Miss DayCare
Charlotte, NC
Female, 30
I work in a highly respected, franchised Day Care Provider. I have taught in Toddler classrooms as well as Pre-Kindegarten classrooms. It's a wonderful and rewarding profession and I love every minute of it. I have become friends with many of my parents and they all ask questions which is why I want to open a dialogue here so I can be as honest and open as possible about your most prized posession's early childhood education and what really goes on in the classrooms and hallways!
We can of course give hugs when they need comfort or high fives when they do something good in class. I do not give kisses, that's kind of a personal line for me because I have seen other teachers give kisses on the head or if they have a "boo boo" that needs attention. I don't want other people kissing my child so I don't do it. In terms of discipline, I don't ever put my hand on a child. If they need to "take a break" in their seat (as I have said before I do not use the term time-out) they simply walk to it after I tell them to. For the toddler kids when it comes to discipline, if there is something that they do that is worthy of disciplining (such as hitting or throwing things) a stern NO and redirection are the methods I use. Toddler age, you do obviously have to put your hands on them sometimes when I comes to redirection to show them something else, but it's not stern or mean and done in a loving manner.
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No problem! I'm off today so I"m able to get back to people quickly...At one of my first centers, the director explained it that it keeps the relationship between parents and teachers professional rather than personal. At that same center, I was close friends with the parent (and obviously knew their child well) for a couple years before I had began working there. She had asked me to help a couple mornings taking her daughter to school because she had some dr appointments and stuff so I had obviously helped her out. I was almost fired for that, and even asked to take my personal relationship with the family "back a notch" Needless to say I didn't stay at that place to much longer because I wouldn't sacrifice my personal life for my work life! I think that rule is so that it eliminates personal relationships with the families. If you're having a rough day at work and you call your friend to have dinner to vent or whatever and said friend has children in that school and you start spilling the beans, I think that would lead to problems.
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Yes it's required by law for all staff to be certified. I've used the heimlich maneuver at work before and I've used CPR on a family member but never on a child at school.
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There definitely are kids that get attached. Most daycare facilities are open 10-11 hours and some kids are there for the entire time five days a week so they might see their teacher more than their own parents! I have seen it cause friction a few times, mostly when the parents come to pick up the child to go home and they start having a fit and the parent doesn't want to deal with it at 6:00 at night after their day at work. More times than not, parents are at ease that their child enjoys their teacher and likes going to school. When the child transitions to another age and classroom that can cause some anxiety problems but nine times out of ten, they will attach themselves to another teacher in the new classroom within a few weeks.
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It's truly amazing how tech savvy these kids are. My teaching most certainly had to change when younger kids started getting more interested in computers and electronic personal devices (which we don't allow. but we have four desktop computers with wireless internet connection). Again, my cirriculum allows for technical training on the computer with various kid friendly programs, and they are allowed to access it during their free play times as well. Most of the kids have ipod touch, iphones, or an ipad so even the training that the lesson plans offer can be a bit remedial for them!
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You can definitely tell which kids are more advanced by age two just by the milestones that they have reached and passed. I thin I stated above that while you can tell which one is smarter at 2, it may not necessarily be the case by the time they are four and the other kids have caught up and/or passed them. I have taught super smart toddlers and they have gone on to gifted programs at their elementary schools, I also had a child in my pre school class (three years old) that I thought he was going to have the hardest time with school when he got there, but she just began third grade and is reading and writing at a third grade level. Each child develops on their own and that's the best part of my job!
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I've dealt with pretty much everything to a mom coming in every hour on the hour to make sure her child who was potty training got her chance to sit on the toilet (and she did with or without her mother being there). Parents would come in at lunch time to sit with their kids while they ate. I've even had a mom (it's usually the mothers) accost me at a restaurant on a weekend day because she didn't feel her son was getting enough attention at school...mind you this mother was a stay at home mom with only one child and he was in our school mon through fri 7 AM to 6 PM....I'm thinking he wasn't getting enough attention at home but i'm not a licensed psychologist....When I was in an infant classroom I had a mother come in and stay with her baby almost all day and not allow us to build a relationship with her daughter so when we went to go near her the baby would scream and the mom would blame us because we weren't acceptable caregivers and didn't know how to act around her daughter. I do welcome over protective parents and accept their neurosis to an extent, but when it interferes with my job and my classroom, I need to have an open and honest conversation with them usually with a director present so it's documented. I've found that an open dialogue is key with these types of parents and they tend to back off and trust you a bit more once everything is out in the open....this is only the tip of the iceberg....I could write a book with this question alone!
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