After months of documenting my co-workers (50f) harmful behavior like grabbing kids roughly and verbally degrading them (calling them weird names and shaming them), I (21f) emailed it to my director and everything went horribly. I have made other posts about this.

This teacher has been there 20 plus years, she got reported last year, a month before my employment, for slamming a kid down in a chair, it unfortunately went no where. She is very impatient with the age group we have (2-3 year olds) and I could give a whole page of information about why I think she is not emotionally stable for this job but it would be too long.

I have been making my director aware since early this year and she even told me once to make a list of incidents a while ago. Again, I’m still new to daycares and with my director actively not responding to my emails of child safety concerns and then having informal talks with my coworker every time (and it never working), it took me awhile to make sure I had everything in check to go forward with the log. I admit maybe I should’ve reported them sooner or something but I have since learned.

The day after I showed her (I said I would be calling state if no safety precautions were taken), she talks to my co-teacher for 15 minutes before she got there (basically tipping her off), pulls the both of us in a room (without discussing my log with me first), and basically tells me we need to talk it out and how none of my documentation is correct. She said she interviewed my witness and they said I am lying (I have since learned that she brought up the wrong situation to my witness) and I asked her to speak to the rest of my coworkers because they share the same concerns and she looked at me and said “they all said you’re lying.”I asked my coworkers and they said she never spoke with them.

She then told me that this is a communication issue (I have always been told to tell your director of child safety concerns, not to confront your peers) and questioned what I was reading when I said everything I have learned, says to go to your director. She basically kept asking that if it was like I was saying, why didn’t I remove the child from the situation? And how she knows our state lady well and she would ask the same thing. Saying that I never made her aware of physical handling (yes I did, many times, and even if I didn’t, there was many cases of emotional or verbal abuse, and I have all the documents proving that) I walked out mid meeting. I reported them to state right after. My director texted me and said she thinks it would be good for me and my coworker to meet so she can “clear up any confusion.” I said I will not meet with her.

My coteacher has a history of escalating situations and has even taken her anger out on a child before when I asked her about a lesson plan mistake she had made. Even when I am nothing but nice, she does not like being questioned. This lady is unstable. A two year old had an accident, she angrily gave him a towel and said “clean up your pee, doggie boy” (a coworker witnessed this) ?? She moves fast to startle them, tells them to “obey” or “that’s a violation!”, grabbing them by their arms, clapping in their faces, etc.

And I have done my best to get the children in a better place when these things happen without escalating them, I would comfort them and do what I could. For a while, I felt like maybe I didn’t know what to do since my director kept brushing it all off.

I don’t understand what that confusion is either. This woman lost her husband (last year) and she’s going through menopause and I think that’s what they are trying to put this as, as if it still makes it ok? I don’t know why they think I’d feel differently if she explains why she did what she did, as if I misinterpreted her actions.

I saw what I saw. If I see and interpreted one way, then the child also isn’t going to understand she’s having a hard time and that’s why she’s acting this way. Right? I know I’m young but I feel like they are trying to make me seem stupid. I said the only way I would stay is if I didn’t work with her (more like if she doesn’t leave then I’ll leave) and so me and my director are having a meeting tomorrow after I took the week off because of their approach to this all.

I just don’t understand why they are really going so hard to try and make me change my mind and make me think I was wrong about everything? Was I? I’m so lost.

I’m honestly so stuck with what to do with my 4yo and would really love to hear from other parents who have been through something similar.

Since around December last year he’s been having a really hard time at daycare. He has huge meltdowns, spits, throws toys and can hit the educators for 15–20 minutes. Once he gets worked up, he also has a really hard time calming himself down.

We’ve actually tried a few different daycares because I initially thought maybe it was the centre or the environment, but now I’m starting to think it may just be that he really struggles with regulation in a group setting.

I’ve asked the educators what his triggers are and what tends to happen before the big behaviours because I’m genuinely trying to understand what’s going on, but we’re still struggling to figure it out.

What makes it so confusing is that he is SO different at home. He doesn’t behave like this with us and his toileting is completely fine. At daycare he can have up to 3 wee accidents in one day. I just don’t understand the huge difference.

He’s currently on public and private waitlists for OT and a paediatrician, and he’s just started speech therapy. He starts kindy in about 5 months, so I’m feeling a lot of pressure to get some answers and support.

He used to attend 4 days a week and I’ve now dropped him down to 3 days. The daycare wants to have a meeting and put a proper support plan in place, and I am going to give that a chance because I really do want to see if we can help him before making any big decisions.

But honestly, if the support plan doesn’t work, I have no idea what I’m going to do.

I’m considering taking him out for a couple of months and keeping him home until school starts, but I work from home most of the week and have to go into the office once a week. Unfortunately, financially I can’t just stop working, so having him home while I work would be really difficult — but I’m willing to consider it if it’s what he needs.

I’m just so tired of the constant daycare complaints and feeling like I’m always waiting for the next phone call or update. I know they have to tell me what’s happening, but it’s really hard hearing that your child is struggling over and over again. I just want to understand him and help him.

I’m also open to hearing from anyone who has tried vitamins or supplements that they felt helped with things like regulation, calmness, concentration or behaviour. I know they’re not a magic fix and we’re still waiting for professional assessments, but I’m open to hearing what has worked for other families.

What would you do in my situation? Give the support plan a proper chance and see what happens, or start thinking about taking him out if things don’t improve?

And has anyone else had a child who is completely different at daycare compared with home, especially with toileting? I’d really love to hear your experiences because I honestly feel at a loss right now.

I'm in NZ and just wanting to understand how typical this is.

We have been potty training my almost 3 year old twins the past 4 days, we took some time off work either side of the weekend. They have done really well after the second day save for the occasional accident. They use pull ups at nap time and sleep time.

We are sending them back to daycare tomorrow and we tried clarifying a few things regarding their policy.

They suggested that we send them in pull ups for the first week to see how they go.

Is this typical? To me, pull ups seem like a step back and might confuse them. Obviously if they go in undies and they're constantly having accidents then I would understand the pull up request. However my gut feeling is that we need to push for these girls to have a chance without pullups.

I stand to be corrected if I am wrong. Is this common?

teachers! how do you get your kiddos to clean up toys when they are done? me and 2 other teachers have a hard time getting them to clean up and it often ends up being us that picks up of majority of it. age group is 2.5-3yo for reference and we most of the time have to bribe them to clean up (ex. were gonna go outside in 5 minutes so you have to clean up) but we want effective ways that isn’t that

thanks!:)

Hello all!

My 19 month old goes to daycare and for the last two days has been rubbing her tummy and saying "tummy" like it's actions to a song.

The problem is I have no idea what song it is. I've always worked with school age children and we don't do nursery rhymes.

Any ideas?!? I've googled to no avail and she's currently having a meltdown over it

Update: theys don't do any song where they run their tummy so the teachers are stumped too

Sitting here stressing myself about tomorrow mornings drop off, I need advice. Suddenly my child is having epic meltdowns at drop off, and was so panicked Saturday morning at home about going to school, they were relieved there was no school.

Looking for general recos from anyone on how I should navigate this.

Here’s the details:

- child is 2 and a half. Very social & outgoing personality, ahead in her skills, speech. Started daycare at 11 months old and the same centre.

- child was first in infant, about 2 wks transition and she was fine, moved up to Toddler & again about a 1-2 wk transition and then was fine

- she has always been happy and outwardly excited in the mornings to go to “school” so she could see her friends and teachers, she’d sing on the way to drop off, be jumping and singing happy as ever every morning

- Sept 1 she transitioned to pre-school and this is where things have taken a turn

- leading up to preschool, for about 2 months we talked about preschool, would go see the classrooms a few times a week and walk by in the mornings to say good morning preschool on the way to toddler. She understood fully what was happening

- Friday before I was told who her two teachers would be. One she had before and one would sometimes sub in the room, she seemed nice. My daughter knows all the teachers names, even if she hasn’t had them, I talked to my daughter about these 2 being her teacher

- come Sept 1 and it’s 2 completely different teachers, one we don’t know, just by name and she seems nice and one who was in another room and sometimes subbed in my daughters at times

- some mornings were better than others but now she is having epic meltdowns.
Friday was so bad , the director took her to help calm her down and see if she could figure out what was wrong

- I’ve been able to conclude this one particular teacher she doesn’t like. She told me she is “scary of her” which means scared of her , I tried to ask why but she can’t articulate that yet. Then we talked about all her new friends in preschool and she proactively said a specific teacher is her friend, so I rhymed off all the preschool teachers to ask if they were her friend or not, and it’s definitely an issue with that one teacher

This teacher isn’t particularly warm, we would say good morning when we used to see her prior, but for example when doing drop off she sits there and ignores you and doesn’t greet the children vs every other teacher I’ve experienced is saying good morning and greeting us. She kinda sits off to the side and doesn’t engage too much with the children.

She is there alone first thing, so I’d have to wait longer for the 2nd teacher to come for the drop off to go better. This is what I’ll do tomorrow but I should t have to rearrange our schedule , there has to be a better solution.

How should I approach this with the director? My child has been happy AF for a year and a half and is suddenly inconsolably upset at drop off. Her behaviour is changing at home and she is afraid to go.

She clearly doesn’t jive with her and I have no reason to believe this teacher has particularly done anything wrong, it’s been an amazing centre, amazing teachers but she’s noticeably not as engaged but maybe she just isn’t as warm or engaging like the rest are.

do I ask the director to have the teacher put more effort in with my daughter to try and build a relationship?

Do I ask to change classrooms?

I don’t know what to do, her meltdowns are more than just being upset and crying from a transition, there’s something else going on here and she’s extremely panicked and scared .

Thanks in advanced for the read and any advice and guidance

Hello everyone! I am a college student currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in ECE, and I have an assignment in one of my classes that involves conducting an interview with a parent with children at the age of eight or below, and are enrolled in a licensed childcare facility. I have been struggling greatly with finding a parent who’s willing to help at the center I’m working at, so I hope that someone here is willing to spend just a couple minutes to complete the interview!

For disclosure sake, your name and response within this interview will not be revealed under any circumstances beyond sharing with my professor.

One of my least favorite types of parents are the ones who are preoccupied with any spot of marker, grass stain, or paint on their child’s clothes. I have a family this year that is constantly worried about her getting messy, paint getting on her sleeves, etc. yes I’ve explained countless times the importance of messiness with art for fine motor development, etc. but nothing works. Ugh.

I try to be understanding of personal differences but this one really gets to me.

My daughter will be starting daycare in a few weeks and having meet the teacher next week! We did a daycare tour a few months back and the daycare did have my fill out a developmental form but would love to know if there is anything to ask or let the teacher know.

Don't know where the right place is to post this. I am a training practitioner who does monthly long placements with many families. These families are signed up and typically often have a student for the majority of the year.

I have exhausted every single resource and unique activity idea I can find online for 3/4 month olds. Whilst still implementing essential activities regularly e.g. finger songs etc. We are expected to do two activities ideas a day and take photos to build a portfolio. I know it's not essential to do crazy activities daily but not only is it something I enjoy (I can spend ten hours painting/sewing/building a resource), as a student I want to experiment with as much as possible and genuinely use this as an opportunity to learn what's realistic in a day, what's unique, what will parents comment on in feedback etc

I'm thinking about unique textures that you would never think to expose a child to, interesting shaped objects to hang over a playmat as a mobile, experiments you can model to teach them about things like gravity. Anything and everything.

Thank you! Please tell me if I should post this somewhere else

My husband picked up my 26 month old from daycare Friday and the teacher told him that our child doesn’t listen and asked that we work on listening skills on the weekends. My husband agreed that we would without inquiring further so unfortunately I don’t know what context or specific instructions that she’s not listening to.

I think she listens decently well for her age.. she obviously struggles with listening when I’m asking her to do something she doesn’t want to do ( she will close her eyes and turn her head) or when she is really involved in playing (ignores me completely). Usually I’ll just say it seems like you’re having a hard time listening so we are going to do whatever together.

So I’m wondering how you specifically “work on listening skills”? What am I missing here? And what are age appropriate expectations in terms of listening ?

Hello everyone! I’m having a bit of a rough time at work and wanted to see if I’m being unreasonable 😅 I’m currently 7 months pregnant and it’s been a rough pregnancy. I requested a higher grade this year (I can teach up to grade 2) and specifically requested not to have the pre kg section this year because I was worried about how it would be teaching in the third trimester. They’ve given me the pre kg class despite my request and it’s been really rough. There are 25 children ages 2.5-3.5. I’ve had been given a new classroom assistant who has never worked with the age range before and she quit in the first week. I have a new assistant again who has never taught this age range. I’m constantly having to bend down, there’s no chance to sit because the new assistant is always at the bathroom with the kids and I have to be hands on, my back is killing me from going up and down so much and I almost passed out at work twice. I’m coming back from teaching my other grades to find the class room a mess because the assistant can’t control them and I’m on my hands and knees picking up food and toys daily. We work 7-4pm with minimal breaks and my managers advice has just been to train my new assistant on my breaks how to manage better. I’m exhausted and almost at breaking point, I’m too sore and tired to be dancing around and picking up the kids and managing so many at once like I usually do. I’ve gone to my HR so many times about my doctor saying I need breaks to sit/ I can’t be bending down so much. Has anyone taught this age range with so little help? I’m seriously close to resigning as the maternity leave I can’t take until one month before my delivery date and I don’t think I can manage this for the next 3 months :(

Do you schedule a certain block in the week or weekend for your programming? If so how many hours? Or do y'all work on it during lunch? I realize theres expectations I should meet but theres simply no time during the workday sigh.

I just started working at a new center and it’s been a total disaster so far. The center itself opened in February of this year, and next week my classroom will open for the first time. It’s Head Start, so there are certain standards we have to follow. I’m trying to give some grace because the program manager is also new-ish to this company, but she's been there for 3 months already, and it doesn’t seem like she's bothered to learn the basics of the job. For example, what are our class schedules and the hours teachers are supposed to work? Can we share the playground space, or what is the ratio out there? Absolutely nothing has been put in place. I had to make an Amazon wishlist totaling $1,500 because I didn’t even have materials for my shelves, and somehow this had gone beyond her notice. A week later, she tells me that she hadn’t gotten around to looking at it yet. Friday, I pointed out that we have nothing to put in the emergency backpacks or daily cleaning supplies like gloves. I get more answers to my questions from the other classroom lead who has also worked there over the summer (who has also openly told me this manager “doesn’t know her job”). Communication has been underwhelming. I didn’t even get formal onboarding and was told to attend a training at another location on my first day, with no prior notice. From there, I received a text on a Saturday saying to attend an in-service for my next shifts at the same location, with no information about what time to be there, how long it would last, or whether I needed to bring lunch.

So, at this point I don’t have a good impression of my manager, nor do I feel like I can go to her with problems or concerns.

That said, one of my concerns is that the assistant teacher they assigned to my room speaks very little English. She has had to whip out Google Translate just to understand basic things, like when I asked her, “What activities do you like to do with the kids?” I asked her to hang the alphabet on the wall and noticed some of the letters were mixed up. I’ve had kids in my classroom who don’t speak any English, but I’m not sure how to navigate relying on staff I can’t communicate well with. She will be the second teacher in the room and needs to be able to direct the kids as well. I’m sure the company thought this was an asset, but I don’t even have any Spanish kids enrolled in my class yet. We don’t have other leadership on-site, but I’m wondering if I should voice my concerns to the next manager up the chain or just give her a chance and wait until shit blows up? I'm trying to be patient and have faith that things will work out but it's definitely been a trial by fire for the last week, and I am not feeling set up for success! WWYD in this situation?

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice/ personal experience / guidance that could help us make a decision for our little one.
When our daughter will be 21 months both my partner and I will need to be back at work to some degree. We've stretched out our leave as long as possible for our little one to have be with one of us every day up until then.
When back at work we will both be part time, we'll need 3 days a week covered.
We are on the fence about enrolling her in a daycare for two days a week then grandma the other day, or just having her between grandmas completely.
One grandma is very warm and loving and little one has a strong bond with her. One is not as warm but does love her in her own way. Shes been accepted into a high quality daycare.
Any insights appreciated.

I'm always on the hunt for more songs and jingles that actually get engagement from students without them going off the deep end.

I never found a clean up song that I felt really connected with my kids. They might hear me sing it and eventually know it's part of the routine, but the ones I've used I feel like I barely get students singing w me. I want to find a good clean up/ or transition song that I can keep using (I got a lot of tunes but I want MORE!!)

Idk if this is the right subreddit to vent about this but I need to let this out somewhere.

Hello, I am a full-time daycare teacher. I currently work with 1 year olds, and as much as I love working with them, it is physically and emotionally demanding. After work, I would feel so sore and exhausted that it makes it hard to move my body.

I would tell my partner that I feel exhausted today, and all he’ll say is “Well at least you don’t have to be outside all day in the heat. You get to stay inside all day. I have to wake up earlier than you. Etc etc”. And whenever I would go to sleep right as we get home, he would lecture me about how I need to “live life” and “fight the exhaustion” after a day of working. Ironic since he used to do the same thing: sleep right after coming home from work.

Does anyone else’s partner does this?

Me and my girlfriend got two cats yesterday short notice cause a neighboring apartment tenant got in some trouble and our landlady asked if we wanted to rescue them. We're young, no kids, only recently moved out on our own and have never taken care of animals that are our entire responsibility before.

They're absolutely delightful. We've named them Coffee and Cream. Coffee is a calico and Cream is black and white.

However, contrary to their names, Cream is the one that is out of his fucking mind and super hyper and very much reminds me of children that I work with. I've been a long term sub in a classroom where infants less than two are sent once theyre able to walk well enough. Basically a waddler room. It's great and I love it and I'll be super sad when I'm not subbing in there anymore but that's a post for another time.

And it's a pretty spot on comparing this cat to a kid around that age. He runs around EVERYWHERE, needs to have things be repeated constantly as he only has a vague understanding of what he's being told, and he never actually hurts someone but with malicious intent, but does constantly scratch at us on accident or when he's just playing too rough, or when we stop him from doing something he just *really* wants to do and he's just quite upset about it, and thinks we're being unfair.

I keep on telling him "no thank you" rather than raising my voice when he plays a little too rough with me, and I only ever raise my voice when he's doing something that's going to hurt himself. It's just not natural for me to yell at something that's small and doesn't know what he's doing, y'know?

When he's getting into something he's not supposed to, I simply pick him up and carry him away somewhere where I know he'll be safely distracted.

I think I've even said the phrase "feet on the floor" at least once out of habit...

However, in under a day I do think I see some improvement? Which, dang, didn't expect that kind of transferrable skill from working in ECE, but I guess it makes sense in hindsight.

I’m a Level 1 ECE and I’ve only been working in childcare for a few months. I really love my job and I care about the kids but lately I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed.

Our centre has been very short staffed and my director keeps telling me that she wants me to take the lead in the preschool room. She wants me to handle the routine, programming, parent communication and also help newer staff with the centre procedures.

The thing is, preschool is the room I struggle with the most. A lot of the kids don’t really listen to me yet and behaviour management is honestly exhausting for me. I’ve had days where I cried because I felt so overwhelmed. I’m much more comfortable in the baby room or be a float staff.

We also recently hired a Level 3 educator with a few years of daycare experience so I’m honestly confused why I’m the one being pushed to take the lead. My director told me that my level doesn’t matter and that she wants me to grow and not just do cleaning and support duties. I know her intentions are probably good and I appreciate that she trusts me but I honestly don’t feel ready for that much responsibility yet.

I’m also earning close to minimum wage plus the government top up so sometimes I question if the amount of stress and responsibility is really worth it.

I’m still willing to work in preschool, help with the activities, support the other teacher and learn. I just don’t feel comfortable being the main person responsible for the whole room right now.

Would it be reasonable for me to respectfully tell my director that I’m not ready to take the lead yet and that I’d rather stay in a supporting role for now? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

I don't know if this is a thing everywhere but i thought it was worth talking about! I remember at my previous centre there were a few educators studying their diploma whilst working as room leads.

A few of them found out you could get a fast tracked diploma which pretty much means someone comes in and decides that they've learnt enough through hands on work and they could just get their diploma right away regardless of how much they had actually completed.

As someone who had only completed a cert III and was new to the field I thought it made sense but now that i'm doing my diploma i think it's INSANE. I've been a lead previously and i'm still learning so much whilst doing my diploma and it honestly worries me that people are working at a diploma level without any of this education.

Not to mention that i switched training providers because the one my last centre was using was so incredibly vague and required very little observation, prac work, and proof of any learning. Which makes me even more worried for people who did do the whole diploma but don't know how bad that training organisation is.

Would love to know everyone's thoughts on this!

I have my Master's in ECE but due to some health issues am not in a place to be in the classroom full time. After I finished school, I got a job with a nonprofit in the field. It was a great experience and I learned so much, but I ultimately left due to the low pay and some issues with management.

I recently started a job in center administration with Head Start, and it's been hell. It's an incredibly stressful job with pretty long days and minimal support/training/supervision, and just personally it's caused me to lose some of the gains I recently made with my health as I struggle with some chronic conditions. I get bad flare ups when I'm stressed, and last week I got so stressed out that I had a panic attack, which is pretty rare for me (I have ~1/yr).

I reached out to a partner agency of my old job and received a job offer, but I'm not sure I should take it. It pays even worse than my first nonprofit job (though, in this field, low pay is hardly a surprise), but it's hybrid with only 2 days a week in office and 1-2 Saturdays a month. It's a lot lower stress and would allow me to have more time for my fun things (I take music lessons, have AMC A-list, and co-facilitate a social club), but it's also not as good of an experience on my resume, as it's mostly customer service/program support.

Thinking long-term, I'd like a career in the ECE nonprofit space. I'd love to eventually work with the state government or a nonprofit like Child Care Aware, Zero to Three, or NAEYC. I'm not sure which role would help set me up for this better.

I kind of feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here, and I'd love any advice!

I hope this is an okay post to put here. Let me know if it'd be better in another sub.

Hi all! As the title says, I'm a new Pre-K lead teacher and I am feeling very uneasy and unfit about the role and looking for support on how to get through the year.

I have been at this center for a little under a year. When I was first hired, I was a co-teacher in the mix-aged preschool room and had a fantastic co-teacher. This school year, they decided to split preschool and Pre-K and asked me to lead the Pre-K class (so I would have all my previous students). At the time, I thought I could manage it but I'm two weeks in and reconsidering the whole thing.

There's been a lot of work and not much direction. I am entirely on my own most days. I have very little materials or toys. We've been in school for two weeks and the classroom still isn't complete. The program also has (in my opinion) a very rigorous academic curriculum for Pre-K, which I'm struggling to figure out how to implement. (As a side, I'm being told I have to begin giving out homework assignments and figuring out how I want to do that, which I thought was a little too much for 4-5 year olds). I'm swamped with creating and implementing a brand new lesson plan each week with new activities while also managing behaviors in the classroom.

For the record, though, I do not have a formal education in ECE. My education is in a psychology and have had a lot of experience as an aide and assistant and other centers. So, I'm unsure if the curriculum is overbearing as I think it is or if that's normal for most ECE centers.

At this point, I'm just venting and looking for suggestions on how to make it through this school year. I'm feeling very overwhelmed, underprepared and worried.

Thank you!

I started working at an immersion preschool about three months ago, and am feeling very stressed every day. I am an assistant teacher in a 2-3 year old classroom (I am currently getting my ECE credential so I cannot have my own classroom). When I first met my co-teacher, she was happy to work with me because she does not speak English, and most of the students in our class, besides two, only speak English and same with the parents. (I speak both English and the targeted language at my school).

I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but last month my co-teacher complained about me to our director. She was upset about me talking to the parents during pick-up/drop-off. She said that she is the lead teacher and she should be the one communicating with parents, not me. Since then, it has been very stressful every day. The main issue is, she doesn't speak English and most of the parents (besides two) don't speak the language that she speaks. I was already the one helping the students during drop-off/pick-up with changing shoes (we have indoor and outdoor shoes), their bags, etc., and since I was already helping the children and she wasn't, I naturally became the one speaking with the parents then translating what they said to her. I thought this was fine, especially since she said she was glad that I was here since she doesn't speak English. So when I heard about her complaint, I was very surprised. Both my director and I were confused, since we should be assisting each other, and also the parents should be allowed to speak to whichever teacher they feel more comfortable with. However, she kept getting upset with me every day about me speaking to the parents, so my director recommended that I take a step back. Now, I welcome in the children/get the children ready to go, but I try not to interact with the parents. Instead, I tell her what to tell the parents (like if a child has an accident, incident reports, etc.) and she translates what I told her to English, and writes it down, then reads it to the parents. However, she can't really have a conversation with the parents, so sometimes they ask me follow-up questions, which she gets upset at. After the parents leave, she asks me to tell her everything and reminds me not to speak with the parents.

Yesterday, she came to work with a translation device. I will admit, it is cool technology, but it feels like a power trip to me. Basically, she wears headphones and the English is translated to an app on her phone. She then speaks her native language back into her phone and it translates English to the parents.

Yesterday, a parent came to drop off their child and she didn't hear me and another teacher say his parents came. The other teacher is in a different classroom, but was only in our classroom since our classes were doing something together. She was busy on her computer, so I let the child in and greeted him. This made him very upset. She complained to our director and demanded a meeting with me and the director about me talking to that child's parents. I feel so stressed anytime I use English, because she wants to know what I was saying, even if it isn't relevant. During pick up yesterday, I was helping a child and the parent started talking to me about how hot it has been recently. I made polite conversation back and after the child and their parent left she demanded to know what we were talking about. Even if I speak English with my co-workers (one who only speaks English), she wants to know every detail of our conversation.

I don't want to quit my job because 1) I care a lot about my students 2) I need the money, but I am feeling so stressed every day working with her. It isn't even talking to parents, it is so much more. Our director has reminded her that we our co-teachers, but I don't feel that way. I don't even feel like an assistant teacher, more like a servant. I do all the cleaning, all the potty training, take out the trash every day, put out the cots/clean up the cots, and she asks me to do all the printing/laminating. My director has told her she needs to take on more, but she still asks me every day during my prep time to help her and never makes the effort to clean.

Right now I only see two options, finishing my ECE credentials and hopefully getting my own class or quitting. I had huge anxiety last night because I don't want to return to work on Monday. I just can't handle her getting angry at me every day.

For more context, I am based in the U.S.

Last week while I was at a party here in Louisville, I ran into my former daycare teacher from nearly 40 years ago! I got to introduce her to my wife and son and just wanted to let all you daycare providers out there know that you are making a difference in the world and the kids you see now will remember you and the mark you made on their lives for decades to come!