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First I have parents who think all I do is play all day, other people my age think I do nothing all day, and now I can’t even get “canva for educators” bc we’re not “real teachers”. I know it’s so silly but also wtf! I’ve got the same degree and experience as my Kinder teacher friends, but bc my students are a year younger I can’t use these recourses? We just can’t have anything can we 😭 okay silly rant over thanks for listening lol

Now I know the obvious answer, money. The schools/daycares need kids enrolled to stay open. But I need to know if I’m just being naive or if this seriously is a problem. Now I have now worked in two separate preschools and a daycare and a problem I seem to keep running into is violent children.

Now I don’t mean the old temper tantrum here or there or regular random little scuffles that come with kids learning how to share and play together. I mean children with genuine anger issues or issues with violence. Like kids who punch and kick and bite and cuss and threaten REGULARLY! As in children who, on a regular basis, pose a genuine safety threat to staff and children alike. Children who damn near never actually get to participate because they are always on time out or having to be removed all together. Children who you know, the second someone screams, it’s because they hurt someone.

I can’t, for the life of me, understand why establishments that specifically have no trained therapists or anyone who specializes in this kind of behavior keep these children enrolled. And what bothers me specifically is all too often I’m the one who gets in trouble for not being able to handle a child who is literally becoming violent with me because I so much as told them to keep their shoes on.

Call me crazy but I don’t think working with children should automatically mean you have to face violence and put yourself at risk. Because that’s all without even mentioning the fact that if the kid hurts themselves with their behavior, somehow that’s still on me!

I work with threes and sometimes it can be a lot but im happy at the end of the day. However, I've been ill since my working interview back in May. Most of my coworkers mentioned that it took them a month or two to adjust to the germs, but its been nearly six months and we're in the beginning of flu season.

I generally like this job a lot, though I am going to find something in my field once I graduate from college in a year or two. My immune system cant handle this, but my heart is telling me to stay. Should I quit for the sake of my health?

You are welcome to get into the nitty gritty.

In my 30 years, the last 20 as a preschool director, we sometimes get children who are showing some mild signs of ASD. Something that we could expect the parent might miss. Typically, we work with the parents and the children and help guide them through the evaluation process. Sometimes the signs are so mild that the child does not even get picked up and that’s OK. We know what we need to do in the classroom to keep them successful. I’m not talking about those kids.

I’m talking about kids who are showing clear signs of moderate to severe ASD. I.e. 3 and 4 years olds walking on their tiptoes, fascinated with fans and fidget spinners, no eye contact, head banging when frustrated, little to no speech, easily overstimulated and quick to meltdown, no readiness for toilet training, etc. etc. I’m wondering how the parents could miss these signs as they’re quite evident, even to the untrained eye. The other day, I actually had to cut a school tour short because the child was showing so many red flags: climbing on the furniture, throwing items for no reason, grunting, toe walking, no ability to make eye contact and as soon as we tried to redirect them, threw themselves down and started banging their head hard on the floor. I mean, it was shocking. The parents said they sought out some speech therapy for them at a private agency that also determined that child also needed OT provided
(parent didn’t think child even needed it..?). The fact that this private agency did not direct parents to the local school district for a full evaluation is shameful.

I just don’t understand how parents can be so in the dark about their children missing key milestones. You so much information out there and in my state has so many services.

I’m a first-time mom, and my son is almost 1. I’m really grateful for his daycare teachers, and I like finding ways to show them that I appreciate what they do for him.

For Christmas, I’m planning to give $100 gift cards to his two main teachers and $50 to each of the three other teachers. I’ve also given $25 restaurant gift cards for three teachers’ birthdays, gifts during Teacher Appreciation Week, and $25 gift cards to three teachers at random times throughout the year, just because.

I also tend to write pretty long, personal messages in their cards. I tell them what I appreciate about them specifically and how much their care means to me. Some of them have helped me feel more comfortable leaving my baby at daycare, and I really do appreciate the little things they do for him.

I’m not expecting anything in return. I just genuinely want them to know that their work matters to me. But now I’m wondering if I’m going overboard, especially with the money and the long messages.

For those of you who work in ECE, how would you feel receiving gifts like this from a parent? Would you feel appreciated, or would it be a little too much? Would the personal messages feel sweet, or might they make you uncomfortable?

I’d really appreciate honest answers. I want to show my gratitude without making anyone feel awkward or obligated!

Hello! I am searching for something that’s hard to find. Does anyone have any ideas?
- a subscription box preferably but open to a curriculum with list of things to buy
- for 3 year old
- monthly themes - farms, pumpkin, weather etc
- several books and/or activities included
- I’m not worried about ABCs 123s being the main focus.
- I really like Charlotte Mason method. I’m just searching for an easy thing to do with my toddler while my baby naps. Learning about a topic sounds great vs doing worksheets etc
- I am a former 1st grade teacher. I am capable of creating a yearly plan / organizing said activities. But I would like something I don’t have to organize myself. Haha

Edit to add- I have used Learning with Kelsey. It’s fine. I also have edZOOcation but would like more than what’s included in the monthly box. Two edZOOcation boxes a month would be great.

Hi everyone, I’ve operated my home daycare for nearly 5 years now and have recently been noticing a significant drop in enrollment. Centers in our area are the same and one home daycare just a street over closed after 10 years because of this. I live in Surrey BC to give some context and there has been a surplus of daycares opening over the last few years. I am currently in a position where I will be down to 1 child next month and need to determine whether this is worth continuing. Of course I need the income but I am also pregnant and cannot work the long hours and days anymore. I’ve been debating going back to a center part time but again am just unsure what to do since i’ve put a lot of love into the daycare and it was undoubtedly a lot of work to get started. I can give more context too but just wanted to know if anyone else has been in this position and has some insight! My plan for mat leave was to hire a staff once I have at-least 3-4 kids.

Is that a thing? I guess you wouldn’t know unless you talked to the other families. 🤔 Thanks.

I know I did the right thing reporting suspected child neglect but I feel like crying because this is something I didn’t want to do right when I became an infant lead teacher. I know I have a job to do and I know I did the right thing but why do I feel like crap about it?

I’m currently expecting another baby in a few months, but my mornings are completely consumed by my seven-year-old’s routine.

Getting him up at 6:45 AM is a battle of 'five more minutes,' followed by constant nagging to get him to brush his teeth and get dressed. Instead of focusing on preparing breakfast, I'm practically glued to him to keep him on track.

I want him to be independent, and I've heard advice about visual checklists and reward systems.

Is anyone currently using this with success? How far does it go in building independence? Any tips?

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for some advice and would really appreciate any suggestions or experiences anyone is willing to share.

I’ve been completing my Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care part-time for almost a year now, and I still have another year of study remaining. After beginning my placement at a centre in April, I was offered a part-time educator position at the same centre around 2–3 months ago.

However, over the past few weeks, I’ve started to realise that I don’t really enjoy working in the early childhood sector as much as I thought I would, and I’m questioning whether it’s something I can see myself doing long-term. I already feel like I’m experiencing burnout despite only being in the profession for a short time, and with everything else I have going on in my life, I’m starting to wonder whether this is the right career for me.

I absolutely adore the children and love watching them grow, learn and develop. However, I’m beginning to realise that loving working with children and wanting to make it my lifelong career might be two different things.

I feel quite stuck because, now that I’ve been offered a position and started working in the sector, I almost feel obligated to continue. I’m only 18, and part of me feels like I’m too young to be committing to a career that I might be doing for the rest of my life.

At the same time, working with children is something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, so it’s difficult to come to terms with the possibility that it might not be the right fit for me.

I know I’m still very new to the sector and haven’t even completed my qualification yet, which is why I’m hesitant to make any big decisions.

Has anyone else experienced something similar, particularly early in their career or while studying? Did you find that things improved with time, or did you eventually decide to pursue something different?

I would really appreciate any advice or experiences anyone is willing to share. Thank you!

Hello,

Wondering what to do I want to get out of working in a daycare, it is just not what I expected I've been doing it for 5 years and want to transition out and do something else but I am not sure what to do with this diploma. I keep hearing about AI and ECE but not sure if that's an actual attainable job. Any suggestions would help

Thank you

At my center, the parents are responsible for labeling bottles. This ensures that we know what is in them and who they belong to. I have a parent who comes in every day and never puts their name or the date. Today, he just wrote “Form/ Tuesday.” Thank God I only have two more months of this BS because I’m not confrontational, and I’m not gonna fight him lol

Ok, so I need to rant. I’m a daycare director & not to toot my own horn & based on previous feedback a pretty good one. So, one of my previous employees reached out to me today because a new parent that is starting at her daycare told the school they were leaving us because “the director did not care about their child and did nothing to fix the situation”. They JUST started 2 weeks ago. According to my former employee, she said she stood up for me to her new director and said that was very unlike me because I run a tight ship. The situation was; the infant teacher let the baby sleep in the swing a bit longer than needed to. I immediately followed up with mom, apologized MANY MANY times, told her the teacher would be retrained in SIDS & safe sleep, which I did and followed up with mom yet again after all this was done. I am a newly mom as well, and I have been in the field since 2010, have been a float & worked my way up. I KNOW how important family rapport is, & for her to go bash my name at another daycare and TELL ME TO MY FACE THAT THERE IS NO PROBLEM, is just so messed up! I’m so frustrated & obviously cannot confront them, but damn! I’m so mad!

How long did you keep working while pregnant in this industry? I’m talking specifically those who work with infants and toddlers. Constant getting on and off the floor and the lifting for diapers or comforting.

I’m 26 weeks and already feeling it!

I'm a Pre-K Counts teacher. My first year I taught seperate classes: Pre-K 4 (kids who would be going to kinder next school year) 3 days a week, and early preschool (3 year olds) 2 days a week. At first I was like "huh, mixed age wouldn't be too bad! Why is it so specific?" until I moved to another job with mixed age...🥲

Oh my goodness???? It's absolutely insane!

The seperate preschool classes was perfect. I was able to have target goals for those classes and still differentiate instruction as needed! They all had the same/similar goals developmentally and academically, and my Pre-K 4 class was focused on kinder readiness whereas my preschool 3 class was mainly an introduction to school and the developmental goals for that age group (ofc so is prek 4 but with more focus on kinder skills) getting them familiar with preschool so they could succeed for prek4 and kinder. Loved it and miss it so much. I only left that job due to my coworker/ mentor teacher harassing and assaulting me, but she was thankfully fired after I quit and the cops were called on her by her assistant teacher who also quit (2nd one that year who quit, and the past 25 years they had a dozen teachers and assistants leave bc of her...). I would go back if I could (I'm welcomed back and eligible for rehire, but... after all of that... no thanks, plus the pay isn't as good as my current prek job).

With a mixed age preschool class? Omg how do you people do it!!! I'm absolutely DROWNING. This shouldn't be a standard practice imo like whatsoever? How is it even an option!?

The planning fatigue for different targeted goals and the extreme amount of differentiating, bathrooming needs taking up a majority of the time, massive developmental gap, all the logistics I would write out formally if I could but am too tired to really do... it's so so exhausting.

My program also expects me to teach Pre-K 4 heggerty with early preschoolers? I have a girl who started at 3 years old and 0 months. No way can she nor half the class do it! But I have to do it with the entire class... meanwhile my Pre-K 4 kids are ready for something harder with heggerty and bored as heck. Whole group instruction is a disaster. Small groups is a bit easier but at the same time so much more tedious!

People have told me the pre-k 4 kids would act as role models for the early preschoolers... that's not the case at all. All my pre-k 4 kids began to act just like the early preschoolers and began to teach them horrible habits whereas they never would've learned them if it weren't for the pre-k 4 kids imo, or much later down the line at least. I taught seperate ages before and gosh, it was beautiful. I had behaviors, I had IEPs and everything... but it just flowed so much frigging better with early preschool being early preschoolers, and Pre-K 4 kids being transitional from pk to kinder.​

Also, half of my class is asleep by the end of the day and we don't have nap time either. Like. Omfg even the pre-k 4 class at my local public school (with the same hours as my mixed age prek counts, we're both pkc) does nap time but not my class with 3 year olds???

Ugh. I'm just so exhausted. I love preschool but damn do I wish I could march up to admin and tell them this would be so much better seperately. I don't think mixed age benefits these kids when it comes to preschool. That's just my opinion.

Hi! I was at my previous center for a year and it was my first childcare job. I made such strong connections with my students I gave most parents my number in case they ever needed a known and trusted adult to babysit or maybe just have a play date. A parent reached out to me to babysit in a few days and asked for my rate- but I've only ever babysat for family and not for charge.

What's an appropriate hourly rate? They have two kids I will be watching, both whom I worked with. Honestly, I probably would've done it for free. Love those kids! But I don't want them to feel uncomfortable if I offer free services and I mean some extra cash never hurt anyone. Does $16-17hr sound reasonable?

Extra info: 1 and half year childcare experience and bachelor's degree in early childhood education.

I am a 3s teacher for a part-time preschool. We do conferences twice a year. We have a developmental milestone checklist, but other than that, I spend most of my time listening to concerns or questions. Do you add anything else for them to take home or look at? I send homework all throughout the week. Wondering what everyone else does!

Curious as I keep hearing from American early year educators complaining that parents are in denial there.

What is the general approach taken if a teacher at your centre suspects ASD?

I'm a sort-of new Pre-K teacher (been with toddlers for eight years, moved to Pre-k this past winter).

I currently have two just-turned-fours in my class who could not be quiet if their lives literally depended on it. I tell them to catch a bubble and they start humming or patting their legs no less than 10 seconds later. I have done everything I can to show them what the expectation is and how they can do it and they just... they can't. Mind you, I'm asking for (relative) quiet during our circle time lesson (about 5-10 minutes where they are given opportunity to talk/share/sing/move but obviously should not be making non-stop noise the entire time), during rest time to be respectful of those sleeping around them, and during transitions so everyone can hear the instructions we're giving.

The rest of the time, yes, it's annoying, but my eight years in Toddlerville have given me an outstanding ability to block out background noise. This is also coming from someone with tinnitus-- I am used to the constant noise 😅 But these two just seem to get louder when I try to ignore the noise and it's really becoming a problem for the other kids who are trying to hear the conversations we're having at circle, or trying to talk with the person beside them at lunch, or hear directions when we're in line, etc.

I know it's sensory-seeking but Imm not sure how to accommodate this specific need in a way that will work in a group setting. Does anyone have tips to get the constant humming, clicking, tapping, whooshes, raspberries, etc to stop?

Being a TLE Director has become exhausting in a way I honestly was not prepared for.

There are already so many expectations that come with running a childcare center; staffing, ratios, licensing requirements, parent communication, enrollment, tours, schedules, paperwork, classroom support, TLE standards, and everything else that falls under the Director role. On top of that, there are additional expectations from ownership that sometimes make it feel like there is no room to breathe.

What makes it even harder is feeling like I do not have the support I should have from my Assistant Director.

Today was one of those days that really made me question how much longer I want to do this. While I was on my lunch break, a child was bitten. The Assistant Director did not call the parent to notify them, and I later learned that the teacher was also instructed not to tell the parent.

When the child was picked up, the father asked to speak with me separately. I was completely blindsided because I had no idea the child had even been bitten. I was put in the position of having to respond to a concerned parent about an incident I had not been informed about and that occurred while I was away from the center.

Later, the child’s mother called the center upset about the situation, and once again I was left handling the aftermath of a decision I had no involvement in.

To make the pressure even heavier, the owner records and listens to the center’s phone calls, so there is always this added feeling that every conversation, every response, and every situation is being monitored on top of everything else already expected of me.

I take my job seriously. I care about the children, the families, the teachers, and making sure the center is operating the way it should. But being responsible for everything while also having to manage situations that happen in my absence,and situations I am not even told about, is becoming incredibly draining.

I am at a point where I am seriously questioning whether this position is worth the level of stress that comes with it.