Working in Daycare!
For those of you who don't know, I work in daycare as an Assistant Teacher in a Preschool room (3&4 year-old's). I absolutely love my job, I really do. I feel like I am where I am suppose to be and like I am right where God wants me. But, just because I love it, does not mean it is always easy. In fact, there are some days, I want to run away screaming. In this post I just want to talk about what it is really like working in daycare.
Now lets start off with the best parts of the job. For me, the absolute best part of the job is getting to interact with the kids and helping them grow and learn and become the people God is calling them to be. I love watching them learn and play and get smarter and stronger in everything they do. Also, you never know what a kid will say or do, and sometimes, it just makes you burst into laughter and makes your day so much better. And getting lots of hugs, kisses, and "I love you's" makes it all worth while. And getting to interact with the parents and tell them how their child's day was and what we did and express to them exciting accomplishments is such a great part of the job. Because getting to make the parents day better, makes my day better, too. Also, bonus part, there is so much fun and playtime that goes into it. Getting to run and play right a long with kids, is the best part. It allows you to be a kid, too, and have fun right along with them.
So, pretty much what I just described is what you see quite often on TV and the Movies when they show daycare scenes. I described the sunshine and rainbows part of it. But, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make it all happen. The lead teacher does all the lesson planning and plans each and every day the activities we will do and the things we will be teaching the kids. That means, me, as an assistant, helps out with that. As in I help her prepare everything for each day. Whether that means cutting things out, tracing things, preparing art projects, collecting supplies, you name it, I help out with it. That also means preparing the class room and changing up our lesson board with our letter, shape, number, and color on it, changing the month on our calendar when that roles around, and setting up any additional things that may need setting up. There is also the serving food and setting up snacks and breakfast. We have to use gloves when ever we handle food, and all tables need to washed with the 3 step process of washing with soapy water, regular water, and then bleach water. We also need to be mindful of allergies and make sure we serve the proper foods to the right kids. There is also bathrooms. In my case, most of the time I just have to walk kids down to the potty so they can use the bathroom. But sometimes, accidents happen. That means we walk down to the bathroom, put on some gloves, and help the child change out of their soiled clothes and into clean ones. Some kids use pull-ups at nap time, so that means we put on a pair of gloves and help them get their pull up on. And if we need to change a diaper, yep, we put on gloves to do so, and then we have to 3 step the changing table we used. And we also do a lot of cleaning. We have to wash any dishes we use, and sometimes toys. At the end of each night we have spray all the toys with bleach water to keep them clean and vacuum the floor, as well as 3-step the tables. Not to mention the constant getting out and putting things away we do every day, as well. Oh, and if its hot and sunny out, we have to put sunscreen on each child, which means putting on a new pair of gloves in between each kid. And if its colder, we help with coats. And if its winter and there is snow, that means lots of snow stuff to get on an off. There is so much that goes into each day to make sure it all runs smooth. So much of it, most people don't see or even think about. It is a lot of work, a lot more work than you may think.
Now, here is the other part they never show on TV or the movies, the part of it that can be not so fun. Dealing with disciplining and managing bad behaviors. Kids will be kids, they do things they are not suppose to an get into trouble. And as the teacher, it is our job to deal with any issue that may arise. This means dealing with injuries, kids fighting and being mean, kids throwing fits, kids screaming, kicking, hitting, and calling names, and the list goes on. The hardest part is when a child just does not want to listen no matter what you do. Sometimes no matter what punishment they get, they just don't care, and that can be hard. I have dealt with a lot of really challenging kids and it can be hard. Sometimes, just I could keep my cool, I had to tell one of my coworkers I needed a break, and I would just go use the bathroom, grab a drink of water and take a breather and a moment to collect myself. Because what people don't realize, is we are limited as to what we are allowed to do for discipline. We are suppose to re-direct the kids. We are not allowed to use time-outs and, obviously, n laying a hand on them. We have to do things like make them play by themselves for awhile, or makes choices for them of what they are allowed to play with. And sometimes its hard because you feel like you should do more, but you can't. The other tough part about working in daycare, can be dealing with the parents. Now, let me throw out that I truly have a lot of really amazing parents that I work with, and most of them are so appreciative and grateful for all that we do. But there is always the occasional one that just is difficult. I am not going to talk about any parents I have dealt with, as that would just not be appropriate, but I will just mention, in general, the kinds of difficult parents you may encounter. There are the parents that just don't care about how their child behaves, there are parents who spoil their kids rotten and let them run the house, there are helicopter parents, there are parents that treat you as if you never do enough for their child, there are parents that are cruel to their children, you may even run into abusive parents, there are parents that are very picky about what goes on with their child, and the list goes on. Sometimes parents can be the most difficult challenge to deal with.
But even through the challenges, and difficult days, the job is so very rewarding and so much fun. It may be a lot of work, but I love it. It is definitely not the most easy job in the world, but is the most fulfilling and rewarding. I love what I do and I would not change what I do for anything. I have the best job and I love it. And I do love getting to interact with the parents as much as I do the kids. Because sometimes you can make a parents day just by telling them all their child did and accomplished throughout the day.
Now lets start off with the best parts of the job. For me, the absolute best part of the job is getting to interact with the kids and helping them grow and learn and become the people God is calling them to be. I love watching them learn and play and get smarter and stronger in everything they do. Also, you never know what a kid will say or do, and sometimes, it just makes you burst into laughter and makes your day so much better. And getting lots of hugs, kisses, and "I love you's" makes it all worth while. And getting to interact with the parents and tell them how their child's day was and what we did and express to them exciting accomplishments is such a great part of the job. Because getting to make the parents day better, makes my day better, too. Also, bonus part, there is so much fun and playtime that goes into it. Getting to run and play right a long with kids, is the best part. It allows you to be a kid, too, and have fun right along with them.
So, pretty much what I just described is what you see quite often on TV and the Movies when they show daycare scenes. I described the sunshine and rainbows part of it. But, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make it all happen. The lead teacher does all the lesson planning and plans each and every day the activities we will do and the things we will be teaching the kids. That means, me, as an assistant, helps out with that. As in I help her prepare everything for each day. Whether that means cutting things out, tracing things, preparing art projects, collecting supplies, you name it, I help out with it. That also means preparing the class room and changing up our lesson board with our letter, shape, number, and color on it, changing the month on our calendar when that roles around, and setting up any additional things that may need setting up. There is also the serving food and setting up snacks and breakfast. We have to use gloves when ever we handle food, and all tables need to washed with the 3 step process of washing with soapy water, regular water, and then bleach water. We also need to be mindful of allergies and make sure we serve the proper foods to the right kids. There is also bathrooms. In my case, most of the time I just have to walk kids down to the potty so they can use the bathroom. But sometimes, accidents happen. That means we walk down to the bathroom, put on some gloves, and help the child change out of their soiled clothes and into clean ones. Some kids use pull-ups at nap time, so that means we put on a pair of gloves and help them get their pull up on. And if we need to change a diaper, yep, we put on gloves to do so, and then we have to 3 step the changing table we used. And we also do a lot of cleaning. We have to wash any dishes we use, and sometimes toys. At the end of each night we have spray all the toys with bleach water to keep them clean and vacuum the floor, as well as 3-step the tables. Not to mention the constant getting out and putting things away we do every day, as well. Oh, and if its hot and sunny out, we have to put sunscreen on each child, which means putting on a new pair of gloves in between each kid. And if its colder, we help with coats. And if its winter and there is snow, that means lots of snow stuff to get on an off. There is so much that goes into each day to make sure it all runs smooth. So much of it, most people don't see or even think about. It is a lot of work, a lot more work than you may think.
Now, here is the other part they never show on TV or the movies, the part of it that can be not so fun. Dealing with disciplining and managing bad behaviors. Kids will be kids, they do things they are not suppose to an get into trouble. And as the teacher, it is our job to deal with any issue that may arise. This means dealing with injuries, kids fighting and being mean, kids throwing fits, kids screaming, kicking, hitting, and calling names, and the list goes on. The hardest part is when a child just does not want to listen no matter what you do. Sometimes no matter what punishment they get, they just don't care, and that can be hard. I have dealt with a lot of really challenging kids and it can be hard. Sometimes, just I could keep my cool, I had to tell one of my coworkers I needed a break, and I would just go use the bathroom, grab a drink of water and take a breather and a moment to collect myself. Because what people don't realize, is we are limited as to what we are allowed to do for discipline. We are suppose to re-direct the kids. We are not allowed to use time-outs and, obviously, n laying a hand on them. We have to do things like make them play by themselves for awhile, or makes choices for them of what they are allowed to play with. And sometimes its hard because you feel like you should do more, but you can't. The other tough part about working in daycare, can be dealing with the parents. Now, let me throw out that I truly have a lot of really amazing parents that I work with, and most of them are so appreciative and grateful for all that we do. But there is always the occasional one that just is difficult. I am not going to talk about any parents I have dealt with, as that would just not be appropriate, but I will just mention, in general, the kinds of difficult parents you may encounter. There are the parents that just don't care about how their child behaves, there are parents who spoil their kids rotten and let them run the house, there are helicopter parents, there are parents that treat you as if you never do enough for their child, there are parents that are cruel to their children, you may even run into abusive parents, there are parents that are very picky about what goes on with their child, and the list goes on. Sometimes parents can be the most difficult challenge to deal with.
But even through the challenges, and difficult days, the job is so very rewarding and so much fun. It may be a lot of work, but I love it. It is definitely not the most easy job in the world, but is the most fulfilling and rewarding. I love what I do and I would not change what I do for anything. I have the best job and I love it. And I do love getting to interact with the parents as much as I do the kids. Because sometimes you can make a parents day just by telling them all their child did and accomplished throughout the day.
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