So this is my 3rd week working here. My first week I just did a lot of computer trainings online. And this will be my 2nd week there. I’ve been to school for this, 12 years of experience I naively thought i would get a violent angry child in my classroom.

He is 3 years old almost 4 and I have a class of 10 (with a co teacher). The other kids have. Developmental disability, or autism. The rest of the children have normal development.

Anytime there’s a new teacher in there and not the teachers he’s comfortable with,his behaviors escalate so fast .he starts by kicking/throwing things we do every technique we go by the window. And play eye spy, deep breathing, gentle massage, talking about his interests. I’m just trying to keep him away from the other kids so he doesn’t hurt them. He pushes them down, bites, scratches, yanks their hair and doesn’t let go. And don’t forget all the swear words too… saying: you’re a motherfucker you’re a bitch, and gives everyone the finger.

It is extremely overwhelming. If one of my co teachers is gone. It’s like the day. Is going to be awful. He is in my classroom for 4 hours then he goes to day treatment after lunch. What do I do? Yes we do have therapies here for him but I don’t feel he can be in a classroom setting he needs ABA therapy. I need help and advice on what to do.

I'm the director of a preschool currently serving children ages 2–4. We're considering adding a class for 18-month-olds and would love insight on the potential benefits and challenges. What are the key pros and cons of this addition? Additionally, what specific classroom requirements and teacher qualifications would be needed for this age group?

If anyone is looking for a cute little story for kids that have social anxiety, fear of heights, loud noises etc - this book is super cute. It's about a porcupine that has to overcome general anxieties with a series of tips and tricks provided by friends. Figured others might be able to benefit from this story. here's the ebook https://a.co/d/4xMAOBr

if you have any other recommendations for anxiety books for young children, I'm all ears :)

I had a CDA credential that I let lapse a couple years ago (major life issues got in the way of renewal back then). But with them announcing the renewal amnesty program for the next few months I wanted to take advantage and get my credential active again.

One of the requirements is membership in a professional organization. I'm currently leaning towards getting an individual membership with NAEYC because I'm familiar with the association and it isn't an expensive membership. But I don't just want to settle on that just to tick a box on a checklist, I want to join something that will actually benefit me as an educator.

So I wanted to see if there are other memberships that someone finds valuable or if anyone has feedback on the NAEYC individual membership being worth it?

Hi! I work with 16-24mo/olds. I have one friend in my classroom that I worked with when she was 6-12mo, then again now that she is 18mo. She’s been very attached to me since before she could sit up by herself. I’ve babysit her outside of work too, so her relationship to me is different than the others.

The issue is that this baby has always used her loud voice to communicate. Now that she’s older she’s been using this loud voice to complain. (Ie. She says “water” and then gives less than 10 seconds for the teacher to respond to this request before she starts whining/screaming. Popsicle fell on the floor so it had to be thrown away.) This type of episode happens so often that most teachers don’t even look at her when she starts vocalizing, which leaves her in a vulnerable spot safety wise.

9/10 when she is screaming, there is no cause that would “warrant” that response (I understand that to her, it all warrants screaming.) She doesn’t do this to the other teachers either, just me. When they try to comfort her she calls out my name.

So my question here is what do I do when this baby is following me around the classroom screaming her head off for what appears to be “no” reason? I used to drop what I was doing and give snuggles, but she would just scream in my ears, then continue following me around screaming. I try to talk to her but she just screams and then continues following me around screaming. I’m not going to lie here, I’ve started to try to ignore her as best I can now, so I just turn my back to her and walk away, but that isn’t helping either and I can see that it’s scaring her when I ignore her.

I have 11 other children in my classroom most days (4:1 ratio) and the volume and social expectations of her following me around screaming really overwhelm me and I find that my patience runs lower on the days where I’m being screamed at. I’ve been trying to remember to bring my earplugs in to use while she’s screaming. I want to do better, but I’ve run out of ideas. What would you do?

Her biggest gripes for my room are kids crying and fighting over toys and pee getting on the carpet

First of all these are 2 year olds. Of course they’re gonna act like getting a toy taken by someone else is the end of the world.

Second, it’s the potty training room. Every time my coworker (who’s also a giant kiss up) brings it up I want to roll my eyes so hard. How about instead of freaking out about the small spot on the carpet, we instead help the kid who feels embarrassed because they had an accident. She always tells me that she’ll send the director my way. Then I will remind her that it’s the potty training room and she’s the one who insists on carpets and rugs that stain like crazy with even soap. It’s worse with throw up because more is needed to clean it than pee

This is the same director that rushes potty training kids because she wants to send them to the next room so we can cram more kids into the younger rooms. How can you rush it while still getting angry because a kid peed and got a tiny amount on the floor.

Some of our former kids got so embarrassed, they wouldn’t say anything. Either we’d notice or their friend would and tell us. I can’t help but think it’s clearly because they hear the griping about stains. I swear some of the staff at my center think kids are deaf. By the way the stains she sees are virtually never from accidents. Either someone accidentally used the wrong sprayer to clean in or it’s from something else entirely.

I’m a first year teacher who has unintentionally been put in a role where I am much more involved in planning and classroom set up and management than I was trained for by my director

I know I’m good teacher, but I feel much more confident after consuming content posted by experienced teachers and parents when I have topics I’m curious about or need inspiration

I’m a visual learner and like videos by Play To learn Preschool on youtube and love informational videos about child behavior and other philosophies ect. and have listened to ECE nerd podcast and enjoyed it but found it a tiny bit hard to follow

please leave your favorite ECE content creators below if you have any you love! I would greatly appreciate it

So ofer the last two weeks my GP and psychologist confirmed what I’d been worried about for a while and basically said I “cant do this forever” and should consider another career. I’m 32 and have only ever worked in early childhood education. It’s something I’m passionate about, something I consider myself good at, and something familiar that I’m comfortable with. I’m also autistic and have ADHD and have found this job to be a great match because of it! But, unfortunately I also have chronic pain conditions as well as arthritis in my lower spine and sciatica issues. I’ve suffered from it since high school but it’s only getting worse and in the last few months has been really effecting my quality of life.

I can’t imagine doing anything else but I also haven’t ever TRIED anything else, so I’m wondering if anyone else out here has suggestions of jobs they’ve done as well or after early childhood education.

I would love to still work with kids, particularly the 4/5s have always been my favs. I can only work 4 days a week max because of both my physical and mental abilities, but I’m very dedicated and like to consider myself high energy and fun, however that is only around children. Around other adults the autism tends to create barriers and while the families who know me realise this and come to love me once they get my “quirks”, I know I can be off putting on quick or one-time exchanges, so working something like retail worries me because I’m sure I’d be considered terrible at it.

I’m just feeling a bit lost and would love to hear what sort of other jobs people in the industry or who have left the industry have also done and how they found it! Thank you!

hello ! i suppose im just looking for some advice again sorry 🥲 i currently work at a daycare i started 3 months ago and its hard for me to come to terms i dont like working here. i have found a passion in working with my two year olds though, something i haven’t found in any of my other jobs, but i just cant stand some of the people i work with. especially my lead teacher. she’s pretty nice on paper but she really does just yell all day and i think shes a bit to rough with the kids sometimes.. like when she gets stressed out which stresses me out and makes me agitated and nervous when ive been trying to practice my patience with them i just cant with her with me i’m losing my mind being stuck with her for 6 hours out of my day and i feel i lose my temper faster with the kids and i hate that so much it keeps me up at night thinking how i could be handling so many things better. management doesn’t seem to care and frankly i don’t like them either there all fake and talk bad about their staff ??? i love my kiddos and i wanna cry thinking about leaving them but when i imagine working in a daycare setting where i maybe get paid more than 14 an hour and around those who dont yell all day sounds like my dream job as i type this out lol is it even possibly to find a daycare where they’re not like just screaming at kids all day idk do i just go work at a gas station lmaooo

to change my diapers?" is what a new (to our center) teacher yelled down the hall today. What she didn't know was that every teacher in the building, floaters included, was at ratio in their own classrooms. I couldn't help but laugh a bit under my breath. I wish we could have floaters or co teachers to help with tasks like that, but everyone is so occupied. All. The. Time. Is anyone else's center like this or is it normal to have extra floaters available to help whenever?

Is anyone working at plasp in Brampton. Please let me know what they pay.

So, this past week has been rough. We’ve had quite a few people out every single day. And it doesn’t help that we have way too many kids enrolled. Well tomorrow we already have 4 people out.. and maybe more because they’re not well. Idk I’m just dreading tomorrow. My supervisor likes to fly by the seat of her pants and I just can’t function like that. I need to know what the plan is ahead of time. It’s stressful and anxiety ridden. Not to mention embarrassing to look so disorganized in front of the parents. I hate this.

hi fellow teachers!! our director sent out an email this evening about an updated dress code policy and I see that Crocs are no longer allowed 💔. this is obviously not the only change to our dress code, but almost all of our teachers including me wear Crocs because of how comfortable they are. I've been working since June and wore my Crocs since then because everyone else was AND the admin said it was allowed. I've recently been wearing Bearpaw boots so I gotta check if I'm still allowed to wear them. additionally, I don't have many shoes for work (two pairs of Crocs and Bearpaw boots for the winter) because unfortunately, I'm prone to getting blisters on my feet from certain footwear, making it harder for me to find other kinds of shoes.

if anyone on here could give me (and others reading!) suggestions on what else to do for footwear, I'd really appreciate it 🥹🫶🏼 this was honestly the most random email we've ever received from work.

A 3 yo who just moved from pre to our room of 3, 4, and 5 yos shuts down each time the teachers demand compliance. Teachers worked exclusively with this child for most of last year on 'boots off, snow pants, coat off'...etc. The child still glazes over and gets interested in blowing a piece of paper instead. Teachers are getting frustrated and have resorted to very sternly saying, "you know how to do it, so do it!"

To be honest, I am a float without much power, but I can sometimes get the child to do things by sweet talking them. The kid will beeline to my side every time they see me, such as at recess. I am also a very softhearted grandma who would be willing to invest in this child as much as they need, and wouldn't hesitate to bring them back to task by making it fun, humorous, and being fully engaged with them.

When his old teacher is near, he gets yelled at and basically melts down, cries, and is non functioning.

I really want to advocate for this child. I cannot talk to the parents.

How do I get others to stop talking so sharply to them? Is there a way to help this child without causing huge drama and potentially losing my job?

The child looks at me right after he gets yelled at, a silent plea for help. I have been urged to "not make eye contact" with them a few times.

This does not sit right with me. I honestly feel like they need intense 1 on 1 nannying for a while before any school can begin. I have done this for another child who was anxious and fearful and crying so much during the day that parents pulled them. I hung out with them for 6-7 months, and they are now rocking it at school. Confident, sassy, smart. I see these qualities in the first child, but I fear that being shut down emotionally on the daily is really harming them.

My gut sees markers to being on the spectrum, no diagnosis, and my heart feels they just need joy and cuddles around them. Word is, they are not sleeping well at night, and they often nap for 2 hours after lunch. They are fairly non verbal, so I use a lot of sign language with them. I really love this kid, hope that comes through.

Or am I perhaps the problem here?

With a crazy low staff today there were big wins in my classroom. For one of my toddler girls peed twice on the potty for the first time. She just turned 2 in November and she initiated potty training on her own Another toddler who normally doesn't speak much actually said full sentence to me, that were clear !

Hello everyone! I feel like I’m at my wits end.

The parents at the facility I work at are so entitled I swear. Yesterday was beyond stupid, and a parent said something to me at the end of the day that was just the cherry on top of the stupid day.

I (25f) work in a two year old classroom where there is a boy who doesn’t listen, bothers his friends, doesn’t play with toys, etc. He is not mean and does not do all this because he’s mean, it’s because he’s starved for attention. He comes from a house where his older brother is like 11 or 12, he has an almost year old younger brother and these parents also decide to foster children. So there’s like four or five kids all the time in that house, and you can tell that the two year old little boy is attention starved and does anything to get attention, which is what he does in my class.

So cut to me pushing around a six seater stroller at the end of the day yesterday and this little boy is on there. His mom picks him up just fine, whatever. I push the stroller around, to pick up another kid and take another lap and meet the mom again by the door to leave, where she’s trying to get this two year old to put on his shoes. She starts complaining to me about how much of a brat he is, and how he PUNCHED his OLDER brother (the 11-12 year old) in the nose the night before and gave him a bloody nose.

The mom proceeds to tell me that I need to be careful in my class for the other kids because her son punches hard.

I looked at her dumbfounded. Like how can parents be THIS STUPID nowadays?? Like where is the shame?? I don’t have children, but if my son punched my older son to the point of a bloody nose, he’d be disciplined and I’d be making sure that doesn’t happen again. Like are we not embarrassed?? Are we not concerned for the safety of others?

Parents are indeed the reason why so many teachers are quitting and I do not blame them at all. Because believe me, if that kid punches one of the other kids in my class, I won’t take it lightly. In my daycare, that’s grounds for being kicked out, especially if it’s not going to be taken care of.

I’m sorry if I sound bitter and angry, it’s because I am. Do people not feel shame and embarrassment anymore?

This room is a nightmare, and nobody in the center wants to work in it. 15 kids ranging from around 5 to 9 and one staff. That alone is fine, it's that these kids are awful. They're disrespectful, violent, rude and don't listen. One especially is the worst, and some staff refuse to work in the room if he's there. So since so many other people refuse to go there, they make me do it every time their teacher calls out. It's so unfair and I leave those days exhausted and frustrated. I feel like it's too late to try and tell them I won't work there because they have nobody else. But they don't listen to me and I don't want to be the one there when they eventually hurt each other or themselves

They're 15 months old with mild dysphagia, so solids are still a work in progress for them. Usually at home we have food pouches that they wants to feed themselves, cups of oatmeal,, mashed potatoes, etc.

I understand that in a class with 8 other kids and only 2 teachers and a teaching aid that they don't have the staff to be able to spoon feed, but I don't know what to do!

We haven't reached the stage of being able to cut up a grilled cheese or small pieces of fruit yet and crackers/puffs have proven to be a choking hazard in the past so I'm really quite clueless on what to do!

Is there a trick to redirect this? I have 3 girls in my group of five 2-year-olds. One of them screams really loud if someone takes her stuff or bothers her while she’s playing. The other two spend a good chunk of their time snatching things from her or getting in her space. They don’t even want whatever she has, they just do it and stand there watching her scream and turn red.

I immediately redirect/remove them but it’s all day long. They don’t take stuff from other people either. I’m on the fence about trying to get the “victim” to stop having such a big response - on one hand it’s exactly why they’re doing it, and on the other I don’t want to discourage her from standing up for herself. Plus she’s frustrated and I totally understand. She is using her words, just loudly.

I'm a toddler teacher and typically if I'm lunch breaking any other teachers it's infants, early twos, or early preschool, but ever so rarely I'll do pre-k and I'm definitely not doing something right 😭 Looking for general advice on how y'all keep them all quiet and in their cots when so many of them don't nap! Our EPS and PS have been napping together, too, lately and they are a large and super rowdy bunch vs our pre-k which is under ratio, but pre-k is the only one I feel I struggle with. Maybe I'm struggling to find the right voice for that class IDK I have some level of individual relationship with all the kids in that class through other parts of the day (I alternate opening and closing and have been watching many of them grow for quite some time!! and I open that room occasionally) and I never struggle to manage their behaviors except at nap and I feel embarrassed about my own performance and ability to keep the environment nap-able for the ones who do want to sleep and everyone starts piggy backing off eachother's energy (which is true in other age groups too of course, but idk I feel like this is the one I struggle to figure out how to approach things)! Admin usually walks in and takes 1 or 2 of them out and it mellows everything back down.

Started working in september 2023 as an assistant teacher at a local daycare and thought it would be a good opportunity for me. They allowed me to enroll my daughter for a pay cut and it was a great way for me to still be around my child while also bringing in some income. I quickly realized the school wasn't in the best shape. The head teachers had outdated practices, all the toys were old and broken, there wasn't any structure or curriculum throughout the day and many teachers behaved in ways that were borderline abusive or neglectful. Our director spent 10 months out of the year snowbirding to her vacation home in florida while watching the cameras remotely and phoning in every so often to complain about things she didn't like. I worked so hard to make the school the best place it could be. I spent my own money on supplies (when i was denied by the admin and director), brought in my daughter's old toys to replace old and broken stuff, and covered the walls in enrichment materials. I fell in love working with the children, and while I didnt have previous experience working in education I felt like this could be my new calling. I called out inappropriate behavior and spoke my mind when I felt like the children were being affected. Today I caught a coworker of mine hunched over fast asleep while supervising nap time while the children were all still awake. I woke her up and told her this wasn't right and that unsupervised children could get seriously hurt this way. When I told my director about it she fired me, saying I was stirring the pot too much and complained about the way they ran their business. The biggest critique I had about this school was I felt like they prioritized profit over the wellbeing of the children and I guess this confirmed my thoughts. Maybe I have too big of a mouth and just need to shut up and keep my head down, maybe ECE isnt the right career path for me, or maybe I just need to find a place that values my dedication to the children and their wellbeing. I am sad. I'm sad my daughter lost her school friends because of me. I'm sad I wont be there to watch those kids grow and learn. I'm sad I lost a few good coworkers who worked along side me to help fight back against the lazy and toxic work culture in this center. I dont know what my next steps are from here but I wanted to say thank you to this group for giving me advice and ideas to make that place as best as it could be for those kids.

There have been a couple of times I’ve noted some very clear signs of neurodiversity in the children I work with. However I’ve been told that I’m not allowed to tell the parents they’re signs, and have been told to be very careful around this conversation topic.

I’m autistic (takes one to know one hey?) and I’m struggling to figure out what I can say to the parents, or how to say it or what hints to drop while being sensitive. And yes it’s down to me, not a manager, unfortunately.

Help? What have you said thats worked for you?

I’ve worked in child care for several years. I needed more flexibility so I now work as a Sub for an agency, it’s great. I get to choose where/when and what age groups I want to work with. Today I was hired for a shift in a preschool classroom from 11-5. When I arrived I was asked if to help in a young toddler room. I understand needs change and I am flexible so of course I agreed to work there. When I arrived there was already a sub there, but she left immediately when I came.

After being in the room for about 20 minutes helping get the littles ready for lunch I was informed by one of the teachers that they have a case of HFMD reported. As she’s telling me about this, she’s changing a child who has a rash that clearly looks like HMFD. There are several other children in the room who have flu like symptoms, also associated with HFMD. She told me the Sub that was just there left because of it. I thanked her and told her and the other teacher present I was planning to follow suit. They were very supportive and understanding.

I went to the front office and confirmed that they had HMFD in that classroom. I told them I was uncomfortable working in that classroom but I’d be happy to help anywhere else. As soon as I told the woman at the front desk I didn’t want to be there she’s rolling her eyes, telling me adults don’t get it and the child who had it isn’t there and the child I just saw has a “diaper rash” and he’s getting picked up. She’s telling me there’s nothing to worry about essentially, very condescendingly telling me all of this as if I’m being completely irrational. I politely told her I wasn’t comfortable, again and that it’s just not worth it to me to stay there and risk my health and the health of my family and the other children I help care for in different places. She the finds the director who’s telling me the same stuff and seeming obviously very frustrated with me and also trying to pressure me into being okay with working in there. She goes as far as to tell me well I don’t need you anywhere else so If you can’t work in there then you have to leave. I stood my ground and ultimately I helped in the classroom I was hired to work in.

I’ve worked at this facility several times and up until today the Director and front office stay had been kind and professional towards me. I heard some of the permanent teachers there saying many different negative things about them but I had never seen it until today. Also I understand the ins and outs of HMFD and how it affects adults vs children etc but at the end of the day and frankly It wasn’t worth it at all to remain there. I felt like their reaction to me was inappropriate. Thoughts?

So here in the UK we have a key person system where each child is assigned to a key person. When I posted something referring to the key person system (it was just to provide some context) others were unsure of what it was.)

The EYFS which is our curriculum says Each child must be assigned a key person. Their role is to help make sure every child's care is tailored to their individual needs, to help the child become familiar with the setting , offering a settled relationship for the child, and build a relationship with parents/carers They should also help families engage with more specialist support if appropriate

So is this a common thing or is this something that is unique to the UK.

This is often done in varying degrees of effectiveness such as my nursery we only have in my class like 7 tops each most only have like 4 or 5 but other nursery's have like 20+ each which basically defeats the object of it.

Just to note the ratios in the UK are lower than the majority of the US (which seems to be the majority of the sub) and atleast at my nursery the classes are bigger than others seem to have (my class has 7 full time staff and can have up to 18 children)

Hi everyone, I am taking an administration class right now and I need the ITERS book but Amazon won't deliver it in time, so I was wondering is someone can send me pictures of the space and furnishings section and the activities section? Thank you :)

What's going well for you this week?

What moment made you smile today?

What child did is really thriving in your class these days?

Please share here! Let's take a moment to enjoy some positivity and the joy we get to experience with children in ECE :)

I have a three year old child in my class, turning four soon. He has trouble self regulating. We can’t pin point what triggers him, but it seems one minute he is fine and the next minute he gets mad, screams , throws things. We have been working on using different phrases ex: instead of screaming let’s stomp our feet. He won’t tell us what he needs, this can go on for 20 minutes. We also try ignoring the behavior but the more you talk to him the more anger he will have. We also pick our battles with him. Any suggestions? Parents don’t know what to do, he’s like this at home.

Hello All!!

I’m a preschool teacher at a private school, but with everything getting more expensive, I’m looking for ways to earn extra income. I know some teachers do things like ABA therapy or sell products on TPT, but I’d love to hear about any other side hustles you all might be doing. If you have any ideas or can share what you do besides teaching, I’d really appreciate it.

Thank you so much!

Is early intervention (home visiting) a good field to get into right now, or is it kind of tumultuous? I’m wanting to switch from non-profit case management to early intervention, but I’m not sure if I’d just be jumping from one unstable job to the next.

We just got a spot in this day care starting in April, after being on the waitlist since August. Today I just went on New York State’s office of children and families, and the entry for this center’s “Status” says “Pending Revocation and Denial (September 26, 2024)”.

What does this mean? Does this mean the center’s license is in jeopardy and it could shut down? Or that it will definitely be revoked? I plan on asking them directly but the deposit is due tomorrow so I’m hoping to gather perspectives of people who are more savvy about this kind of thing than I am.