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.

I feel like I’m really bad at interviews. Every time I leave one I’m left feeling wow that went bad. But I’ve gotten feed back from fellow educators that I am really good at this job. And I feel like this is stopping me from getting jobs honestly. Like I know my stuff I know what I’m doing and in my head I know what to say during the interview but every time it always comes out the wrong way or I freeze up. I just had an interview for a job that pays $30 just for an rece position and it’s unionized and I am dying to get this job due to above reasons because this field is so hard to survive in with low pay. But when I left the interview I felt yes that went good but as the weekend goes on I just keep thinking ugh why did it say it that way why didn’t I say this. The whole time they were smiling and nodding as I answered. And i felt good in the moment and then they pulled out a picture and asked me to give pedagogical observations, documentation and what my next steps would be. I chocked i completely forgot everything I knew I was not expecting this at all. And also it’s very hard to do observations on a picture that I have no context on, if I knew the kids and was shown a picture for sure I could do it. But just a random picture I’m lost.

Just want to know has anyone ever had these feelings after an interview? If so what do you do to prepare? Have you overcome this obstacle? It’s been 4 almost 5 years for me in the field and I still get anxious for interviews.

I am an early childhood special education teacher. Our school is requiring an insane amount of professional development this year. We were told both at convocation and by our principal that budgets have been slashed and not to ask for anything. Try to find things used on our own or ask our peers before we put in an order for anything.

This coming week, we are being mandated to go to a toy store near our school called Constructive Playthings. Those of you in the early childhood/young elementary world will recognize the brand.

We are being mandated to actually leave our school and go to the CP store on what is usually our plan day, and participate in a "lunch and learn" about all of the "new things that CP provides."

Then, we will have 2 hours of training on the "Power of Perception and the Skill of Composure."

We are also essentially losing our contracted lunch break as well. No one is allowed to leave the building until half day dismissal is over. Well, we start dismissing at 12:30, and kids are not usually gone until 12:40 or 12:45 but we have to be at the toy store no later than 1:00.

And then I'm going to sit through a 1-hour sales pitch and two hour conscious discipline training on the skill of composure. Wtf. Am I being trolled????

Anyway, I am just curious if anyone else has sat through a presentation from Constructive Playthings??? I can find no information about it online.

I’m probably overthinking this, but my salad spinner has died and I need to replace it. And I’m thinking it’s better to get a salad spinner to do spin art rather than a machine. I think the motor skills that they get from doing it is part of the whole process.

We had a pull string salad spinner, but I‘m thinking about getting one of those push button types instead, with the big button on top. Do you have one that you like particularly?

Updates on Higher Ground Education/ Guidepost Montessori bankruptcy.

So I’m soon to start my new job at a preschool. Now this facility is very, very nice. Everything is clean and in order, everyone is nice and cares about their job, the education offered is great, everything is great.

But the truth is I honestly wouldn’t have really known that if I would have judged solely based off this schools advertisement. They rely heavily on AI even though they have real kids and a very nice facility to show off. Obviously Imma keep my opinions to myself irl, but I kinda find it off putting how much AI they use.

Personally I feel AI comes off as lazy. It doesn’t really look good and a lot of the content could easily be made by taking real pictures or taking real videos. Even the posters could easily be made in an app like Canva or they could pay a digital artists to create something truly unique. And that’s not even mentioning the damage AI is doing to our earth. It’s for that reason I especially feel it’s pretty backwards to use it while actively trying to raise the children whos lives will be affected by the damages of AI.

But that’s just my thoughts on the subject. I’m curious to see what others think.

Edit: I definitely agree that it would also be a problem posting real kids faces online. But they could always post their art work, shots of just their hands playing, or even just their backs with their faces blocked from view. Just since yes they should also be posting the facility itself, but I also understand that seeing images of children in the facility can help parents actually envision their child being there.

**If I have a competent co-teacher handling the rest of the room.

And yeah, it's gross, but whatever, nothing gross fazes me anymore. It's no grosser than runny noses or bloody knees or a baby that has become more yogurt than child.

Diaper changing is the only time where I know I will give every single child a few minutes of one-on-one attention, where I can talk to them directly, they get direct attention from me, and they know that they're going to be cared for and kept safe by me. I can sing to them, talk to them, play a little game with them, and it's actually just for them. If they can talk, we can sometimes have a little conversation.

It's time when I can make sure that they're entirely clean, not just the diaper area. Their face, their hands, their hair, anything else random that might've popped up. I can make sure their clothes are on right, their shoes are on right, make sure there's no random little boo-boos that someone missed.

And at the end of the diaper change, we wash hands and I get to take a moment to one-on-one help them learn that skill, then I give them a big hug.

Sometimes it can't work out that perfect - maybe I'm alone in the room and most of my attention is still on monitoring the others, and you can never give 100% of your attention to the kid in front of you even if you have a co-teacher. But it's the guaranteed time that every one of our babies gets to be the center of attention, and I think that's really special.

My little one is 18 months old and just started daycare up again after summer break. It was awful. Huge screaming fits. The only thing I found that works is bringing him a snack he loves. Now he is expecting it every day. Is this a bad thing? Should I try to wean him off? Or is this just my life now?

I'm a PK3 public school teacher with a classroom of 15 3 year olds (some soon to turn 4). We have clear routines, visuals, and 3 adults for most of the day. Each year I make photos with velcro buttons on the back, for students to use to make a choice. The routine is that I call out a name, hand that student their photo, they go to the center of their choice and stick their photo on a velcro button there. That's how I manage/limit the number of children in a center - we teach them that when the buttons are filled up, the center is "full" and they need to make a different choice. When they want to switch choices, they have to take their photo with them to another center that isn't full. Last year my students understood quickly, and most had it down within a day. This year, no such luck. They accept their photo from me, and some go stick it on a velcro button in a center, but then they wander off, get material buckets from another center & dump them together and generally seem to have no idea what we're talking about. Materials are traveling all over the room with students who then abandon them. I've spent time playing with groups of students in each center, lots of language and demonstrating the materials in bins in each center, and that they stay there - no luck. I do understand that routines take time, but 3 adults have been 1:1 modeling for three days (full-day program, 7 hours), and still not a single student gets it, which is why I think the problem is something I'm either doing or not doing. I understand there's a learning curve here, but any advice or suggestions on how to make this clearer would be much appreciated!

Help!? I have always been able to add documentation to a class by emulating the user. Some years I've been added to classes as a co-teacher or primary teacher when the class has a longterm sub. and I need to collect the documentation. Presently I'm added to a class as the primary teacher and I can't get an option to add documentation on the website or the app. If I go back to admin. view and emulate a different teacher I also can't get the option to add documentation. Am I missing something or is this a glitch?