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!
I have only worked at one that had video surveillance, and quite frankly it doesn't put the teachers at ease that they are there. It was a very "big brother" feeling. That was about 8 years ago and the three places I have worked since then have not had cameras.
Yea there have been many. Mostly with the kids that physically harm other kids. Behavioral problems are not easy to take care of, but a bit more manageable than that of the kids that bite or hit. Biters are the absolute worst because they break skin sometimes and that can get the kids sent home that got bit and the child that bit them (due to health concerns). I have had many meetings with parents regarding biting and hitting, some parents are responsive and want to "fix" the behavior and be very hands on, and some just think that kids are kids and they will grow out of their negative behaviors. Again this is where communication is key. Sometime parents think daycare teachers are glorified babysitters and do not take us seriously. What they fail to see is that being in this industry is a career choice for many of us much like choosing to be a doctor or lawyer is to a parent. We are passionate, and want to make a difference in these childrens' lives!
There's really not much you can do. There are centers that have a policy that for each minute they are late after closing time, they owe one dollar. Unfortunately, that doesn't deter parents from being late, they just hand you cash when they walk in to pick up their child. If you have a chronically late parent, and you have to stay past close, you just have to grin and bear it and wait for that child to graduate to the next classroom so that parent can become another teacher's problem!
That was worded wrong, I meant that I had known teacher who have known kids that have been asked to leave the center because of their behavior. Sorry for the mix up!
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Daycare can run anywhere from 250 to 135 a week, it just depends on where you go. Typically infant care is the most expensive and it tapers down from there. It depends on the facility how competitive it is to get in. In Charlotte where I am, the daycare industry is becoming to saturated so "competitiveness" isn't a problem. There are of course centers that I wouldn't recommend and they're even on the higher end of the pricing spectrum so you just have to tour a few centers and see what you feel best. I've found with my friends that have kids on daycare that whatever center they feel comfortable in immediately was the one they chose. When my daughter was born, and I was working in a different place than I am now, I wasn't fond of the infant program there (and it was one of the more expensive ones!), in face I wasn't fond of the facility and was trying to find another place to work. I placed her in the facility I am in now and waited for a position there to open up! I have found that the centers that are 250-300 a week really are all show and no substance.
I hate to admit it but I do, there are always one or two kids in your class that make it worth your while to go to work! And any teacher that tells you otherwise is lying. I don't treat them any different than anyone else in the class, and in most cases your "favorite" child started out as your favorite parent/family. The parents you have the most communication with, the parents that treat you like a person not just a full time babysitter for their children, those are the parents of the children that become your "favorite."
No there's no "hazing." Whoever gets hired knows going in what position they are getting (infant teacher, toddler, pre-school, etc.). If someone is hired for the infant room, they know they're gonna be changing diapers and all that stuff so they know what they're getting into. The turnaround in this industry is pretty high and every teacher in the center I am at has pretty much worked with every age group at the other facilities they have worked in so people who get hired are pretty well rounded.
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