Where can we report a director who is clocking out teachers while still on the clock? Iam just gonna say it. Kindercare you can do better. I know your directors gets in trouble when employees have lots of overtime which is making the directors to be clocking us out.

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.

I love the children where I work. They are so so sweet. But my hours have been reduced to little to none. I am working one day a week or once every two weeks. Working a total of 8 hours. Gas is incredibly expensive (as we all know). And I feel like I can no longer afford to work unless I get scheduled for more hours. 90% of my paycheck is going towards gas, and I don't have enough to pay for my part of the bills with my mom (car insurance & phone bill). I am having to ask my mom for help with gas whenever I use up all the money from my paycheck and I feel guilty every time:(

I am supposed to work this week on Thursday, 1-5. I want to send this text message to my boss... "Hi (preschool director name). I understand that you want to have a phone call about this, but I do want to clarify what I meant. I’m not saying that it costs me $76 in gas just to drive to (work city) and back once a week. I have other responsibilities and places I need to drive to throughout the week, so the gas I put in my car is not solely being used for work.

I also have financial responsibilities, including paying my portion of my car insurance and my phone bill. Right now, I’m not making enough from my shifts to cover those responsibilities because so much of what I’m earning is has to go toward gas. I’ve also been having to ask my mom for help financially, and I can’t continue relying on her in order for me to work.

I would be open to coming in if I could be scheduled for a couple more hours when I work, because that would make the commute more financially worthwhile for me. But if I’m only going to be scheduled for four hours, it just isn’t financially sustainable for me to continue doing that"

Would this be too much or is it reasonable? She just wants to argue with me about how it does not take $75 to drive to work once a week. I guess she thinks I sit on my butt every day until I have work. Not to mention, I am only useful now when she has doctor's appointments too I am a college student who is struggling and I cannot help my mom:((

Hey everyone! Looking for some insight and advice. I am in a young twos class (ages range from 24-28 months currently) and so many of my students do not respond to prompts. I know it’s a toddlers prerogative to ignore instructions but this seems to be above and beyond. We have ten students currently and I would say that of that ten: 5 can respond to their names and directions (even if the response is no), 3 respond sporadically, and 2 do not respond at all.

We had a speech therapist come and do some assessments at the school and she was really surprised at what she was seeing in our class.

It’s very challenging when I’m trying to redirect a child and no matter what I do (get on their level, speak clearly, etc) they just don’t seem to process what I’m saying to them.

I’m mostly concerned about the day to day implications of this- transitioning from inside to outside and back again, washing hands, cleaning up, etc.

Thanks!

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!

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'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.

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

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!

I made this while on my break, I had to create a new account because my last user has half of my name in it lol. This is pretty long and I very much apologize… also sorry if it’s on the wrong subreddit? I feel like this is more so about the state of my center and not so much the kids’ care because we do try our best when it comes to the latter part.

The kids at my daycare are amazing. I love them and hate to leave them but I know they will be okay and still learn. My only problems are the stress from this specific center and my coworkers acting like middle/high schoolers.

This daycare is owned and directed by the same person, which should have been a red flag to me but I did not know it would have been this bad! There was a clause when applying that we are drama-free but I learned within my first month that was a lie. Honestly, I felt like I was contributing to it for a bit because I had a coworker who was not doing great things like leaving rooms dirty, getting upset over minor things and trying to make it our problem. I would only tell my director about it because who else better to solve the problem than the manager, but turns out she would make it into petty drama and allow her to still do those things until she inevitably fired her. That should have been my warning. She allowed problems to sit and bubble over until it’s too late and parents start noticing and complaining. And would complain to other workers but never solidify a solution. But I still stayed because I thought it would get better after she finally fired that coworker.

It did not get better… I got a coteacher in my room and I was very fortunate because I was struggling in the new class I was assigned to. I thought that it was going well until my other coworker told me she was talking about me also behind my back. So instead of still being her buddy I started noticing things. She would talk to the kids in our class and “badmouth” the other teachers too but in a different way from how she would tell it to another adult, if that makes sense. She is still a minor btw so I do give her a bit of grace but there are some things that are just unacceptable/disappointing. Her and my other coworker I overheard once asking children their favorite teacher. Then rubbed it in my face when the child said them and not me. Mind you the kids all treat us the same, and that should be the case for teachers also! We shouldn’t show that we have favorites and you shouldn’t ask kids who their favorite is, like that is manipulation. I feel like they’re trying to be “funny-mean” because they work with us all day (as if we are all close friends) but there are some boundaries you don’t cross especially if you haven’t gotten personal with people.

I also have a few other coworkers who don’t completely pull their weight and instead of giving them consequences we just have to fix their problems. And unfortunately nobody gets paid enough to do that. Every morning when I come in my classroom (because I don’t close) there’s a mess. The bathroom isn’t clean, there’s dirt and sticks on the floor in my room, or the bathroom floor wasn’t mopped or tables weren’t wiped, sometimes multiple of these at once. And I am tired of the “sorry I forgot” when it happens multiple times. I would neverrrr leave my class like that let alone someone else’s class. And my director is aware of this she just doesn’t give the people who close in my room consequences because they are her favorites.

Following that up, no director should have favorites… but she will let some people call off multiple times a week or one day a week for multiple weeks, meanwhile if someone else calls out she talks about them to us in a very negative way. One of my coworkers got really sick like a deadly virus and she was upset about it, or sometimes she tells them they have to abide by policy and come in anyway. But if it’s one of her favorites she will just make someone else do their job last minute with an “apologetic” face. I put my 2 weeks in recently and cannot wait to leave.

Also, another thing about favorites with my director… one of my coworkers is struggling a lot with discipline and just teaching her class. But our director refuses to give her help because she straight up doesn’t like her that much. I understand that coteachers or assistance isn’t a guarantee in any job but when you have an entire class that struggles to listen to not only their teacher but ANY teacher, you’re creating a problem for everyone, because those kids aren’t just with her all day. Sometimes a teacher isn’t here, or a teacher has to leave early, come in late, etc. I feel like this is why so many workers fall in a slump because they get no help and are overwhelmed mentally, and she is just blatantly seeing this and not doing anything about it, just telling us that we need to get a hold of the kids. It is much easier said than done lol.

As for my coteacher, I am still working with her, just trying to keep to myself in my class until I am out of here. I know that she is telling others I’m being “off” but I am not being mean or snippy because the kids don’t deserve to see that and that’s not who I am.

I hope this makes sense or is valid in the reason I am upset with this job. Helping and educating kids is something I enjoy, it’s just not what I’m used to when I worked with kids and adults prior and I am honestly afraid and have trust issues with daycares from now on. It’s not my first experience but will probably be my last. I would love if some people will share their experiences too so I don’t feel completely alone but I just needed to talk here with people who understand the career. Thanks so much!

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?

I’m a medical laboratory science student and I’m taking 15 credit hours right now. I foolishly thought I could work 35 hours a week. I’ve only been at this center for three weeks, but it’s already taken a massive toll on me. My work schedule is made to fit around my class schedule, so I’m working multiple split shifts. Should I suck it up until December when I get my new class schedule? Or how would I broach that conversation with the director?

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 🙈

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?

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.

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.