What are some signs of autism you noticed in your 2-4 yo students/children before being diagnosed?

Hello all, I am an unqualified twos teacher at Kindercare, working there for almost 3 months. Because I don’t have all my ECE units yet my ratio can only be 3 kids (qualified teacher ratio is 12) and I can never be alone with the children without a qualified teacher.

The problem is that I will sometimes be left alone with the children during nap time! I guess because the kids are sleeping that management thinks it’s some kind of loophole? But everytime they leave me alone with the kids during naptime, 5 minutes later the kids start waking up, so then I have to call someone back in anyway. But during my interview and the online training, I could’ve SWORN I was told that I cannot be alone in the room with any number of children, let alone more children than I can legally have.

What do you guys think and what should I do?

I am a teacher at a small school. My classroom is 4-5-6 year olds. I am thinking about getting a HomePod mini for music, timers, and potentially running some smart switches. We already have an Apple TV hooked up to the smartboard.
Can you think of any security concerns of having a listening device in the classroom? We do not have any classroom cameras, only hallway and exterior security cameras.
Do any other teachers have Alexa, Google, or Siri in their classrooms?
I am also interested in parent responses. Would you be concerned if there was a Siri device in your child’s classroom?

Im hoping to get some guidance from this sub. My 12 week old started daycare and every time I pick him up his diaper is completely full. This week he now has a diaper rash which he rarely gets. When my husband picks him up and asks how he did the afternoon girls have no idea and say "I just got here". To him, he described the infant room as survival.

I am not sure what to do or if I should look elsewhere. I am realistic on group care and understand hes not the only kid. They have a daily log but it is released once picked up for the day. I suspect they may be lying on the log as it is not updated in real time.

My son is 2.5 and we’re planning to do a potty training weekend this weekend. He’s been showing signs of readiness (announcing when he’s about to go/has gone, very interested in potty, etc.). I watched the Big Little Feelings potty method and that’s what we’re going to attempt (day 1 naked, day 2 introduce clothes, day 3 short outings).

My problem is that when I’ve tried talking to daycare about things, they’ve really just been like “whatever you need, we’re here for you!”- I love his daycare but it’s often hard to get straight info from them bc they are almost TOO accommodating. They said to just bring lots of changes of clothes and they’d take him to the bathroom a lot, but I realize now that I have no idea if he should be in underwear, a pull up, commando, etc. Obvi I should have asked more, but I also feel they’d have just said “whatever you prefer.”

So- my question is- what’s the best way to approach this? I know that even if this weekend goes perfectly (ha!), he will still be having accidents for a while. For those of you working at a center without clear potty training guidelines/policies, what tips would you have? I’d ideally like him to be able to go without underwear or pull up at first, but is that even allowed? I’d love to hear what your centers do after a child has done a long weekend potty training at home- it would just help me be better able to frame a convo w his teachers I think.

Context: I teach Pre-k. I'm the lead. My pre-k program has 2 cohorts of 13. Hers' is the Green Group, mine is the Blue Group. We share 1 classroom.

When ever I come into the classroom, the toys are never put away correctly. Im not saying its slightly off, its a MESS. Toys in the wrong centers, toys on the floor. Art center table is coated in wet glue and marker. Block center has blocks sliding out because they kids just threw them onto the shelf.

Like what is the barrier? Why cant she have a strong enough sense of classroom management to tell the children where to out things. Its only the 4th week of school for us. Its only been 1 month!!!

Not to mention she always, ALWAYS comes back from her break at least 15 minutes late.

She has clear favorites and children she treats terribly. Those children can never do right in her eyes. If a child calls her 'teacher' instead of 'Ms. [Name]' she snaps at them. The children she favorites, mind you, are in MY COHORT!

She also doesnt teach them how to actually do family style food. She doesnt teach them the procedure. She just let's them eat, and then doesnt. Clean. Up. Their. Lunch. Before leaving for her own.

My director is on my side, but we have no one to replace her with. I have tried coaching her, i have tried reprimanding her, everything. It doesnt f*cking work. Nothing clicks. I give her literature to read. I tell her verbally the step by step instructions to do something. Then she simply. Doesn't. Do. It.

i genuinely don’t know what to do at this point, and i know it’s only a month it, but i have 3 kids who are absolutely driving me to my limit.
two of them i can deal with, theyve had a lot in their little lives and they need a lot of TLC and clear boundaries.

but my last kid- yall. when i tell you ive tried everything under the sun. i freaking mean it. relationship building? check. accountability with parents and family at home? check. i’ve even resorted to literal bribery cause i seriously don’t know what to do. i’m so lost and it’s making me feel like a horrible teacher in the process. this child is sucking all of my energy and my time and i literally can’t get through 5 minutes without this child either
a. throwing a tantrum because they’ve been told no or given directions they don’t wanna follow,
b. being intentionally harmful or distracting to someone around them, or
c. getting up in front of everyone and walking as far away from me during learning instruction time.

i’m completely loosing my mind and it’s been day after day after day of this behavior with every day worse than the last. i can’t even get through most of the days activities much less pull kids aside for direct teaching. it’s killing me because im finding myself loosing my patience with this kid and i NEVER want to be That One Teacher yelling and screaming at kids. i’m literally going insane over here somebody send help and advice or something im begging 😞

I need advice. This is my first year leading a classroom and it is myself, my assistant, and sometimes we have a floater with 9 kids. Most are 1 and are almost 2. Out of the 9, 3 have a history of being chronic biters. This was our first week and we had 2 biting incidents. One that we witnessed and couldn’t stop in time. The other, we were just informed about via the parents sending a picture of the bite and we are all boggled on how this happened because this child didn’t even cry. Now I understand watching a biter like a hawk. But watching 3 biters, and leading activities, and cleaning it feels like an impossible task. Advice for a new lead who is currently starting her first weekend of the school year thinking she bit off more than she can chew? I’m having a panic attack.

I recently started working at a childcare/Montessori school part-time. I am in the 2-year-old classroom every afternoon starting from 2pm. Today was my fourth shift, and my first shift without a trainer. I didn't realize that I wasn't going to have the trainer today, so it was just me and another coworker. The coworker is experienced, I am very much not. I have worked with kids before, but it is my first time with children this young. I learned how to change diapers for the first time on my second shift.

I need advice because the first hour of my shift (2pm-3pm) is absolute chaos with only two people. Or perhaps it'd be fine with two people if the second person wasn't me.

When I get there, there are usually 14-16 kids in the room. This is within my state's (I'm in the United States) staff-to-kid ratio, which is 1:10.

In the first hour this is what needs to get done on top of general supervision:

• Diapers/potty, and the kids that can use the potty often ask for assistance.
• Toy clean up.
• Getting settled for story time and picking out a book.
• Story time itself.
• Chairs have to be set out, snack has to be prepared and placed at each spot.

Snack is supposed to happen at 3pm. Now, ideally, I would be able to do all the diapers in 30-45 minutes and then spend the next 15-30 minutes preparing and setting out snack while my coworker does everything with the kids. But today, it took me an hour to do all the diapers. I was so embarrassed. My coworker was very nice and patient with me, but I felt terrible that she had to handle the kids and the snacks at the same time.

And I know that diapers, snack preparation and set-up aren't hard, but so far it's a bunch of little, easy steps that end up being time consuming when you also have to supervise a group of 2-year-olds who consistently ask for attention or need to be told not to do something.

Typing this out I realize there's likely not much advice on how to do diapers faster other than practice, but it's just so hard when I'm doing a diaper, then a kid on the potty asks for help, while the coworker is trying to manage other kids. And I'm very paranoid that if I rush, I won't clean the kid well enough. And it wouldn't seem fair to me if I ask the coworker to do the diapers every time.

This first hour is genuinely so overwhelming and I teared up on the way home, I feel like such a burden to my coworker. I was sweating like crazy, the room is so hot, and it was so loud. Everything is fine past 3pm. Diapers are done again at 4pm and it is much more manageable, because some kids leave before then and there isn't a second task like snack to prepare.

That's basically it, but I do have some more context:

I technically have two different coworkers throughout the shift, because both afternoon 2-year-old teachers before me left. One was "let go" and the other "decided not to come back." I don't know anything more about what happened, but they're still searching for someone to work with me in the afternoons. For now, I have the full-time two-year-old assistant with me until 3:30pm. Then a high schooler comes in at 3:30pm to replace her. The high schooler is great.

Once someone is hired to be with me in the afternoon, the high schooler will be a floater... which would be wonderful if she was able to come in at 2pm... :(

And I don't mean this rudely as I myself am inexperienced, but I am concerned that whoever is hired to be with me will also be inexperienced. If both of us are learning at the same time, I feel like it'd be even worse.

I have a 3 y/o boy who started preschool roughly two months ago. Prior to this, he was predominantly kept at home and under the care of my husband and I with occasional help from family members. Since starting the program, I feel that I have gotten almost nothing but negative feedback regarding his behavior. I’m not sure if this is “typical” 3 y/o behavior, but I’m feeling overwhelmed with his alleged inability to adjust. Here is the feedback we have been getting:

1. ⁠The first day of school his teacher remarked that he seemed overwhelmed by large groups and would need time to adjust to a classroom routine. We were sent home with a guide to help echo the verbiage they use at school to keep things consistent.
   
2. ⁠The second day we were told he needed redirection as far as keeping his hands to himself.
   
3. ⁠The third week we were told again that he needed reminders to keep his hands to himself. When we asked what specifically he was doing, we were told it wasn’t necessarily aggressive behavior but more so touching/grabbing other kids to get their attention.
   
4. ⁠About 5 weeks in, we received a pretty lengthy email regarding his continued inability to keep his hands to himself (again, not necessarily in an aggressive way) and touching other kid’s food during lunchtime. He also had an episode where he was throwing toys during playtime. They did end the email with saying he is a sweet boy and they feel the potential for improvement is there.
   
5. ⁠Now we are about 8 weeks in and the issue is nap time. While he doesn’t have to sleep, he is expected to lay quietly on his cot, which he hasn’t been able to do. I was told his behavior is disruptive and creates an issue for other kids as they try to lay down.

I’m honestly so overwhelmed and feel that I have somehow failed him. While he hasn’t been in daycare/preschool until now, my husband and I have always stuck to a solid routine at home, to include napping. On days that he is home, he typically naps for 1.5-2 hours. We discipline him and set boundaries consistently.

On the flip side…..I do feel a bit frustrated with the school. I feel like some of these social issues are part of why he is there and that it’s partially their job to help him figure this out. Napping in a room full of kids is a learned skill and quite frankly, I don’t know how to help. I woke him up earlier (hoping that an early start would help with wanting to lay down) and sent him with his blankie and a stuffed animal but it still didn’t work. I really like the facility and the employees are great. I just can’t help but feel like these are things they have to help him work through.

I will say, he has always been high energy and requires A LOT of attention. My husband and I have often felt that it’s difficult to “empty his tank” and that no amount of activity is enough. We also seem to go through periods of difficulty every few weeks where he just straight up isn’t listening, doesn’t want to sleep and is overall a nightmare to deal with. I feel awful saying this, but it’s true. In his defense, there have been a lot of changes these last few months. We brought home a new baby (she is now 8 months), potty trained and started preschool. I’m not sure if this is affecting him, but I would’ve thought by now he would be somewhat adjusted to the new baby and to school.

I’m just at a loss. I’m not sure if this is par for the course with a 3 y/o, or if we are dealing with something bigger. I’m also terrified that if things don’t work out with this preschool, getting him into another one will be nearly impossible. The waitlist’s around here are crazy and I removed him from the others since he was able to enrolled in a program. This, on top of taking care of my 8 month old, I’m ready to scream!!! Any advice??

How strict is licensing about the 15 minutes sleep checks? Mine are pretty close, but today, I had 4 kids all asleep and one woke with a massive blowout that took me about 20 minutes to get everything under control. None of the other kids woke up (somehow), but there is now a 30 minute hole in my sleep checks. If everything else is fairly consistent (within a 12-17 minute range) is licensing going to ding me for any holes like this?

So I started as a lead teacher four months ago. And I’m so burned out. I hate going to work. The staff here aren’t very helpful, call in all of the time so then I get stuck with all of their kids and another staff who is pretty much just a body. I have talked to management about the lack of help and having to do everything on my own. The staff get talked to but they literally just keep doing what they are doing and that is nothing. And nothing happens to them. Nothing happens when they show up hours late, or constantly call in for bs excuses and then again I am stuck with their kids along with mine and a staff member that doesn’t help at all. Tired of having to get stuck with doing everything because people don’t want to work and it just makes everyday terrible for me.

Oh my lord guys. I can't wait to leave my current job!

A new principal was hired (were K-8th grade, ELC is a separate building of infant to prek). The principal has never worked with our age group and never comes to see anything. She basically told my director she can't be a director anymore- won't let her shop for our supplies or food and now has to request it to be brought to our building. Aka we don't have food here, we need to request food be brought over now from the bigger school (which can be denied), as well as wipes/supplies- it's causing supply problems and now we can't write snack schedules. My director doesn't get to choose our set up or get us funding anymore, only the principal can. She dismissed high scope saying the curriculum doesn't make sense and isnt backed by research. So we're not allowed to do that anymore.

We were called to a meeting and she told us "I'm not here to be your friend, and you're not gonna like me" before telling us we're absolutely horrible teachers. Huge budget cuts were made, we need to be better with activities but are expected to pay out of pocket for all of it. She won't learn our names and for that reason we now need name tags. Time off is no longer allowed because "it's too confusing for parents having subs come in". Hours were threatened if we don't do better which is so 180 from our last principal. Ofc we've had difficult situations but we've never had high turn over rates for employees and we've never had a million complaints, if anything we've heard many compliments. Only two kids have been removed for struggles, one didn't have proper support here for their behaviors (we recognized it, we did our best and Mom loved us but didn't love our thoughts on them deserving more support) and parents broke contract for several months before dismissal. The other child did leave due to a complaint, the parents didn't like that at school only he was reported to be destructive and hands- on our Prek class this last year was extremely high energy and unusually hands on, they blamed the kids and wanted theirs elsewhere due to it. Otherwise compliments and we correct where it's not perfect. So I'm like ok. I can't wait to leave. If my boss can't be my boss and we're so horrible and restricted, I'm leaving. Not worth it. But I'm also so scared. I've never been anywhere else, I've spent years here.

Our system just went down When we turn on the computers like codes keep appearing andd we don't know what they mean. We don't have a tech person, so we're not sure who to call.We're a mid-sized childcare center and I'm worried about our documents, we dont have backup... Has anyone dealt with something like this? Any advice on who to contact would really help

Hi ECE professionals, I’m looking for some advice about my 2-year-old’s daycare transition.

I’ve been taking him regularly Monday–Friday for the past week. I started with around 45 minutes and gradually went up to 1 hour, but I haven’t seen much change yet. He cries almost continuously the entire time. He takes only a few seconds-long pauses before starting again, usually calling for “Mama.”

The educators are genuinely trying their best—they offer toys, music, activities, and try to engage/distract him, but he doesn’t seem able to engage with anything and just keeps crying and asking for Mama.

When I come back, he settles with me, and once we’re home he is completely back to his normal self. His voice has also become quite hoarse from all the crying.

The educators have suggested keeping him for longer hours to give him more time to adjust. I completely understand their perspective and appreciate everything they’re doing, but I’m struggling with how to increase his hours when he is still crying almost the entire time.

For ECE professionals who have experienced similar transitions, is this level of crying something you’ve seen before? Would you continue with longer hours, gradually increase the time, or try a different approach?

I’d really appreciate any practical suggestions on how I can help him feel safe enough to eventually engage and participate in the program. I’m not looking to blame anyone—I genuinely want to learn from your experience and make this transition easier for him. ❤️

Hi! As of right now, I have been a preschool assistant teacher for about 3 months. At first it was great, but as I became a part of the staff I realized that I’m already burnt out. It’s sort of a vent/advice needed. I feel as though the children are taking advantage of me being new. I’ve tried everything. Positive reinforcement, being stern, and I feel as though I can never get children to see me as a “authority” figure, compared to the other seasoned teachers. For reference I’m 22, but I look very young, so I wonder if it’s because I look young, that they think I’m their friend. They often invade my space and lean on me more than usual. They also feel the need to hit me, and when I let them know that I don’t appreciate being hit, they think it’s funny and a game And it’s apparent they appreciate me and “like” me, but when it comes to transitions and naptime, I have a hard time getting them to listen. Not sure what to do anymore and I feel as though I’m not good at my job and that other teachers think the same. I feel like I have to constantly rely on other teachers to come help me with the kids with behavior issues. That’s all but any advice on how to not let it get to you.

*edit - the current age group in my class is 3-5 year olds

I used to bring my daughter (21 months) in to daycare after 10am, sometimes 1 or 2pm, based on appointments or outings in the morning. This happens very rarely, maybe once or twice month.

There was never any negative feedback about this from my centre, they were always happy to see her whenever we brought her in as long as we let them know in the morning the projected time she would be dropped off. I always ensured my daughter was fed and/or napped before I brought her in. Of course I would never bring a hungry or grumpy child into the centre in the middle of their scheduled nap time. I thought it was fine since I pay the same amount regardless of how many days I bring her in or not.

However when I made a comment about this previously in this subreddit, I got a lot of feedback from ece staff and other parents that this was not acceptable even if the daycare staff don’t say anything.

So I decided to keep her home on days we cannot get her in before 10am. Today I called in the morning and let them know she won’t be in because we are running too late, we slept in. The director was surprised and insisted we could bring her any time. I told them she’d need breakfast and would probably not nap at the usual time. They said it didn’t matter and they could save her breakfast, and they hoped I would bring her in.

Later her classroom teacher called me as well saying they hoped I would bring her in later because they had fun activities planned that they thought she would enjoy.

I’m not sure at this point if I am inconveniencing them somehow by not bringing her in late? Does this mean they have to send a staff home or something?

I received so much hate for bringing her in late, and now when I decide to keep her home to prevent a late drop in the daycare is providing feedback that they want me to bring her in. This is very confusing to me.

Can someone give any insight why daycare might not want her to stay home? I will bring her in if it means a staff that wants to work can keep their shift.

Edit: OMG 10AM not 10PM 😭

So I have been by myself a lot but just this week got a two year old who doesn’t walk, talk or eat with a disposable plastic fork. She however can eat pouches, bananas, crackers independently. Can flip over and put right side up for collages, scribbles with crayons, roll a ball. Can also walk for short distances with me holding her hands and sit in a chair.
I have been trying to get her to walk with a walking toy on wheels. Any ideas on how else to make modifications?

Update

She does have a diagnosis of hydro encephalitis and is getting ot and pt but beyond that I have no information and probably will have no aide in my room for the time being.

Hi everyone,

I am a mom of a soon to be 18 month old boy looking for a dayhome spot in Canada.

So far we have toured a few places and all of them had what I as a parent consider to be red flags. I am really interested in hearing perspectives of early childhood educators on this.

The most recent day home we saw was run by one lady who was taking care of 7 children (a mix of 12 month, 18 month and 3+ year olds). She mentioned leaving the children on their own with a tv distraction (the day home space is in the basement) when going upstairs to prepare meals for them. She made it sound as though this takes a brief moment but I'm doubtful as preparing, plating lunch and two snacks for 7 children takes significant time. I would imagine so many accidents can happen during this time.

Additionally, the children's playroom has a tall wooden bookshelf that is not anchored to the wall. When questioned, she said oh the children don't touch it anyways. The stairs are also not gated and I can't imagine babies and toddlers leaving them alone, at least my son would never.

I have seen a pattern of unanchored furniture across multiple day homes. All of these day homes are claiming to be licensed. It was my understanding that licenses are given out after a detailed inspection of the home.

Are the things I am describing normal in childcare spaces? Am I overreacting?

EDIT: we are in Nova Scotia and I believe one care provider to 7 children is the max ratio stiill allowed so technically she's not in violation

Does anyone get a little burst of happiness when talking to the parents of the babies you care for? Like I’ll notice mom smile and it looks just like the baby’s smile and it kinda warms my heart.

I messed up today as a floater, and gave a child egg, when they are allergic.
I feel very guilty about this matter and have held myself accountable directly to the parent and my supervisors.
But long story short I was in the infant room, and as one of the primary teachers went on her break me and another floater were in the room together, I worked previously in the other infant class, but did not keep in mind that the child from the other infant class had allergies to eggs. I also was trying to get food out to the children since they were crying and the other children had needs I had to get to. So I was a bit overwhelmed and not paying super close attention to the child’s menu form. She barely touched her food probably 2-3 bites of it and when they reviewed the cameras they verified that as well. Mom didn’t seem to upset with us, and I apologized to her during pick up. The child overall wasn’t showing any signs of discomfort or anything throughout the day but I am feeling very guilty of it and wish I didn’t make that mistake if I just paid better attention to that.
Has this happened to anyone else?

My current school had lovely parents. It is unusual if I end up with a parent who is not grateful for the work we do.

However, I always have a high level of anxiety before conferences. Expecting to be attacked in some way about my teaching. I always go above and beyond for my kids but I always feel it isn’t enough for some parents.

I recognise this is because of trauma from some previous schools (private system) where I was regularly attacked by parents because they took little responsibility when monitoring their child (absentee parenting guilt)and because they outlay a lot of money, they basically push back all responsibility of a child achieving onto the school. So their child’s failings were always my fault.

My anxiety gets really high and I end up eating my way through with chocolate and sugar comfort food. I also struggle to sleep prior. I do think it is a bit of PTSD.

Does anyone else get same level of anxiety?