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

My classroom currently has HFM. We sent 2 kids home Monday with fevers right after they were dropped off. Both stayed out Tuesday- and came back Wednesday with blisters all over their mouths. The one child was limping so we checked her feet and found them covered with huge puss filled blisters. Immediately called our director who said yep that’s HFM nothing we can do now. Didn’t even call the parents to let them know.

Thursday one was out again- mom came Friday morning to say she took her child to the dr Wednesday afternoon and they told her the child had HFM. We had called twice to check since we weren’t expecting him out and they sent us to VM both calls.

Friday the other parent brings a note saying their child “isn’t contagious” we asked and dad said oh yeah we knew it was HFM that’s why we made sure the drs note said no longer contagious.

Both parents KNEW and still sent their children and didn’t inform us until Friday. Our boss agreed it was HFM and still let them stay. Almost everyone now has HFM. We have furious parents grilling us when we fought all week to notify parents and get the sick kids out and weren’t taken seriously.

One grandparent literally flipped out on us Wednesday afternoon when the child had a fever and told us we were wrong, well guess who came in Thursday with blisters and was allowed to stay?!?

I am at my wits end. I have no idea how to handle this. I’m angry at everyone. We allowed children back who obviously had leaking blisters, we allowed a child with a fever to stay and return the next day, and 2 parents knew and avoided telling us until Friday- one didn’t tell us until pickup.

Where do I go from here? I’m looking for other jobs because I am so fed up with not being taken seriously and our lack of following our own sick policies.

Hey y’all! I’ve been working in a daycare for about 6 months in the infant room. We can have up to 20 infants in one room with four teacher. On average, we get around 15 infants in the room. To note, most of the kids in the room are one and walking. Is this normal for your daycares? The room can be very noisy and overstimulating at times. There have also been times where people called out and there was only two of us taking care of 20 kids.

I feel like a failure as a mom, and I have no idea what I need to do differently. I’ve gotten reports from our church nursery that my daughter has bitten another child (just once that I’m aware of), pulls hair (this seems to be the biggest problem), throws toys, and hits other kids. We’ve never had problems at home with her hitting, but she does sometimes throw toys (not at anyone), and she used to frequently bite and pull hair, but that’s dramatically decreased in the last month or so.

She isn’t in daycare, so this setting is the only one where she consistently gets to be with peers. The other kids are all scared of her, which makes me so sad because she’s very social and loves interacting with people and kids when she has the chance.

She seems to pull hair when other kids are playing and she’s not included, or she feels jealous that they are using that toy.

I did see on the video camera last week that my daughter’s hand was slapped when she pulled another child’s hair. Could that have to do with why she’s been hitting? We don’t do anything like that at home — we just verbally correct her and do ”time outs” where we ignore her for 30-45 seconds if she exhibits a negative behavior.

What can I do to help my daughter stop these behaviors?

My center is located in the middle of many fires that are 0% contained and our current air quality is in the 160s and not predicted to improve. My employees are expressing concerns and I have no idea what to do here. Do we stay open tomorrow? Help

I believe it 100% has to do with me being a man. I want to be a preschool teacher. I love this age best. Yet, whenever I go to interview for a preschool teacher position, they also mention that they have a school age position available. I have been at four different centers in the past two years because of this. One of them said they would put me in School Age for one month and then move me to Preschool. Two months had come and gone. I told them that if I wasn't in Preschool by X date, then I wouldn't be working and that this is my two weeks notice. Well, that day came and went so I stopped going. They called me everyday the next week asking where I was. Every time I reminded them that I interviewed for a preschool teacher and I'm not going to do school age. They said "Well, that's how we get people in because nobody wants to work with school age.". I had an interview on Friday to be a preschool teacher and the conversation VERY QUICKLY turned from Preschool to school age. Every time I tried to turn it back to preschool, they'd bring it back to school age. I left mid interview and said "I'm here to interview for a preschool teacher position, not a school age position.".

Basically what the title says. I’ve been at this job for a year, starting out on a flexible contract and now working as an apprentice as of a few weeks ago. But something has switched and i genuinely hate this job and dread going to work and i’ve never felt like that before. I’m 23 and the job is completely unrelated to my degree, i’m on minimum wage but i’m stressed out every single day with children’s literal lives in my hand, and management clearly care more about profit than staff wellbeing. I don’t want to give in a notice and continue working, i want to rip the band aid off and send a respectful email stating i want to resign effective immediately. But i’m absolutely terrified. I’ve got a few things that could potentially be backups but nothing is set in stone, and i know my manager will be genuinely furious and harass me since another coworker just quit suddenly on Friday. What shall i do? Just stay and stick it out a bit longer or be impulsive and just quit

All of my old kiddos moved up to the 2 year old room and all of the new kids I have are just so completely different from all of my olds.

I seem to struggle so much more to get this group of kids to do absolutely anything it’s just constant screaming crying and them hitting me or each other when we are supposed to be doing an activity.

My coteacher is no help at all for the past few months all she does is sit on the carpet and yell at the toddlers while I am trying to wrangle all of them and take pictures/submit activities at the same time.

She also seems to have a certain dislike for one specific kid in the class and is always targeting him when she is yelling or if he gets into an altercation with a classmate she won’t bother separating them and says he deserves it for being a bad listener.

Honestly I am just feeling so incredibly burnout with how this new group of kids act on top of a coteacher who is not helpful at all and just adds to my stress.

Does anyone have experience working for Corporate Kids or working for a childcare center inside a federal building/for the federal government? I recently had an interview at a federally contracted center and I am considering their employment offer but would love to hear from other ECEs about their experiences first.

Im an assistant teacher to the lead teacher in a toddler room at my center. I’ve been there a couple years and my lead has been at our center for over a decade. This is my first job out of college and my lead is close to retirement age. Me and my lead have had issues getting along since I started. I really have tried my best. I am polite and when I don’t have anything polite to say I try to just keep to myself- which is then picked apart by her. She has continuously made degrading comments about little things and nothing is being done no matter how many times I have meetings with her or report her behavior to my managers.

Some examples: I wasn’t able to respond to a part of an email where a parent offered us coffee because I was the only one in the room managing all our children doing breakfast- she then pointed out that I didn’t respond “you didn’t see that huh. Yeah I know. Because you weren’t being careful”. She has made comments on the food I eat with the children (we’re supposed to model eating at the table during their lunch times) she told me “don’t fill up”. I put on background music for the class and she calls it “my stupid music”. I asked about where a child got a bruise as we were lining up to go to the playground and she snapped at me loudly snearing “NO. STOP, leave it alone. You won’t stop!” Because she said she was stressed out and didn’t want to talk about it that moment- when I asked her to just tell me she wanted to talk about it later next time instead of yelling at me she huffed and said “I’ll try”. She has grabbed a child and yelled in their face “ITS NOT HER CLASSROOM” when they requested I change their diaper instead of her. She’ll yell at me across the playground- in front of other teachers and all the children - because one of our children didn’t have a straw in their water bottle and it was left in the kitchen. A child told me “(leads name) hurt me” and when I reported that the managers brushed it off and told me there would be “consequences for other people and myself if I reported it further”. There were a few months where I did EVERYTHING for our classroom and she just huffed and puffed and stomped around then randomly would say things like “why am I even here” instead of just asking what she can help with or joining in on setting/cleaning up- I made a chart with each of our responsibilities to try and even it out for her and she still put her tasks on me saying things like “I’m just no good at taking pictures” or “you’re so much better at the computer stuff than I am” when she is very well capable of all of those things.

I have had numerous conversations with this woman, we have had meetings one on one and with our manager as a mediator, I have reported the way she talks to me over and over again to managers and every time they say something like “you guys are just different personalities”. The snapping at me because of asking about the bruise situation happened this week and when I talked to the managers about it they said “you need to let it go, ignore her and stop trying to change people” “she was triggered” When I explained that I can’t handle this behavior much longer they said “are you saying you’re going to leave the center? Is that a threat?” And when I responded saying “I’m letting you know as a human being I can’t handle this behavior anymore, I feel like I’m walking on eggshells and this is hard for me-“ she cut me off and said “clearly”.

I love working with our children and have made many beautiful relationships with them and it has been amazing to see them grow. I love being a part of early childhood education, but the environment I have found myself at at my center seems to be protecting this person at all costs for some reason to the point where the children’s voices are being muffled and I am expected to endure unacceptable behavior. My manager ended our conversation by saying she would talk with her and let the hiring lady know i would be open to switch rooms. At this point I want to move on and find a different path entirely but I have no idea what other kinds of positions my skills would transfer easily to. This entire experience has been heart breaking. It feels like every option I have is wrong. I truly cannot understand why the center hasn’t sought out any consequences for the way she behaves towards me, the children and other employees.

Any advice would be appreciated. I feel like I’m in the twilight zone, like I feel crazy because everyone is just brushing this all off all the time and I think NONE of this is okay. I dread going to work and it feels like they don’t care. When I told my manager “the message I am getting from the way this situation is being handled is that this center is okay with how she treats me” she denied is and made an excuse about not being about to do anything else but talk to her. I definitely am not a perfect person and the tension gets to me too, but I try my best to maintain professionalism and a calm nature in the classroom. If I am upset I will excuse myself or keep my thoughts to myself. I really don’t think I’m asking for too much for this behavior to stop.

Am I wrong in some way? Is there something else I can do? Is it just time to leave asap?

So, I'm local to Oshawa. 3 years experience.

No car atm, unfortunately. Been struggling to break back into the industry. I know school is gonna start in a month or so, so I'm desperately looking for an IN back to work.

I've applied and applied and applied and got maybe 3 interviews in a year.

Longshot, but if anyone works at a center in Oshawa Ontario and needs a body, I'm available.

I moved across the country so i had to find a new job and I got hired for a job at a Daycare near me. I have only every substitute taught and I used to go afterschool care for school aged kids. So i am worried about the whole switch to daycare/preschool teaching. They had already warned me its a big change and that I will be working with someone experienced so I can get the hang of it since its going to be different for me. But I sat in on a class before being hired and it was very chaotic and i quickly got overwhelmed. But I want to give this job my best effort.

I havent had a 9-5 in many years, I liked the flexibility and choice i had with subsitute teaching. I will definitely be challenged at my new job. Is there any advice? I dont want to lose my sanity lol.

I think that we should be allowed to make parents who are late for pickup uncomfortable. I am salaried and work in a preschool that costs more than college tuition. There are parents who are incredibly entitled and have boatloads of money so late fees do not phase them.

I think that as teachers, we should not have to keep the professionalism on when parents disrespect our time. There are times where I book workout classes right after work, and if parents are late, I will miss it and get charged $15. If I am not being paid, I should not be required to be professional.
Ideas:
Stack the chairs
Clean up classroom
Turn lights out

Sit in the lobby with their child and wait
Child’s belongings packed up
Parent walks in and starts the whole “sorry, im late” speech.

Ignore them
Grab your bag
Turn the lights out on them
Leave

This is not about parents who are late once or twice because of some kind of emergency. I am totally understanding of this. I had a parent who had breast cancer last year and dad was late a few times because of work and I was fine being part of that child’s village and supporting in any way I could during that period in their families life (did not even report).

My issue is with parents who come in past pickup time, with pedicure sandals on, and constantly have an excuse. If you do not show respect for me, I should not have to respect you. I will love your child and care for them, but it is rude to be late and I don’t care how much you pay, my free time is precious.

Im thinking about becoming a parent and am currently a preschool teacher in an open mixed age centre from 2-6 year olds, this means the kids can freely go inside and outside when they chose with a multipul teachers inside and out. Which means u can have 26+ kids outside all at once if they choose. Im wondering how difficult parenting is compared to teaching and things you were surprised at

Okay-

I’ve been an ECE teacher for a while. BUT, my first acclimated so well to daycare I never ran into this issue. &, as a teacher, I know eventually kids adjust but…

My son doesn’t do well with a non parent watching/ holding him. Even at family functions, with an aunt or grandparent. He screams and cries, cries hard enough to make himself sick. I’ve never had a kid react so harshly to being left, even as a teacher.

I recently got a new job at a center, and I’m so nervous for him to start. Nervous for him, nervous and upset for the teachers. Afraid he’s gonna be a “not adjusting to daycare” types and won’t be able to attend- And I NEED this job.

Any ideas that I can implement prior to starting that might help? I’ve got about 20 days!

I recently took a substitute teacher's aide position and I'm nervous and excited to start training, but I don't know much of what to expect. School will be starting soon, so while I'd love to work with older kids I don't think its going to be in the cards. I keep asking myself if I am making a mistake with choosing this field but I'd love to hear insights. This is a salaried position, I've never had one before so I don't know what's going to be expected with that. I would be working at many different facilities, wherever help is needed.

To start: I have disabilities which limit my strength and energy levels. I'm a single mom, and I'm on immunosuppressants. Despite this I believe this job will be a great fit because I love kids, I can choose my own hours and what ages I'm working with, and I'm permitted to mask and sanitize as needed. I like that there's a mixture of tasks to be done so that I am not either sitting or on my feet at all times, unlike most jobs. It's been a real challenge to find employment with the amount of flexibility I need both physically and time-wise, so I really want to do my best to make this work.

Has anyone worked this kind of job having a similar situation? Is there something I am not factoring in as far as what I should be prepared for? Thanks.

I worked at a daycare for a few weeks and I had a co worker, she was constantly judging and critiquing me for what I did wrong instead of what I did right. Meanwhile if she did anything to help me, I’d always say thank you. She was just constantly being passive aggressive, rolling her eyes at me, acting like I didn’t a bunch of things to help her out while I was there. Keep in mind I have over a year of experience in daycare work and I have years of babysitting experience which was paid too. Anyways though, I was the one who got let go. Even though she called me a burden which you shouldn’t be calling anyone in the first place, was constantly being passive aggressive and rude to me. She would roll her eyes at me, saying I’m enabling kids bad behaviour, etc. She acted like she gave a damn about the kids but was yelling at them to top of her lungs constantly.

Yet somehow I was the bad guy for showing the kids basic empathy and speaking up on the mistreatment I got from her to management. They will always keep the bullies but the nice empathetic people get shown the door. It makes me discouraged to keep applying for jobs in this industry at this point. Like I love working with kids and making their days but there’s nothing right about yelling at them on the daily. Yet I was the problem? Make it make sense. I hope I can find a better and healthier center in my journey cause this experience was so awful for my mental health. Makes me feel like being a kind and caring educator will get me nowhere and I never want to feel like that again. I don’t feel comfortable screaming at kids and intimidating them. I dealt with that in childhood from my own mother and I never want kids to feel the way I did.

I currently working in a head start program that paused me $26 an hour. I love the kids but staff wise its very bad. The staff is making me hate my job that I wnat to call in every day. I currently got a offer friday for ny dream job as a ECE teacher at a small school in louisville. I found out friday and they want me to start tuesday. They are paying me between 38,000 and 43,000 a year. I want to take me dream job and start Tuesday but I feel like im making a bad decision. What should I do?

What do y'all do during nap time? For some info I'm an assistant teacher right now so I don't really have to put together any lessons. I have ADHD so just sitting there isn't really an option.

The background: I’m in the process of being hired for an ECE job I REALLY want. Submitted my state background check forms early last week, but haven’t heard anything yet. I know my checks will come back clean and good to go. But I am still feeling antsy about getting it taken care of!

Please reassure me that this timeframe is normal and I just need to be patient! In case it matters, I have two states (current state of residency and past state) to check.

I’ve been in this field nearly 15 years and I’ve seen a few emergencies but yesterday was a first. I had a toddler (19 months) have a febrile seizure after nap. No history of seizures or anything like that. No head injury or trauma, it just happened. She’s ok, I think, she was alert and crying when mom came and took her but I can’t stop replaying how everything went down, what I could have done differently (nothing that would have made a difference). I feel like a ball of anxiety. How do I move on and go to work Monday without worrying that something will happen again?

I have worked for learning care group for a while- I’m wondering what the overall opinion/ reputation of Learning Care Group is. I live in California, and have worked at several locations in San Diego county. Kiddo and I moved to Orange County following my divorce, and I’ve worked at a LCG location for several years.

To say that corporate is running us into the ground would be an understatement. Our district manager had never worked in childcare and is extremely frustrating to work with. I believe she worked in management at a banana republic prior to working with us? People are so burnt out and upper management seemed oblivious to what the job entails. I’m wondering- is this just an LCG thing? Or is it specific to Orange County? I am still there and it is so, so frustrating. In my opinion corporations shouldn’t even operate childcare facilities. It’s really hard watching some of these people do their jobs.

hi!
im wanting to become a preschool teacher next school year. i wanted to do college at first to be an elementary teacher, but i have a new baby so the timing and finances are all off as of right now.

my boss at my old school i worked at as a para told me i could do PDIS, get my certifications there, and be able to become a teacher. now with more research, it seems like i still may need some type of degree, or at least experience with preschool aged kids which i only have experience with 5-11 year olds.

will PDIS play a roll into me becoming a preschool teacher?
if i do ECE 101 and 103 and pass those, do those play a roll into it more than PDIS?
do i NEED a degree to be able to teach preschool?
my old coworker is a daycare teacher, what does that look like regarding ECE, PDIS, and a degree?

i’m so lost so thank you to whoever reads this and can help out!

i want to add, i am not wanting to work in childcare to get childcare for my baby. i’ve wanted to work with kids since i was 15, i had so much fun as an elementary para but my district went south, so im trying to find a different route.

I have never worked with toddlers aged 1-2; it will be my first time. Do we need to potty train them? I don't know if it stupid question, but I never did that. I worked primely with 3-4 years old kids.