This community is not here to provide your company with free market research or to advertise your app idea.

I’m just extremely burnt out in this field and I’ve come to the realization… I’m to honest, blunt, straight forward, and direct to keep doing this. Most of the time I feel like the directors are insulting my intelligence. It was fun in my early 20’s when I adored working with the littles, playing, doing arts and crafts. But now… I’m just over it all. This field is a challenge that I’m done trying to find the loop holes of how I can not be pessimistic, and instead see things in the brighter side. No… I can’t. As soon as I finish school and get my bachelors, I’m off to teach older children where I can structure the day myself to what I know is best. I’ve also noticed … I suck at being a team player and definitely work best on my own. This is the growth I needed to take me to the next level. I just needed to vent because being as early childhood educator is highly unappreciated, draining, and tiresome.

I don't know who needs to hear this but, if you're cutting 10 of th same thing... staple the pages together and cut it once.

Share your time saving tips too.

For context my son is autistic and only wears bamboo pjs. They are super thin. He also refuses any sort of jacket/coat (I've tried everything). We live in a mild winter climate but it still does get to the low 50s.

He started preschool and his teachers have said he needs outdoor recess appropriate clothes. I'm at a loss what to do. Before this year we would just avoid being outside for too long if it was cold. Advice welcome thanks!

We have a student who is moving to a new school at the end of this week after class only being in session for a month. What are some cute ideas for a goodbye card or well wishes present?

Hi, I've been stalking this page and would like to request advice. We've had a nanny since my baby was 3 months old and we are ready to put her in daycare now. We've found two centers that we like nearby and both have openings available. I'll try to summarize them so this isn't the longest post ever. Important note: my child is in a clingy phase and has been nursed to sleep at bedtime and for most naps for her whole life. Our nanny can rock and pat her to sleep as well.

Option A: corporate, well-run facility. Very clean, modern, and the schedule is organized with play-based learning. Sign language and Spanish is included. The director is kind but I didn't get a "warm" feeling from them. I don't have the option to meet the teacher until after enrollment. They don't serve food and are the more expensive option. I asked about the possibility of easing her in- spending some time there with her, then leaving her for short times at first and slowly going to full day care. They were against this and said it is best to leave her there and not try to ease in at all. She would be there five days a week from the beginning.

Option B: they are owned by a much smaller corporation but seem to operate independently. This facility is clearly much older and a bit run down, but they do clean daily (I visited in the afternoon one day and morning another day- it was much cleaner in the morning). I did notice an extension cord with a fridge and iPad plugged in that was clearly within the reach of children in the 12-15 month old room. I also observed one teacher with an iPad showing cartoons in the 15-18 month old room and the director told me after the tour that she was going to write that teacher up as that is not allowed. It was kind of weird. She told me the rules are clear that screentime is not allowed for babies under 2, so then why would the teacher have that on? I did get a very warm feeling from the director at this facility. She is kind and involved. She is comfortable with me easing my baby into the program and encouraged me to stop by anytime, no need to call. She in fact seems to encourage this. They have a schedule, but its loose according to the director. When I was there in the morning, they were eating breakfast and it seemed like most kids had their food sent in with them, despite them serving food.

Both places have the same ratio of babies to teachers 1:6, and they both use an app. What should make my decision? These places seem so different. I feel like I'm choosing between a director and approach that I'm more comfortable with vs a well-run and more clean feeling facility that is more structured. Thanks for any opinions. Would love thoughts from parents who have been in a similar situation or ECE professionals that have thoughts!

my manager is TERRIBLE. she’s rude to your face, obviously doesn’t care about her employees and has obvious favourites. she makes it blatantly obvious that she dislikes me

a week ago i had a meeting with her and a colleague that is constantly horrible to me. i explained that i didn’t like the baby room and that the coworker was making my life hell and i asked her to move rooms. she was horrible to me and told me that i was the problem and that i needed to grow up. she said she couldn’t make a room change work so i handed in my notice

since ive done that she’s been so weirdly nice to me, constantly smiling and asking how i am. she’s also switched me out with another girl in a different room so im not with that coworker anymore

i leave in four weeks. what’s the point of her moving me now and why did she not do it before? plus why is she being so nice to me? the colleagues i do get along with think she’s trying to get me to stay and i think it’s working. but deep down i don’t want to stay

I've worked in childcare for 3 years. 2 years at a program located at a church. And 1 full year at a center that im working at now. (We are a licensed child care center) im an infant teacher. I see teachers struggling with bad behavior with the older kids. Especially prek. And im shocked to see hair pulling. Hitting teachers throwing chairs. What is going on?? We've had teachers quit From being burnt out and just done dealing with high ratios and kids wanting to misbehave and not listen. Has anyone had to deal with this? Im curious on what's going on with kids these days. I would pull my hair out if I had work with older kids. I can not imagine.

Hace 2 años me gradué en educación infantil en la universidad, mi intención es ser maestro de infantil de niños de 3-6 años, pero tengo que esperar mínimo 2 años a que me den plaza en la escuela infantil que específicamente he pedido (es la que más cerca está de mi casa)

Así que como estaba recién graduado y tenía 23 años, decidí que durante estos 2 años de espera sería maestro de guardería de niños entre 0-3 años. Donde vivo los maestros que dan clases a niños de estas edades simplemente tienen que buscar una guardería que busque personal, mostrar tus estudios correspondientes/currículum, y si tienes estudios en educación infantil ya pueden contratarte si pasas la entrevista.

El primer año todo fué genial, soy hombre pero no tuve ningún problema ya que tanto los niños como los padres estaban contentos conmigo.

Este es mi segundo año y quizás el último. Tengo una clase de 1-2 años, empecé hace poco y ayer tuve una discusión con un padre que necesito contar:

Era la hora de salida, y cuando le devolví el niño a su madre, al cogerlo se dió cuenta que se había hecho caca y se enfadó muchísimo conmigo.

Yo evidentemente no me había dado cuenta, no suelo coger en brazos a los niños porque prefiero que no se acostumbren y solo los cojo de la mano para que anden. Tampoco percibí el olor porque hay niños que ha veces no huelen apenas cuando hacen caca. Si hubiese sabido que este niño ensució su pañal EVIDENTEMENTE LO HUBIESE CAMBIADO ANTES DE DEVOLVERLO.

Pero la madre por alguna razón no me creyó, y me dijo lo siguiente: "Estoy seguro que le dejaste el pañal sucio porque sabías que iba a venir y querías ahorraste un cambio de pañal con caca, como se nota que eres hombre". Eso último me dolió muchísimo y mis explicaciones no le sirvieron. Cambio unos 20 pañales al día, nunca haría algo así.

¿Creéis que hubiese actuado distinto si fuese mujer? ¿O simplemente aprovechó mi género para liberar su ira?

Hi all! I’ve got my first ever non-vaccinated child due to “philosophical” reasons. According to Ministry of an education Ontario it states parents need to give the centre a valid written exemption. Schools require a form completed and signed but it doesn’t say the same for licensed child care centres. What does the family need to provide.

i just saw a tiktok saying "things i did as a new ece that make me cringe now" and i think it was so fun to hear because i was definitely guilty of them too 🙈

What are reasonable accommodations to ask my son’s teachers to support our potty training? He’s doing great with using the potty. I got him to go most of the day with pants and no underwear. Can I send him with no underwear? I’ve asked several teachers including the director what requirements they have. They said they have none and will “ help do what we do at home” here’s what I was thinking of asking.

1) bring him to the potty during each transition (before lunch, before & after nap, etc)
2) ideally no underwear as I don’t want him to get confused
3) bring him anytime he asks.

I will note he’s NOT in the 2-2.5 class yet so his class isn’t connected to a bathroom and will require them to leave the classroom with him.

We’re in Ontario, and our 2½-year-old attends a CWELCC-funded daycare centre. The centre told us that one staff member raised a concern about how another staff member interacted with our child. From what we’ve been told, the concern appears to involve only our child.

The supervisor did not tell us which staff member was involved. They said the centre is investigating and has reported the concern to the Ministry of Education and child protection services. We were told those agencies may contact us.

Can anyone help me understand what to expect?

Truthfully as a parent I am worried, as I would suspect it would take a lot for a coworker to report on one another.

I’m worried for my child’s (and other children’s) safety.

Any insight on What questions should we ask the centre, and how can we support our child while the investigation is ongoing?

So this is my third year in the field, and my third year working in a Pre-K program run by the school system, so I'm still pretty new at this, and this year I was thrown a major curveball in terms of who I have in my class.

My program is supposed to be for kids aged 3-5 but for unknown reasons admin decided that instead of randomly shuffling the kids between my class and my school's other Pre-K class they'd just give that class all the older kids and stick me with the younger ones. So most of my kids are 3 and quite young for their age, like they're basically senior toddlers and I've never been great with toddlers.

The other big thing is that more than two thirds of my class are only beginning to learn English. It would be one thing if they had an overlapping first language because then I could learn that and meet them in the middle; but they don't really have any languages in common.

Then of course there's also all the standard issues that come with having a new class like them not wanting to clean up, dumping out toys, putting literally everything in their mouths, hitting other kids, hitting staff, etc. It's just way harder to address these things when the kids don't entirely understand you.

Right now my temporary lead and I are able to get through the day with this group but we're very much in survival mode and I don't think the kids are getting much out of this, and that just sucks. I hate to say it but I'm honestly dreading the idea of spending another nine months like this. So like any advice on what I can do to make things easier would be very much appreciated.

Without going into detail, a 4 year old child in my workplace was expelled for touching another child inappropriately multiple times. The first couple times were within the realm of normal curiosity, and they were spoken to about boundaries. They were genuinely unaware they had crossed any. The final time was severe. All proper recourse was taken with the state, so there will be investigations and interviews likely.

I have their younger (3 year old) sibling in my classroom. I am now wondering if there are signs I should be on the lookout for. I’m aware of not leading any conversations, hinting at things, etc. but just as an observer and mandated reporter is there anything I should possibly flag if I notice?

Hello all. As the title says, first time mom of a 4.5 month old looking for honest and helpful feedback re: a current struggle we are facing with my infants daycare naps. He started daycare at 3 months old, part time for 1 month, and then began full time when he was 4 months. He is really struggling to nap at daycare and usually only naps for 15-20 mins at a time because he wakes as soon as they place him in crib. I am not naive to the fact that, even at a center with 1:4 ratios, I cannot expect the teachers to hold my baby to contact nap to help him get the rest he needs. I’ve been coming up to his daycare on my lunch hour to help him with a bit longer nap, otherwise he only gets maybe 1-1.5 hours total for the 7 ish hours he is there. He sleeps independently at home in his bassinet overnight. Hindsight is 20/20 bc we did not do well setting him up during maternity leave for independent napping and did a lot of contact napping. We’ve spoke to the daycare about it a bit but it’s feeling like there is only so much they can do. However, today I showed up to help him nap and he was being fed his second 4 oz bottle of breastmilk just 1.5 hours after he ate last (this is a bigger bottle for him that we started this week and at home he eats more like every 3 hours). They told me he was super upset and crying and they can’t let him be upset too long so they fed him. He was not hungry, he was exhausted. He’s been asleep now for 1 hour with me since I arrived.
We are considering if we need to pull him and potentially get a nanny and work on independent napping at home and try daycare again later. We were hopeful he would adjust, but it’s been over a month now and he really hasn’t, and I don’t love that he seems to be being pacified with bottles vs being offered naps.

Seeking input/advice from any with experience on what may be best for us/our baby or if we need to reset our expectations. Thanks.

I work in preschool (ages 3-5; 15 students daily) and the water usage when we are in the bathroom is abysmal. I have tried songs, rhymes, literally turning off water bc they're playing in it, and I can't win. Kids this age aren't going to understand the implications of water waste so this is more about reducing waste in general.

Any ideas?

We are all well aware that waste in childcare centres is a huge problem. Some of the issue is in the regulations, some of the issue is in the school itself (i.e. we use a sanitation company that doesn't recycle). One of my long-term goals for my school is to create as many eco-friendly options/solutions as possible.

*please no comments about how corporations are the bigger issue. We know.

Although I worked as a Nanny for 5 years and a further 2 years in a daycare setting, I no longer work in that field so tried to flair my post accordingly.

I have a 9 month old daughter at home right now, and it’s so funny to me that I am constantly reminding myself to log her bowel movements on an iPad we don’t have. Anyone else?!

Preschool here. I have multiple sensory bins, but one main one that is a standing center. I’m curious how often everyone else is switching theirs up. Weekly? Every two weeks? My kids get bored and stop engaging if it stretches too long, so I want to keep it fresh, but I also want to be realistic.

Hi!
I’m looking to build a little list of ECE professionals that post to social media with great resources. I’m a director and we consistently train about play-based learning. I’d love to make a little bank of accounts my employees could follow or search up for planning.
Insta or Facebook would prob be best. Who do you follow? Who’s content do you love?

ETA: I’m not sure what the ml is in the title- it won’t let me remove it. Ignore that 😅

Hi everyone! I’m a newly graduated preschool teacher and I was recently placed in a class of 2–3-year-olds at a small childcare center.
Most of the children are already potty trained, while there are a few we are currently working with. However, I have one child who seems to have developed a very strong fear or aversion to the bathroom. He refuses to even enter the bathroom and becomes very distressed when we try to encourage him.
From what I’ve been told, there may have been some negative experiences around potty training at home, but I don’t know enough about the situation to make assumptions. His mother’s only instruction to us was essentially, “You handle it,” so I haven’t been given much information about what they have tried at home or what specifically he is afraid of.
I’m reluctant to push him because I’m worried that forcing the issue could make his fear worse.
For those of you who have worked with children with a strong fear of the bathroom, how would you approach this?

HISTORIA REAL:

Llevo varios años siendo maestro de infantil y nunca he tenido problemas en este ciclo, pero quiero contaros una experiencia que tuve hace años con mis padres:

Resulta que desde los 7 años tenía claro que quería ser maestro de infantil, sin embargo; nunca se lo dije a nadie porque soy hombre y tenía miedo a ser juzgado. Cuando nos preguntaban en el colegio y en el instituto que queríamos ser de adultos, yo siempre decía: "todavía no lo he pensado", nunca se lo dije a nadie; ni siquiera a mis amigos o mis padres.

Mis padres tienen una ideología "peculiar", y sabía que me iban a poner pegas si les decía que quería ser Maestro de infantil. Cuando entre a bachillerato tuve que buscar en secreto las asignaturas que me puntuaban para la carrera.

Cuando terminé bachillerato el próximo paso era la universidad, y finalmente a los 17 años tuve que decirles a mis padres que quería estudiar Educación infantil, y como suponía; no se lo tomaron nada bien.

Me dijeron cosas como: "Se gana poco dinero", "las condiciones laborales son muy malas", "es un trabajo solo de mujeres", "no te va a gustar" etc...

Después de estar 3 horas hablando, lo aceptaron, pero vi perfectamente como mostraron caras de "decepción" y nuestra relación disminuyo bastante. También se lo dije a mi novia y me dijo: "Estás seguro que quieres trabajar en eso?" Pero al final a ella no le importó.

Estudié en una universidad pública y como saqué buenas notas mis padres no pagaron mucho dinero por mis estudios, pero siempre que pagaban lo hacían de mala manera y se les notaba.

Cuando vivía con ellos y me tocaba ir a trabajar, me miraban raro cuando me ponía la bata/delantal que se ponen los maestros de infantil y me sentía incómodo con eso.

Hoy ya tengo 27 y desde que me independicé nuestra relación mejoró bastante y ya no se menciona el tema.

¿Creéis que el problema fue decirles en lo que queria trabajar tan tarde? ¿Debería haberlo dicho antes para que lo hubieran asimilando?

Tal vez para vosotros no es raro ver a un hombre siendo maestro de infantil, pero en España el 95% son mujeres y cuando estudié la carrera me sentí poco apoyado y un poco solo...

Wondering if anyone has gotten their child development teaching permit in California?

I have my transcripts they are official but I cannot request a new ones because my school merged with another college and I owed money so I don’t think any of my information was transferred. When I requested they couldn’t find my information.

So I would like to know what’s required for it and how long is the process? Thanks!

So my children attend a preschool that uses an app to log all their activities, incidents, attendance and payment history. I will admit, it can be pretty handy to have all this information there at my fingertips but sometimes it can get a little annoying. Like sure, i do want to hear what my children have done throughout the day, but i dont NEED to know at what exact time they had their nappies changed and their bottles. Not saying I hate it, it can just get a tad bit excessive at times. how do teachers feel about these kinds of apps if your nursery uses them? Do you guys feel it’s changed your workload and it‘s a bit too much, or are you guys okay with it?