and has a diagnosis of mild cerebral palsy. This child only comes to school two days a week (other days he's with a nanny or goes to physical therapy) but he has made incredible strides and progress. He walks, talks, feeds himself, and is literally turning 2 in June. My director and owner refuse to move him up because he cannot walk on the rope with the other toddlers. They want the parents to hire an aide to be with him just for our outside times.

I've tried to understand this logic, even offering to have the child come back to the infant class while the toddlers are outside, but the director is adamant that we can't accommodate him simply because he can't walk on the rope and she doesn't want the toddler teachers to have to push a stroller. I realize that we can't give him one-on-one care, but his physical therapist, his doctor, his parents, and I all have tried suggesting various methods and ideas that are all shot down. It breaks my heart, but I feel like we are failing this disabled child and the parents are going to be forced to withdraw both their children (his brother is in our pre-k program).

Has anyone else had a situation like this?

Okay, so I’ve been in this field for a number of years. I understand which ratios are for which age in my state. Babies is 1:3 or 2:7, toddlers is 1:4 or 2:9, and preschool is 1:10 or 2:20. I believe school age is 1:13, but other than that I’m not sure as I’ve never been with school age.

Here is my question. Everywhere I’ve worked other than my current job, if you absolutely had to combine ages, you went by the younger ratio. So say you had to combine for whatever reason, say it’s a skeleton day or you just needed to combine for a few moments so someone could leave the room, and you had a toddler room of 2:6. I was always told you could only have 1 baby in that room to make it a 2:7 ratio. On the other end, you could add 3 preschoolers and make it a 2:9, but could not go any higher since that is the toddler ratio and you go by the younger age.

At my current job, there is a room known as Toddler 3 which is the older toddler room. However, it is licensed so kids can reach preschool age and stay in there a little bit longer if there is no space in preschool. Because of this, there are several students in their above the age of 2.9 (preschool age).

Recently, they have been leaving one of the teachers alone with 5 kids (ratio for toddlers in MA is 1:4) and saying it’s allowed because the extra kid is preschool.

Again, I’ve always been told you have to go by the younger ratio. So now I’m really confused. Have I been misinformed or is my center breaking ratio and going against licensing? Any MA childcare workers who understand how this works please inform me! Because in my head, that means you could have 6 extra preschoolers with your 4 toddlers and get away with it, which sounds so irresponsible to me and doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Any help is appreciated. I will report asap if my center is in the wrong.

Usually at my center we get hour long breaks, but this week everyone got nothing. 10 minutes to used the bathroom and maybe eat something and then go back. So many people were out sick this week that no one could relieve anyone for breaks. Not to mention being kept here an hour late daily. Ive worked 10 hour days every day this week, four of those days no breaks at all. Currently typing this on the toilet and I really don’t want to go back to class I’m exhausted. I cant keep doing this. This is 100% legal in my state. Idk what to do, I cant find another job right now so I guess I just suffer like everyone else.

This center has ruined childcare for me completely and I hope to be out before the end of the year. It’s taking its toll. Its inhumane to not get a break for lunch every single day and be worked past my limit. Im tired