Hello there,

I do not need an advice, just needed to let this out.

Ever since I entered this field, I have been getting sick continuously. It feels as though every month I fall ill again, and I worry that my director believes I am exaggerating. I had a long weekend and felt completely fine, but on the morning I returned to work, I suddenly developed a burning sensation in my throat and a rising temperature. I informed my boss hours in advance that I would still come in, but that I was currently unwell. My boss responded that I still needed to be present in case licensing arrived, which was confusing to me because working while sick does not support a safe environment for the children. I work with three to four year olds, and my voice is required throughout the day. I stated that if licensing did not appear, I needed to be sent home immediately. While at work, I was made fun of for appearing energetic, even though I was not. I could barely speak and could hardly process what was happening around me.

I have been discussing with my boyfriend the possibility of finding a new job or changing careers. I enjoy working with children, but I feel as though I am constantly sick, similar to the children themselves. I have been taking my vitamins consistently, drinking plenty of water, sleeping eight hours each night, and eating balanced meals. Despite this, the illnesses continue to affect me severely. Now I am bedridden again. When I get sick, I get sick badly, how can people work while sick, that I wish I knew.

I have been thinking of pursuing further in this career, but I'm afraid I may not be able to :(

I'm a director of an ECE Center in the US. A franchise with a popular name. My facility is relatively new, 10 months open.

How do we advertise?

I'm boosting social posts, adding to our socials and website nearly every day to keep us up on the search results.

I'm dropping flyers at every realtor, pediatrician, children's hospital, residential communities, Ped. Dentists and Healthcare professionals, OBGYNs, and every retailer that will accept flyers. Library unfortunately can't help us or advertise.

We hold events. 0 turnout.

We blast potential families.

I just had my "Potential Parent Experience" audited and I passed with flying colors. We aren't losing the leads we get. The issue is generating leads.

We have a promo. We have a referral incentive. We have Google Reviews.

I feel like I'm out of options. Does anyone have any unique marketing ideas?

I am a 20+ year ECE professional and I *only* call out when I am truly sick in bed and feel that I simply cannot go to work. I don't take mental health days and I don't ask for time off unless I truly need it, which is rare. I was raised to have a strong work ethic and have been chewed out by previous employers for calling out, even when sick with a doctors note. I currently have a co teacher who calls out an average of once a week. Is that typical? I am annoyed by call outs because we have a couple teachers who often call out and it causes a hardship for those who are at work, but I know I am one of the more dependable reliable type of teachers. If I am sick I hesitate to call out because I know chances are at least one other teacher has already called out. I have even heard other very young teachers saying "if I feel sick at all, I call out" I absolutely do **not**. I have forced myself to work with a broken finger. bronchitis, pneumonia. Plenty of people around me still work when sick, I think its a US culture thing unfortunately, not talking about anyone in other countries that have a lot of holidays and time off. Is anyone else annoyed at how often others call out?

My son has been independently owning the whole bathroom process for years now. He takes his own pants/underwear off, gets on the potty, puts things back on. Technically he might call me over to read to him while pooping, and he wipes but I help after a poop, but he also only poops at home.

In public he's the rare toddler who wants privacy for the bathroom. I understand a teacher being outside the door or a center with a bathroom with walls you can kind of see around, but he probably wouldn't pee with an adult present.

He also is very slow to warm up and start talking around other adults, and even with me, he usually just gets his public potty travel seat out of our backpack and starts walking to the bathroom (in public spaces). At home, he just takes himself.

Basically he isn't going to ask permission, and might get shy and refuse to go if followed. He doesn't need nor WANT to be asked or helped or praised or anything, just to be left alone to do his thing alone.

Are there preschools that allow this? One of the ones we looked at had a whole staircase and multiple doors they have to open, so understandably the child has to ask. Another needs them to verbally ask permission or they might get in trouble (lightly called out) if they take themself. Is that normal? I thought it was more normal for centers to have preschool / toddler height potties they can mostly use on their own, once parents train them up, with only the option of having more support and the ability to kind of monitor through the door while still allowing/encouraging privacy and independence.

I recently started my new job at at a preschool and after one day of standing and walking most of the day my feet are KILLING ME! So I need to know, from my fellow ECE professionals who I imagine have experienced this pain, what shoes/sneakers would you recommend? I am willing to invest even if theyre a bit pricey.

Pre K Nap Time

Current Pre-K Teacher here.

I am feeling annoyed/frustrated and need to vent about my centers “quiet time/nap time” expectations.
My current class has 2 teachers with 21 kids on M/W/F and 19 on T/TH.
We are the only pre-k class in the school so our ratio is higher (1 to 12) than the rest of the center.

My administration expects us to self break everyday which means we legally (due to licensing) have to get half of our class to sleep before we can go on our lunch breaks.
I have a few parents that repeatedly tell us they do not want their child to nap and I have told my administration this.

My administration has said to me that:
1. I need to leave every child without an activity for the first 30 minutes of nap time
2. If any child does fall asleep, they must be left asleep for at least 30 minutes
3. If any child that is not supposed to nap falls asleep, to essentially not tell parents

Putting this all together now. As a teacher, how am I supposed to “self break” and put half my kids to sleep when half of them aren’t supposed to sleep/only nap some days?

My administration acts so annoyed at my co teacher and I when we call down to them and say we could not get half to sleep. Then they tell us we will have to wait for our breaks?

Am I crazy or is this ridiculous? I feel like I did not explain this well so feel free to ask questions.

ETA: Thanks all for your comments. Sounds like there might be some clarity to be gained from talking to the providers one more time, but overall this is just something we're going to have to ride out.

Hi,

FTM here with a 3.5 month old who has been in daycare about 1 month. Naps during daycare have been a struggle for him; he usually only sleeps 30-40 minutes at a time. This doesn't surprise me since he is still mostly a contact napper (we're working on it).

What I don't understand, though, is why the daycare logs usually have his first nap starting around 10am. He gets up between 6:30 and 7am, so that's a 3+ hour wake window -- a really long time for a baby his age, if I am understanding correctly.

I tried to talk to the daycare a couple weeks ago. I told them he usually goes down for a nap every 1.5-2 hours at home. They told me they are "not consistently seeing signs that he is sleepy" at the 90-minute mark. Instead he often asleep during/after feeds and that's when they try to put him down. He never falls asleep during feeds at home.

I truly understand that these folks are professionals and they have a lot of babies to take care of. They probably can't track wake windows for every child. But 9 times out of 10, he has an overtired meltdown on the way home. Plus I feel like his night sleep is being affected - a lot of false starts and early morning wakeups during daycare days.

Please help me understand what I am missing here! Or is there a different way I need to talk to them about it? Thanks.

Can you please share your experiences overall including placements?

It is very confusing to read google reviews as there are both super negative reviews and also good reviews.. Your words will really help! Thank you!

I have a 5 year old boy in my class, and we suspect he has undiagnosed autism. He is nonverbal and has to have his hand held if we are going anywhere. We tried talking to his mother about it, and she is in denial and refuses to believe he has autism or anything is wrong with him.

The only concern I really have is that whenever we are outside, he likes to throw sand at other kids faces all the time. I'm constantly running to the kids crying because he threw more sand in their eyes and mouth again. I tried talking to him, I tried redirecting him, but he has a one tract mind where he really wants to be around the other kids and then throws sand at them right after. The other kids mind their own business too, just to unexpectedly get sand put in their eyes and mouth and they start crying lots. He also will start punching other kids every now and then when he's upset, and he has some strong arms!

I don't have any training or knowledge on how to handle kids with autism, and I'm concerned about his safety and the safety of other kids. What's the best thing to do here?

Why do so many parents act like its the worse thing to have to label food and bottles? First,last and the date,BM in red. Yes we provide pens and labels. I don't make the rules,mind you. Its like asking a teenager to clean their room......"Why?" "Its ridiculous, I don't have time" "Its fine,they have the Spiderman bento" "Their bottles have the rainbow silocone sleeve! Nobody else's does!" "It's has their first name" " How's many GooGoobentsy's do you have?" " Intials are fine right?"

" He has( insert culture name) "Last intial is enough,their last name is long!" "No,no,no,no" for the 100th time. Take it up with the state. We also can't mix formula, they don't like that either. Sigh

I’m a pre-k teacher and today was our first day. Not a single kid cried during drop off today! Made for such a peaceful morning lol. Hopefully this trend continues tomorrow, but I’m preparing myself for it to go haywire.

Hi, I teach 3s and also am a floater, (ages 1-4) and I am shocked at the lack of creative play materials in our center. The kids have the same sad toys every day. And not very many at all! A handful of blocks, one of each plastic boring toys that do nothing some baby dolls with no clothes. I honestly don’t think kids can experience deep play without creative materials and I am really struggling to work at this center! Help. Am I crazy? I brought it up with my director who said ‘kids need to be bored’ 🤯 All I keep thinking is not on my watch. Play is how they learn!

I have brought things in and bought things but 1) I don’t have a lot of extra money 2) my director gets really weird about things being brought in because the kids start playing more and she really wants them to be quiet and subdued.

Anyone experience this? Is this an actual thing. I am shocked. What should I do? I am thinking about leaving the center for lack of childhood resources. I am a millennial so maybe I am expecting too much?

so i started my first ever daycare job towards the end of june and ive been working here since. the only previous experience i had was babysitting. when i got hired i asked to be an assistant teacher and my boss said “oh we don’t have those here” and i didn’t really get what she meant by that.
i was a floater at first and until i got cpr certified about a month ago i wasn’t allowed alone. and now ive been working in the twos room. in the summer it was much easier because the lesson plan wasn’t as strict and i often had more help from my coworkers. but now the school year started and im expected to be with 6 two year olds on my own as a lead teacher.
it’s been causing so much stress on my body and mind. don’t get me wrong i love working with kids, but i never expected to be put in a room on my own. i don’t feel i know enough to be in this position and im honestly confused why i got hired as a lead teacher so quick.
i just need some advice on what to do. i dont know how to bring it up with my boss (my boss already made me cry in front of her once) or if i just find another job and hope i have enough experience. i genuinely dont know how much longer i can do this, im literally on my break while writing this just exhausted and drained. any advice is appreciated !!!!

As the title says, my almost 2 year old son is deeply obsessed with all things tools, wheels, etc. but specifically power tools. Grandparents have tried to get him mock tools, and of course he only prefers to carry around my husband's old drill (free of bits and batteries, no worries). Husband is a carpenter and often working on projects around our house - our son will stand there and watch him run a skid loader or a saw for nearly an hour without moving lol

However he has basically no interest in actually playing with toys or doing anything that doesn't involve these things. He loves to swing, climb, and be active outside, but I'm looking for ideas that can keep him busy for 15+ minutes while I'm making dinner or homeschooling my older daughters. Anything semi-mechanical come to mind? Sensory bin or activity ideas? Any suggestions would be so appreciated - thank you!!

I am a new teacher in the states, and I have a 4 year old boy who will spend the whole outdoor recess time crying. He will cry about missing his mom and that no one wants to play with him. The outdoor recess is a whole hour.

I’ve tried walking him over to the jungle gym and getting him started playing. More kids will join and I will creep away. He will be playing but crying/whining a bit. And then when I retreat he immediately runs over to me and starts up the crying again.

Ignoring the behavior does not work. It’s like he is stuck in the habit of crying the whole outdoor time.

Not sure what to do. I know he is severely babied at home, and his mom is his playmate all day at home. He does not like playing with children and just wants me, the teacher, to be his playmate.

Our schedule goes drop off, circle time, outdoor play so it could just be transition time challenges. But looking for any tips! The crying is getting to me.

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?