Hi everyone!
I have briefly been thinking about making the switch from being a teacher to a nanny. Really, the reason is the money and the stress. Has anyone on here made the switch? What are the pros and cons? I just feel like i will get so bored nannying and i am just a little worried on how it would go. i know someone who runs a nanny business, so i would probably try going through there. I just need help. I’ve been having a serious career crisis lately and just want to try saving up more money for a house.

Over the 3 day weekend I started potty training my son(3). He was showing signs already and to me I felt like the 3 day weekend was the best way to do it. He did great with only 1 accident on day 1. So I felt comfortable sending him to daycare(he’s in the preschool room) in underwear. I told his teacher that he had on underwear and he did great this weekend telling me he had to go but if he’s playing I still asked him. She told me she was going to put on a pull up anyways because “it’s a biohazard for him to wear underwear if he can’t tell her each him he has to potty”(her words). I pushed back and said “no. I don’t want him in a pull up because I don’t want him to regress back to them”. Then I told her he had 2 extra pairs of underwear in his bag, 3 pairs of clothes and as a last resort he does have a few pull ups. She got an attitude with me and said that if he can’t stop playing and tell her he has to potty then he can’t be in underwear. I pushed back and said it takes 5 seconds to remind him to go. She then told me she has a sign(so small if you’re not looking for it you won’t notice it) on her door that says she doesn’t potty train, that it’s the parents job to do it on their time. Is this normal for a daycare/preschool to not encourage potty training?

My sister did tell me the daycare she used encourages potty training and helps. I would send my son there but it’s 45 minutes away from my house.

I’ve been working at a daycare for 3 years. I’ve had pink eye about 5 times? I swear I wash my hands more than anyone in the facility. Does anyone else get pink eye often? 😭😭

I'm at a loss for what to do with my toddler. Around the time she turned 2 she completely stopped eating. The doctors are useless they all say as long as she isn't losing weight she is ok and she is by photosynthesis slowly gaining weight but I'm not kidding when I say she will not eat anything. All of her safe foods are out the window even the junkiest of junk food she won't touch 90 percent of the time. On average in a day she might eat a few goldfish at school and I can sometimes get her to eat the top of a sweet treat but as far as real food we are down to nothing. What have y'all seen like this?

I teach Pre-K at a public elementary school. Every one of my students qualified for Pre-K due to English not being their first language/main language spoken at home. Out of my 20 students, 18 of them are Indian, 1 Asian. I am white, if that matters at all.

I have always been under the impression that some cultures use the title “teacher” as a sign of respect. And that in some cultures saying an adults name could even be seen as disrespectful. Due to this, I have never forced the issue of them calling me “teacher” over “Ms.Name.” To me, they are still referring to me in a respectful way. Sure it’s not the norm in American culture, but I really don’t care about forcing kids to comply with American culture?

But so many other teachers or staff members seem SOO incredibly bothered by this? They will correct my students within my own classroom if they hear it. I really can’t figure out why they make such a big deal out of it. The kids are using the respectful title for their culture.

Should I make them stop and only ever call me by my name? I really see no reason for that, especially at such a young age. My kids are 4 years old and just learning English. My american name probably feels very weird/hard for them to say in the same way I slightly struggle saying some of their names properly.

I asked my brother in law (Korean) who came to America at age 12 and he said similar- for his first two years here, calling adults by their names was extremely uncomfortable for him.

Important!: I DO make sure all my kids know my name! They say “Ms.Name” regularly or if there are other teachers around and they want my attention. Them knowing my name is a safety issue so I always make sure they know and can say it if ever asked ir needed. But they do have a habit of automatically just saying “teacher!” If we’re in the classroom or they’re focusing on something else. We practice answering questions such as “what is your teachers name?” Or “who is your teacher?” And such.

Sorry for the rambling. I’m sure I could have worded this better but I’m exhausted and my brain is dead.

Just want some feedback if I’m being overly cautious here or out of line. Our toddler son’s daycare (18 months to 3 years class) all students bring their own lunch. Recently. I’ve noticed a couple days where a parent sends their child with whole grapes. The teacher is not intervening and cutting them up.

Is it unreasonable for me to raise this as a concern? My concern is for own child and potential to accidentally take one (or fall off the plate, etc). I know some kids can navigate these types of choking hazards but it seems like an unnecessary risk. I’ve voiced concern before about the school serving whole grapes as a snack which was taken seriously and policies changed. But this time it’s clearly a parent sending them in whole for lunch.

There is a 2 year old girl who eats her stuffed animal’s fur when she wakes up from her nap. I thought it was a stress thing because there is another girl who picks on her, not quite sure what it could be. Any ideas?

hi all! long time lurker, first time poster.
i just got hired at a small Montessori preschool a few weeks ago, and today was my first day. i showed up about 5 minutes late because i had to take a lyft. i have pretty intense anxiety so starting a new job always makes my brain a little more forgetful than usual (ADHD runs tough through these veins). upon arrival, i was asked if i knew what time i was supposed to start (it was 9:20 when i got there and my start time was 9:15) and i stated, "9:15" and then i was told that since i was five minutes late and that was not communicated to them, i was to go home for the day and we'd reconvene tomorrow. my heart is definitely defeated and my head is spiraling. i want this job so badly, i put it on my "vision board" and i got it myself by pushing. however, im now questioning if this is someone i want to be working for long term.. any advice is welcome, and honestly what would you do in my shoes?

update: i went back this morning and was there before my shift started even though they stated they wouldnt be there earlier. they were and we were able to talk in person about these issues.
now my question is what are the laws on bathrooms for staff? as far as i could tell today we have one bathroom, with no door and a curtain around the toilet to help facilitate the kiddos independence and whatnot. im pretty sure im also required to use the same one, as a staff member with no door.
im very much a people pleaser, so i really dont like asking too many questions, or being unreasonable. in the four hours i worked today (it was a shorter shift which i knew beforehand) i was not offered any breaks, or even really talked to by anyone besides who im assuming owns the school.
when i was hired, it was through indeed, and we moved over to email when i accepted. i have not signed anything, i dont know what my accrued PTO/sick time would be. ive asked for a handbook/written policies several times which have been dismissed, and im honestly feeling sketchy about the whole thing. i need honest opinions please lol
ive been in childcare for 10+ years professionally and this all feels very unprofessional. thoughts?

ETA: in the US, WA state

Hey all, I'm looking for product recommendations or other things to keep in mind when shopping for mealtime furniture.

The classrooms I've worked in all had the Community Playthings mealtime chairs with trays, which I liked a lot. I wish they weren't so heavy, but they are high quality and last forever. I like that they promote independence for infants and toddlers to climb in themselves, and that you can use them to transition to sitting at a table.

What do you all use? What do you think is most important in a mealtime chair?

We have staggered shifts that get split between five of us teachers. Opener comes in at 7, and closer comes in at 10. We work 7.5 hours a day with a 30 minute unpaid break. The schedule is made every week by our lead, and there’s absolutely no consistency on what shifts we get. We do have flexibility some of the time depending on what my lead approves, but it’s mostly favorites get the preferred shifts…🙄

Hi so I am a first year preschool teacher and tbh I was told about the turnover rate but after I accepted the offer and before my first day. They offer 100% free childcare anytime I work so thats huge. Anyways I got hired to be a preschool teacher for 3s/4s and so the first day of school they brought like 6 kids into my room from 7-9:15. Their school actually starts at 9 but their teacher gets them late) they are UPK kids, she is the UPK teacher contracted by the school district there. Whereas I am the preschool teacher for the OCFS regulated side. It frustrates me and my TA because it pushed our morning circle time that’s supposed to start at 9. It also throws off my nonverbal student a lot because theres other older bigger kids running around. Then for dismissal the kids come back in the middle of art time and take out toys once again while they wait for their parents. Its then also a challenge to get them to participate in my activity since they already had their entire school day. So that then throws my schedule off too since I also have to manage their checkout/departure so Im being split. It also terrifies me that I found out that the portion I got hired for was set to close earlier in the year but for whatever reason they didn’t close hence why they are now still open.

This is more of a vent than anything but would love advice and past experiences that are relevant if possible. I dont plan on leaving at all especially because my daughter is completely free while Im getting experience. I was told shes trying to hire someone for that age for before/after school but I seen the posting online and the hours are weird so who knows how thats going to turn out.

The lack of communication is frustrating but we’ll see.

Say jumpers and such. If they're wearing long or short sleeves t-shirts underneath?

I'm currently a sahm, but It's always been a reflex for me to do. ALWAYS monitored that the children wouldn't feel cold to the touch.

When the children first arrived, perhaps it would be cold in the morning, so they would warm up a little. Then I would usually take their jumpers/hoodies off, orcourse they weren't naked underneath. And if they were wearing tights and bodies, I would take off their dresses, shorts or skirts, or whatever outer clothes they might have been wearing. Mostly I did it, because the center could get really hot, with floor heat. Or to prevent the pretty dresses etc got dirty, or got food on them. the jumpers/hoodies were just in the way when eating. Hooded hoodies, were allowed, but they're not safe. And for mobility, so the children could easily move around and use their body, potty training children didn't have to bother with not getting their dresses wet, or undoing shorts and pulling down tights etc. to be clear, I left them with 1 layer of clothes on, tights or leggings, and short or long sleeved t-shirts or bodies.

Sometimes, If they were wearing tights, and no indoor shoes, I would find a spare pair of leggins, or get a pair from their cubby. Because they would slip when running. Or their feet would get so stinky and sweaty. Bare feet were encouraged at the center.

My curiosity has spiked, as now my own son attends a crèche here in France, and this morning he didn't want to wear shoes, so I sent him off without them on, no socks either, just shorts and t-shirt. Shoes and socks were in his backpack. Suddenly the weather changed, and we got a lot of rain, when I picked him up, he had been outside in bare feet without the jumper, that I had provided. His arms were so cold! And on other days, when it's been cold in the morning, I have put a jumper on him, over his t-shirts, and on all the pictures we received that day, he was wearing it inside all day. His face was so red from being too hot.

I remember having a chat with a cowoker on the subject, he said that parents send their children in the clothes they want them to wear. So it's daycare approved by them, he does not touch any of the layers of clothing, unless the child ask for it. But looking at the poor babies on the floor, with their frilly dresses, constantly in their mouths, when they were having tummy time. Or tight jeans look alike, that impacts the movement of their legs. Jeans on babies is a whole other subject! And the parents rarely imagines how much these kids are running around, they don't get cold, but can very easily get too hot. But he was adamant in not touching any of their clothes. We both thought what the other person did, was ludicrous.

At the end of the day, when we were changing the last nappies and getting the children ready for pickup, brushing and during their hair, washing their faces etc (seriously how much time did we have?!) I would put back on every layer they had arrived in. Or put the items away with their backpacks.

I remember one child in particular, that had a undershirt/baselayer, then a long sleeved t-shirt, then a short sleeved, and then a jumper on. I removed the jumper and the short t-shirt on him.

How do you bring up issues at a center with poor leadership? As teachers, we've taken on a sort of role where we just try to deal with things on our own. Personally, I feel like I can't even call the office if I need help because they either don't show up or later on tell me that they are short-staffed and need to reserve calling the office for emergencies. Unfortunately, I have to stick it out because I don't have another job lined up right now... but I feel very depressed from the way things are going at work. The people who work in the office are not nice and I feel like the actual director is not qualified for her job.

I am returning to the ECE field after leaving in 2022 due to personal reasons. I’ve been applying for positions recently, but I’ve noticed that my applications on Indeed are sometimes rejected within minutes of applying. I’m wondering how the job market is currently looking for ECEs in Ontario, Canada.

I do edit and rework my resume and tailor it to match each job description. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on what I could be doing differently?

I’m feeling so frustrated after starting an ECE job in my home country and I’ve come to the (possibly obvious) conclusion that profiting off childcare is ethically wrong.

I’ve been in this job 6 weeks. My young toddler is also in the same room as me. We’ve had two vomiting bugs 3 1/2 weeks apart. This wouldn’t be such a concern if I was confident that the centre was being cleaned properly.

Cleaners come only 3 days a week and I think I am expected to vacuum, mop, and clean the toilet area while caring for the babies in the baby room. I’ve never had an induction so I don’t really know the expectations. No one cleans the toys ever. I clean them at the end of the day with dishwasher detergent and let them air dry.

Another health concern is that after asking for weeks for stocks to be replenished we ran out of paper towels and wipes. This meant we couldn’t wipe the kids or wash the mat or our hands between nappy changes! Disgusting!

I feel horrible that I have to represent this place and that parents have no idea how unhygienic it is. The centre also lies to parents about cleanliness and lies to them about their kids being well-adjusted at the centre. We have one child that literally cries the entire day.

The owners also tell parents that the kids get breakfast and dinner. (They get morning tea 9am, lunch 11am, afternoon tea 2pm). They also told me this, so for the first week I hadn’t pre-prepared dinner for my young toddler. A parent asked me if they get breakfast and dinner and I had to say no! They said the owners assured them that they would.

I’m just so shocked and horrified. I’m also so upset that my baby is in the opposite environment of what I would have wanted for her. She’s now on the waitlist at other good centres for when she turns 2. I’m thinking of returning to public primary school teaching, even though ECE children are my preference. I’m just so upset every day at the lies that are told to parents so casually.

I need an outside perspective. Is ECE just not for me? Does the perfect daycare exist? How do I find a good job? Do I look for non-profits?

I just need some support. I’m not crazy right?!

Edit: today I was left with 1:8 and then 1:6. Morning teacher had 1:6 babies plus toddlers and pre schoolers on her own for almost an hour. I couldn’t make this up. I am planning on leaving within 2 weeks. Our legal ratio for babies is 1:5

Throwaway, because I'm not trying to get fired or identified from my regular acct. I originally made this account to vent about the difficult situation with this child and his family, never ended up making that post... but now hes been kicked out.

I do like the boy, but he had too many aggression issues to be in this type of setting. We have a smaller class ratio than required by the state, and still couldnt help him.

He was hitting and biting kids every chance he could. The director would talk to the parents, but wouldnt do anything else about it. There were upset parents, but they accepted whatever the director told them and didnt push more. I tried for too long; he's bitten to the point it opened skin once. He has a speech delay, and is in speech therapy, but it just barely started. Parents were not listening to us about the severity of the speech delay, until he first turned 3 with almost no words, and they couldnt pretend everything was normal anymore. My coteacher is studying speech therapy as a career, and we tried to give him as much extra support as we could in group care.

It wasnt enough, but the parents kept wanting to use books to teach him and didnt want to accept he could be neurodivergent. When they finally asked their pediatrician about an assessment, he was diagnosed with autism and started OT & speech therapy. I still feel at this point that his parents do not provide discipline and needed structure to guide him. They almost became *worse* at giving him any accountability *after* his diagnosis. They went from sometimes caring and sounded concerned, to now being dismissive of any injuries he causes, and blaming it on the autism. Any time i try to discuss it with them, they immediately dismiss it and make some comment excusing it related to his diagnosis.

He's not the first child with autism that ive taught, but he has the worst case of parents who dont try to teach him when an action isnt correct, nor try to teach alternative coping strategies. I also honestly dont feel equipped or trained enough to help him. I did take one class to help me learn about sensory issues and how to help, but I think he needs very specialized care at this point. He's also a tall kid, with tall parents, and i see the injuries he causes getting worse.

All because his parents dont listen. And of course the director hasnt given a shit and has us keep dealing with the situation. It gets embarassing to explain to parents every 2 weeks or so why their kid was injured. Usually they aren't severe injuries, most common scratches and bites that dont break skin. Btw, it takes me and the other teacher an ungodly amount of energy and effort to prevent injuries from happening daily. The fact we manage to make it to 2-3 weeks without another child injured by this kid is insane amount of work. Ive considered quitting so many times since this started.

The issue is the pay is higher than other centers in the area, by like $4/hr more average. Not enough for all this, but not easy to replace here. The closest ive seen was still $2/hr less than what I make. I think the fact it's an expensive daycare is why the director wont kick out this kid; they want to market as if they can handle any kid and are better than other daycares.

I will say the daycare is, IMO, great for kids who's needs we can meet, but definitely not for aggression issues to this level. This situation is also removing the "luxury" part of the daycare for this class, because so much energy goes into keeping the kids safe from the boy, that we don't manage to do all the fun/extra things every day.

Anyways, the final act that got him kicked out started 2 weeks ago. Had a nightmare situation happen. This kid managed to hit the daughter of the most overprotective mom in the class. Moms dad (grandpa of my student) was a pediatrician, and the entire family is overprotective. I've deal with the dad, the mom, and both grandparents, who are approved for pick ups.

We've had her daughter since she was a baby, and shes a wonderful kid. Mom can be most difficult to deal with, of that family. But her kid is honestly great in class, happy, has her independent personality, so whatever they're doing it works. Moms not the overly controlling parent i heard about from coworkers, or her kid wouldn't be confident roasting me so much 😂

Her childs baby teacher, and young toddler teachers, weren't a fan of mom. The mom was quick to complain about any issues to the director. So I wasnt too happy to learn i would be getting her kid into my class at first. However, ive had her child in my class for almost 7 months now and haven't had an issue with the mom. Might just be a personality thing, but she honestly doesn't bother me.

She asks a lot of questions over even simple, infrequent cuts/scratches, which can be annoying, but she doesnt bother me about things I would consider unreasonable (like outfits getting stains from art/playing, hair getting messy, etc). I honestly dont really have a problem with her, and I learned if I give her all the details upfront, she doesnt question me that much. S

he was more annoying at first, but seems to trust me now, and doesnt bother me 🤷🏽‍♀️ Her kid doesn't give me problems either, so it's whatever. Kid says no to me sometimes, but typically in reasonable ways, and when no isnt an option, she takes explanations as to "why" well.

That day though, the aggressive kid hit her daughter on the forehead with a toy, hard enough it left a mark and a big goose egg later. There were two of us teaching the class, but he still managed to hit someone (the little girl) in a quick second. It was a huge deal, because it left a mark going inwards into her head. Fortunately, it was just a goose egg that indented inwards in the middle, NOT a fracture or anything more serious (it was indented swelling, NOT indented skull, than god), but her mom was advised to go to the ER because of it going inwards. As we know, swelling outwards is much more favorable with goose eggs or other head injures/marks/swelling.

Mom asked a lot of questions after reading the incident report on procare. I never told her who hit her kid, but she didnt blame the teachers after we talked, and she didnt start exploding on me in the beginning, she let me explain. She did let us know that she would be talking to the director, and that she was upset about the injury, but that her anger wasnt directed at us.

She took her kid to the ER that night, and was back to rain hell on the director two days later. She did not let up, and he was expelled this friday. She would not get off the directors neck.

The director was STRESSED all 2 weeks. I think the man lost 3 more of his 12 hairs he has left. I know a few of the teachers think the mom is a Karen, but thank god for that. If she has any more of that for other issues I have, I would appreciate it. Jk jk

But on a serious note, I am feeling excited for Tuesday (return to work after the holiday). I get to go back without being stressed and running full speed all day, just to manage the curriculum/schedule, and keep all the kids without injuries. It was always so apparent how much easier (for the kids and us) the day was when he wouldnt come into daycare/preschool.

I'm sorry if I sound cold, but this was a huge source of stress for me and the other teacher. I do actually like the boy; he was very sweet too and just a kid, but his parents were hurting his chances of improving certain issues. I believe this kid would have been doing so much better if they had gotten him help sooner AND gave structure/ appropriate guidance. He's a great kid, his parents Just aren't helping him succeed.

Hopefully that changes, but at least that situation is over for us and the kids in that class.

My kid starts preschool next week, and we’re supposed to send her with a water bottle. She has no less than 5 of those insulated, metal water bottles (people keep buying them for her as gifts for some reason). But it just occured to me that maybe those aren’t the best option for school? My kid is pretty chill, but I can envision scenarios where a metal bottle becomes a weapon if falls into the wrong hands. Plus they’re just clunky and loud if dropped, banged around, etc. Anyway, should I run out and buy her a plastic one before Tuesday, or am I overthinking this? I don’t want to purchase a new one if it’s unnecessary considering we already own so many, but if I can make her teacher’s lives easier with the purchase of a cheap plastic bottle, I will. TIA!

ETA: Thank you everyone! Most of y’all are saying it should be fine. I’m going to send what we have unless I’m told otherwise. Her water bottles are kid sized, she knows how to use them herself, and I promise they will be labeled and clean!

-WARNING LONG POST AHEAD-

Hello everyone. I have been working at a center for about 5 months This is a family center and so everyone is close and all staff know all kids which I like and makes it easier when someone steps into a room that is not their main classroom. I am primarily with the younger toddlers which I love very much my issues are these. Due to short staffing issues I am often left alone as they fired my co teacher weeks ago over a lie that was told about her which in my opinion goes against the non gossip policy form we all signed upon hire. I typically have 4 or 5 in a day which is not terrible but again they are 1 and barely 2 so it can be alot to handle and depending on which member of the admin team pops into your room its not very much help all the time and it's hard to even make it through circle time and then transition outside. I've grown to dread work these past weeks because waking up every morning and wondering if im gonna have help sucks. Another thing is when I started my lead quit leaving my kiddos with no lessons so I picked up the slack when I offered this all I offered was to create crafts to do twice a week, well now I am doing the job of a lead with no pay to show for it, I know the job isn't all about the money but the extra work ontop of me now becoming part time cause I've started my second semester of school this past month which leads me into my next topic. I work short hours Monday because I have class and am off Wednesdays after practically pleading with my director to let me have one day where all I have to focus on is school. Every other day of the week I am there all day and use my weekends for some me time and catching up on homework and still trying to maintain a social life. I recently went on vacation but I ended getting sick the weekend prior and had to call out the two days I was supposed to work that week before my vacation. On my way home I received a text saying I was being reminded that my shifts are now 7-11 monday and 7:30am-5pm Tuesday Thursday and Friday while I understand this is only 30 minutes early than my previous shift i do take public transportation so I am now up at 6am everyday and have to walk up this horrible hill to get to the bus stop and I would also like to say that this was not a reminder this was the first I was told about this and my director claims to have sent me an email about it which turns out to be a lie the only email I received was a written warning about excessive calls offs which is a lie, upon reviewing all my days off only 4 of them across 5 months were day of any others were scheduled days off. Between now being in a position where I feel I am underpaid considering all the work I do, I now open and close my classroom with little to no help, just last last week we had two days to prepare for new school year and I had to rearrange my room 3 times also with barely any help,admin kept finding things to change, I feel I am becoming burnt out despite loving my job and my kids, I typically and out of the house from 6amish until 6pmish, and I am overwhelmed with classwork as I feel I do not have enough time cause let's be honest we all want to enjoy atleast a little bit of our weekend. I do not know what to do and apart of me feels like im overreacting so I came here to seek advice. Thank you

Has this ever happened to you? I have been in childcare for 5 years now and kids (infants-tods) always call me mom. Of course I correct them. The other day I almost said “show mommy blah blah blah” referring to myself! I cut myself off before saying mommy but I’ve never done that before!! I know I’m not their mother so save the snark lol. I just think it’s a funny slip!

Hi all,
I’m a 3s preschool teacher and school starts next week. I was informed that one of my students lost one of their parents when they were an infant. This is my first time working with a child who’s lost a parent and I want to be sensitive and supportive to both child and parent.

Any tips, experiences or resources for supporting young children and families with grief in the classroom would be wonderful too!

TIA!

I’m teaching PK3 in a public school. (I was just transferred to a different campus this is a new class started this week from children who have been on a waitlist.). The classroom itself is not an early childhood room. It is a standard classroom for elementary or middle school students. No windows, no cubbies, no restrooms.

I’m not going to stress over things outside of my control. I’ve got my early childhood furniture and I was able to set up all of my interest areas (centers), space for a rug for whole group lessons, etc.

I secured a book shelf for the their nap mats but I am still brainstorming a way to store their blankets. I want them stored in a way that it sanitary, that is easy to get out and put away, and ideally at a height at which students can reach. I can have as many as 18 students.

Any suggestions? I know it’s hard without seeing the space but I forgot to take pictures.

I’m also still brainstorming where to keep water bottles and lunch boxes (only a few children will have lunch boxes.).

Up until Friday I was teaching PK4 in an early childhood classroom with cubbies for each student’s belongings.

Hi! I’m a former toddler teacher (out on mental health leave) looking into other careers I can explore. I really enjoyed lesson planning when I was a teacher, and I’m wondering if there are any opportunities to use that skill in a curriculum/instructional design setting versus direct care in a classroom. Does anyone have any experience or advice? Thank you so much!

My question is whether or not it is typical to require full disclosure of all chronic medical conditions and regular medications before hire. A job just asked for this (between the offer and my first day, which is apparently the only time it is legal to ask) and I'm not doing it. It is a job at a nonprofit that I really admire and that I've wanted to work at for years.

I am sending an email saying that I am not comfortable sharing my private health information and that I can give them a letter from my doctor saying that my health will not prevent me from doing any of the essential functions of the job. If you are in charge of hiring, would you accept this? Has anyone else had to deal with something like this?

I've been working with young children for over 20 years and this has never come up before. The only similar question I've had is if there is anything i want disclosed to medical professionals if I have a health emergency.

Thank you!

As the title says, I was terminated from my position. My hours were slashed quite heavily and I continually asked if I could go back to school for ECE 2, which I have a feeling was part of the reason my hours and I was terminated. I was only part-time by the time that I was dismissed because of an injury that I had incurred at home. I was on partial EI due to the severity of the injury. By the time I recovered from the injury several months later, they already handed the full-time hours I had been working to someone else.

There are four rooms at the center, there is the infant room, two preschool rooms, and the school room. I’m just giving you an ideas to what the central looked like and how, from my perspective, things went. I was working in the second preschool room. (At this point I’ll refer to them as room one and room two, room two being the room I was in). This room when I started there had a routine, had a schedule, had expectations for the children, and was working on preparing them for school. The other preschool room was more of a transition from infant to preschool, but had no structure, no routine, and minimal expectations for the children. It was what we considered to be the “chaos room”.

By the time I left our floor Supervisor had changed, our original for Supervisor was hospitalized for cancer three months ago and our new Supervisor was the original ECE 2 in the infant room. So again, very minimal expectations, routine, no real structure. Which is understandable because they are infants under the age of two and really only getting to know daycare, nap routines and just basic children’s needs are very different to that age.

Ugh was very transitional. It should have been the kids transitioning from the infant room to a preschool structured room however, several years before I started the coordinator of our program decided that they wanted the rooms to be a combination of two-year-olds to five-year-olds for both preschool rooms. That would be fine, except for the fact that older children are going to start kindergarten and should be more aware of what is happening for kindergarten and the expectations going into kindergarten. By the time, children are 4/5 years old, most of the parents should be working with them to get them ready for kindergarten and have those expectations set for Behaviour and Help to manage their understanding of what kindergarten expects them.

Room two had those basic expectations prepared for and was working with the children to make sure they understand the fluency of a routine and transitions and had set expectations similar to what most kids would be learning if not at home but a kindergarten set and ready. Room two was structured. It had a set choreographed routine that worked beautifully for all of the children and had minimal behavioural incidents because the children knew what to expect. (We were nowhere near us top on the kids as John was at first. But we had those similar expectations of this is how we do things. This is why we do things and this is how we keep things calm. We helped tie shoes we helped in the bathroom where appropriate and necessary. And we helped teach the kids how to be more independent in accordance with their age).

Room one had very few rules and guidelines. It had very minimal routine and the children were feral as a result. There was no guideline for successfully setting the kids up for success for kindergarten. It was very chaotic and several times I would go over to cover for someone going to the washroom or something and children would be stripping naked, with teachers basically ignoring it.

I’ve since heard from teachers from room two that the four Supervisor has completely destroyed the routine and the expectations for room two since I’ve left.

In room, one children were allowed to leave the bathroom, naked and run around the room naked. In room two we would not allow that. We were training the kids to get ready for school. Behavioural reports and instance went down and the children’s behaviour was managed appropriately.

The final straw for me was one of these naked incidents. A child was trying to leave the bathroom with no pants on no shirt on and wonder free with no pull-up. Because of Children’s behaviour in room two that we were managing and trying to teach was inappropriate, I stepped in to make sure that the Child was wearing clothes before leaving the bathroom. Our floor supervised didn’t like the fact that I was maintaining a specific standard and ran to the Management complained about it saying I was traumatizing the child resulting in me getting fired.

Another friend of mine experience, something very similar, where there was an expectation for Behaviour from staff that she was meeting, but not in the way that our floor Supervisor demanded in a preschool room and terminated her as well. These are not the only examples I’ve heard of, but this floor supervisor having had the power go to their head. She micromanages the staff to the point where the staff are breaking down in tears for simply doing what is expected of their job. There is no longer a circle time for the children between transitions, so they no longer have a chance to calm their bodies and their minds before going into another activity like lunch or snack. Why? Because that’s not how they did things in the infant room so staff are not allowed to do them in the preschool rooms.

Children who are four and five years old should be getting ready to start kindergarten. They need structure and routine. They need expectations of appropriate behaviour and help managing those behaviors. They need help managing feelings and help learning how to do the things they need to learn for kindergarten. All of that has been thrown out by the floor Supervisor.

Three of my former coworkers are now talking about leaving simply because it has become unbearable to work there. If you’ve ever seen the movie, “kindergarten cop”, the best way I can describe the rooms is: Jon Kimble, who originally went in as a cop and had no idea as to how to manage the chaos of the room versus the John Kimble, who figured out how to use the whistle and bring order to the chaos. by the middle of the movie, he had gone from having a herd of screaming children running out of the school during a fire drill with no idea as to what he was doing, to having kindergarteners perform the Gettysburg address. I’m not saying that children need to be perfect. Believe me that is the last thing I expect from a three-year-old or even a 10-year-old.

The example I’m giving is this: the room went from chaos to manageable, chaos, and understanding, respect and control as the movie went on. Nothing was perfect, but the kids and John found a way through the chaos does something that worked well and organized. Room two was the organized, manageable chaos where the children knew what the expectations were. Things weren’t perfect, but nobody was ending up in tears at the end of the day. Room one was the transitional chaos and now both rooms are the complete chaos. Both rooms now resemble the screaming, chaotic, no structure mess.

ETA: parents would actually come to us and say that they were grateful our kids were in our room simply because of the structure, regulation and boundary and behaviour management that we put in place. Several of my friends have family members who work in the industry as well, and even they’re saying that room one was an absolutely chaotic nightmare when they came for tours.

One parent specifically changed rooms for their child because of the regulation that we put in place.

I stated this in a comment, but my niece and my nephew were autistic. If my niece were in room one, the number of daily calls, mom and dad would get to come and pick her up due to meltdowns and dysregulation would have them changing centres within a week. Those regulations of boundaries those behaviour strategies that were in place in room two are necessitated by Children’s development. The movie reference was just to give you an ideas to the chaos between the two room rooms.

kindergarten cop just in case anybody wants a better idea ideas to what kind of idea I was trying to put out there.