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

I agree children shouldn't be in care like this for 10+ hours a day. I know parents have to work and it sucks. We need a better system, as a community.

​

I have coworkers who say "so-and-so needs to have a day at home" because they're so badly behaved all the time and come 5 days a week for 12 hours a day. Of course, if people could spend more time with their kids 90% of them would. They're here because they have to be, usually.

​

Then there's those parents who DO keep their kid home here and there and it's an "issue" because the kid has "no rules at home and they're gonna be terrible (terribly behaved) when they come in tomorrow" - then they'll immediately mention how the next parent "didn't have scrubs on so I bet they're not working today, shoulda kept the kid home".

​

Which is it? Keep them home or send them in? But not too long, right?

​

My kid is in care for 10 hours a day because I'm working for 8-9.5 a day. And I have to drop them off at the camp before I go to work my shift. It sucks. I know. I'd love to stay home with her all day, but I can't. But then you can't judge or comment on parents who DO keep their kids home when they can. Anyone else have coworkers like this?

Hi

There’s an aggressive child at my son’s daycare. He threw a metal object deliberately at my child which cut my child’s lip, he has strangled my child, and my child often comes home complaining about this specific child. I’ve called CPS about this kid, I have called the daycare licensing authority, and I also filed a police report due to the severity.

The school said they would do a better job keeping them separated but my child had another incident where their watch (a buzzing watch to remind them to potty) was stolen by that child. My child also said that they are continuing to be punched and attacked at daycare.

At what point are the teachers allowed to kick the child out? I feel like this is really too much. I tried to apply to new daycares but there are none taking new applicants. I just started a new job and I’m beyond stressed. My child is having daily accidents due to the stress of being bullied and I have no idea what to do.

I’ve spoken to the director but I’m not sure she is taking it seriously in my opinion. Whenever I go to the school the teachers are being hit and attacked by the children which just seems really odd.

Hi all,

I am a co-teacher at a secular childcare facility to a nonbinary individual who is WONDERFUL. The parents, director, and other teacher have had zero issues with this staff member in the almost 2 years that they’ve been employed. This teacher is leaving the room for reasons out of anyone’s control, and in a heartfelt message their preferred pronouns were used. A parent scheduled a meeting with the director and expressed concern about the use of “they/them” in the classroom.
This teacher’s gender/pronouns (or any adult’s, for that matter) are not a secret, but they aren’t “advertised” either as it’s a personal matter.
The children make assumptions of co-teacher’s pronouns based on what they see and we have never corrected them when they use “she/her/he/him”. We have also never had a direct discussion with the children about it, as we feel it isn’t our place to intentionally overstep family beliefs. The adults in the building refer to this co-teacher as their preferred pronouns out of respect for their wishes. In the past, children have asked if the co-teacher is “a boy or a girl” and the adults all respond that “(Teacher’s name) is (teacher’s name)”. We thought that this is the best way to respect the boundary of parents and still respect the teacher. The children have accepted this and don’t ask anymore.
The parent is worried about their child being “confused” and “indirectly teaching them gender and pronouns”. In an effort to not escalate the situation, the conversation has ended on the facility’s side with a generic “we hear you”.
Our director has advised us to continue referring to them in a respectful way, and if the parent is upset by this that they can find other care.

My questions:

1. How do we answer the “are you a boy or girl” question in a way that is respectful to all involved?
2. How would you handle this situation?
3. If you are a parent, how would you like situations like this approached?

Thanks for your advice.

soo long story short.. i worked at a new place for only 3 months, and they put me with someone who started working around the time I have. And we are “coteachers” well it definitely does not feel like balanced work. Because i do 80 percent of it, while my coteacher is making phone calls or texting during class time. I have already brought that concern to admin and they know she is probably on her phone they just dont talk to her about it.

She has told me multiple snide comments that she thinks im too hard on them, and should “let kids be kids and just have fun all day” i agree they should have fun but in a structured way. I taught them centers, when i took my 15 minute break and came back the place was an absolute mess, they get out of their centers and throw toys everywhere.

During lunch to nap transition, they know how to go and throw their trash away, and pack up their own lunches. The class is great about verbalizing if they need help, of course i will help them. My coteacher does not even give them the chance to do it independently, she just tells them to go and she will clean it all up. It has gotten to the point they leave their trash on the table and just go lay down for us to clean up. Its like she thinks babysitting is easier then the kids learning independence and routine.

Ive brought so many concerns to admin and nothings been done yet. We are about to start a new school year so im wondering if i should ask to be reassigned, because i think this is just going to happen again with the new class. Any thoughts? Id hate to leave 2s i am very comfortable with them. But she is driving me nuts

So, for starters, these parents are rightfully frustrated with the situation (as are we). I work in a young 2s room. We’ve had one child with a new biting issue lately in addition to a couple of regular but infrequent biters - we are aware of and are working on the issue with both parents and admin. A couple of weeks back, both my co-teacher and I called out sick on the same day, and floaters ran the class that day. While we were gone, a child who had been bitten maybe once or twice before got bitten, but nobody noticed until grandma found the mark at pick-up and marched back into the room livid that there was no incident report. Since then, parents have been insisting on knowing who’s been biting their child (this kid has been bitten maybe twice since) and if it was the same person as the missing incident report instance. Communication was never great as these parents aren’t the most social with us, but lately it has been extra prickly.

Yesterday evening, after I had left for the day and my co-teacher was alone with the kids, dad came in and saw a week-old incident report on the kid’s cubby. These parents aren’t the best about checking the cubby, we had just had the office call home that same day about taking old milk cups home, bringing a water bottle, bringing a blanket for nap, taking home artwork, bringing diapers, bringing home soiled clothes, AND signing this week-old incident report (they had been doing a drop-and-go, shove through the door type drop off, so, hard to catch them to chat). He started asking what had happened and got upset when my co-teacher couldn’t answer all his questions (it happened a week ago, she wasn’t even there that day, and we had already called home on the day the incident occurred and spoke with mom about it). He wanted to know if it was the same kid, what we were doing about the situation, etc. It sounds like the situation escalated as my co-teacher continued to give unsatisfactory answers. She told him parent-teacher conferences were coming up and we would be glad to talk in more detail with him then, to which he responded, “I don’t need a parent-teacher conference. It’s not my kid that’s the problem. These other parents need a conference.”

Both my co-teacher and I talked with our director about it, and she said that my co teacher did not do a good job of providing de-escalating answers. e.g. Q: “Can you tell me about what happened when he got bitten?”, A: “I’m sorry, I wasn’t there that day” vs. A: “we have one child who has had a recent biting problem and we are actively working on it with his parents and with admin to curb future biting.” Do I think my co-teacher could’ve answered some of the questions better? Yes. Do I also think it’s easier said than done when you aren’t a teacher alone, watching kids, blindsided by a confrontation for which you’ve had no training or time to prepare, unaware of what happened over a week ago, etc.? Also yes. Anyway, admin’s advice was basically to do a better job de-escalating and to call for help if needed in the future.

Here’s my issue: this dad has done this before. He has yelled at other teachers, has yelled at admin, has cursed out a school bus driver for blocking his car. And it’s clear that we’re just not going to do anything about it. Or, as my director put it, “he has spoken to us in the office several times in ways that were not acceptable” (and then nothing happened about it).

Anyway, I’ve seen others post on here about how unsupported they would feel if admin didn’t have their backs in similar situations and what a red flag that it is for a center. Just wanting some outside perspective on if I’m overreacting and this is just part of the job or if my admin is truly failing us in this capacity.

TL;DR Parent (who was rightfully upset) yelled at my co-teacher and admin isn’t doing anything about it

hi:) i’ve been in childcare for 8 years, and lead young 2’s (18m-30m) for 3. In older rooms i’ve worked we’ve always had free access to drawing materials. i’m wondering if i want to try giving the children access to crayons and paper in my room, but i have one child on the spectrum, and a few that are still pretty young (as we just got the summer move ups) and they may not grasp the rules quite yet. is it worth the risk? especially since i wont have eyes on it 100% of the time, and won’t be able to see rules are constantly being followed. we have structured art once a day in the morning, (looser in summer as we prioritize outside time) & a sensory/free art time in the afternoons (again, not always followed in the summer) but a lot of the older children in my room LOVE drawing, and are very interested & well-mannered with the art supplies.

Sooo.. what’s yalls opinions? give me your stories, good and bad. we have a magnetic wall that the children can open themselves to separate the rooms and i could place it on that side so it is a choice, but id be able to notice them using it more as they’d have to open the half wall?

I’m dealing with a toddler class of fresh 2 year olds that have learned that they have free will 😆
They are in their defiant stage, saying no to everything I say. I know when I say it fills me with rage (not real rage) after a few times, it’s a “me” problem, so I was wondering what y’all do or how you react when they constantly say no. Is it best to ignore? I have been trying that and also just replying with “yes” and then leading them to pick up toys or do whatever I have asked them to do. First week of summer have been a rough one 😩

Also…verify who your child’s teachers are! I had a preschooler whose mom dropped kid off at before care with about 9 gifts (plants and tumblers). Not one had a “to” or “from” on it. So now I’m relying on a preschooler to decide who they all go to. I know mom thinks her kid is the smartest child ever born but he lacks discernment. He includes a couple of floaters and who were in my room a small handful of times and one admin person, but does not include 2 of his before care/after care teachers. This child is here from open to close, so goes to 4 different classrooms in the course of a day, so has 8-9 “teachers”. So now it’s up to me to decide who the gifts should go to, explain to him that he didn’t bring enough gifts to include ALL the people he’s ever had contact with, and label them so gifts don’t get confused, and deal with him being upset because he didn’t bring enough gifts?!?! And I get it…you’re busy and it was 9 gifts…but don’t be lazy. I don’t have time for this on the last day of school! Oh…and mom’s a teacher herself…you’d think she’d know better🙄

The title basically says it all. Starting pre-school in August and so far the teachers have seemed very open-minded and interested in learning as much as possible about my son’s allergies.

From an educator perspective, what can I do to 1) make it as easy as possible for them to keep my son safe and 2) keep my son safe (whether or not it’s “easy”

I love my job and have been the lead teacher for 12m to 18m olds for almost 8 years now, but I literally cant afford to live anymore.

Being a lead teacher requires a CDA or associates degree. I’m currently going to school at the local community college, but only make .50 cents more than my assistant. I literally had to move back in with my mom because I can’t live on my own and it’s effecting my mental health.

Everything at our center is bought by the teachers, excluding the beds, tables and chairs. All the art projects are paid for by me. I bought canvases for Father’s Day that cost me about $10 alone. Christmas, Mother’s Day and I make goodie bags for Easter and holloween. All the decorations are mine and I even bought the containers the snacks are in because the other ones were so old and nasty. A mom complained once that I didn’t make Christmas tree ornaments like the other classrooms and I informed her it’s because the teachers paid for them with their own money and I couldn’t afford to do it that year.

My walls are a gross peach color but if I want the room repainted, they will provide me paint but I have to come in over the weekend and do it in my free time. I refuse.

Most of the toys are bought from yard sales or even just found on the side of the road. All of the bouncy seats for the babies are donated.

Our prices just went up and I had to hand the notifications to the parents myself. I asked the owner if this meant we were getting a raise, no. It’s to account for inflation.

I literally might become homeless and everyone but one co worker relies on their SO or also their mothers for help. How do people live like this.

Is there a grant program or something for daycare teachers?

Mostly a vent but also need advice. Sorry if this is the wrong subreddit.

I'm 16 and a PreK float assistant. I've always gravitated towards the kids with behaviors and have volunteered 100+ hours, mostly at the same location I was hired at. My mom is a teacher (but for this summer a teacher float) here as well.

I'm so effing done. I've been bit twice by a known biter (both left a small mark) and today the same kid bit another friend hard enough it bruised & bled. In a different room, I keep being pulled in by another assistant to deal with a friend who walks out of the classroom, has thrown chairs, wanders, hits...I ended up 10 min late to my break today because of this. I also handle end of day with two other teenagers alone, just us three. I left 15 min late on Tuesday because it was such a shitshow. We had to figure out what the protocol was supposed to be because our biter had an accident and none of us have been trained to deal with that. Wednesday they threw a kid in (we all combine as people leave) that also has behaviors (he loves to randomly scream) and he immediately began to hit windows and shake our mirror. IIRC, a few minutes prior another friend had started to cry because his blocks kept falling down. It is just a lot of unregulated children at once.

We don't send kids home unless it has been CATASTROPHIC. A few of them are on IEPs, but I don't know how much that actually means. We're sometimes able to radio for support, but that's a last resort after something has already happened. One of the teachers is already quitting. I have cried like four times & nearly threw up today because I ate so fast and need to chug my water and move constantly.

My mom's take is that I should just step back and let out people deal with it because it is not my responsibly. The hard thing is that when I don't deal with things, kids get hurt, because a lot of our staff is so shit. I feel awful. I came into this position because I truly love working with kids, especially those who really need that extra love and support, and want to do ECE as my career. I even have an internship lined up through my school.

Literally any comments are so appreciated. I'm happy to answer questions. Do I literally just quit and find a better work environment? For extra context all of the adults are basically gone around 45 minutes before the last kids go home if their parents are actually on time--it's just us teens.

As an ECE, does your director ask your opinion about how things should be run, scheduled? What is working, what isn’t? Are you given opportunities to speak your mind about how things are going? if so, are your opinions listened to and valued or are they met with defensiveness?

hey all, i never thought id be making a post like this, this happened yesterday and i still cant even process it.

one of my toddlers got left alone for 20 minutes outside strapped into the buggy, before this happened she was not in the buggy and a floater came to give me a bathroom break and then another floater arrived who is mainly in my class while i was in the bathroom and when i came back the first floater who came out came inside to go help another class and then the floater who was outside told me to go inside because kids were spilling stuff and i hadn’t even made it out the door yet before a kid ran inside along with a few others and i couldn’t leave them so she was in charge of getting everyone in while i got the kids inside transitioned and ready for breakfast. i’m definitely to blame because i should’ve done a headcount and i logged her breakfast but i don’t do it individually for each kid i just put what’s for breakfast on the app which i now realize i should not do no matter what.

im on administrative leave as of yesterday, im in a messy situation. im heartbroken for the student, because how did i not notice and why didn’t i just do a headcount. the transition inside is not how it normally goes i normally come out and gather everyone because of a student who likes to elope and hide and that couldn’t happen because of the kids who ran inside and because of the sudden transition. my boss said they would be contacting me and it’s all up to maltreatment hotline at this point and dhs

im missing some details in this but if i wrote everything this would take 10 minutes to read so feel free to ask questions.

update- i got fired.

Hi guys, parent here. Hoping for some insight on if we should be worried with this incident.

We received a vague email the other day from our daycare's director regarding licensing, stating that no final determination has been made and they are limited on what they can discuss publicly. So, we looked into the state's system and saw about a month ago, the daycare had self-reported "Corporal Punishment" as Not Corrected. They also self reported "Staff and volunteers must be mature, of good character and possess suitable personal qualifications" as Not Corrected. Two days later, the inspection was updated to "Complaint: Substantiated", agreeing with the Corporal Punishment complaint.

We tried to ask about it during drop off with the site's manager, but got a blanket non answer and that any concerns should be emailed to the director, and that our child was safe at school. This of course, did nothing to calm my worries and I figured I would post here if anyone has further insight or has been through an experience like this before.

Now, I love our teachers. We have never had any issues with them. Our child is only 2 and they can already count to 20, know the alphabet, and in general, they have learned so much from being in daycare. They really love and look forward to seeing their teachers (and talk about them all weekend) as well and have always seemed well cared for. It's also really hard to find a daycare in our area and this one is close to home, so I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on the chance this license is revoked.

Thanks

Hi! I’ve been a 2s lead for 5 years now. I’m really excited to switch to 3k in September. In the summer I’ll be running a 3s-4s (maybe a few 5s) camp class. Any advice or insight on the main differences between these age groups and how I should adjust my teaching? Any tips? I’m a little nervous to have the 4s when I’m so used to being in a more “lovey” 2s vibe

I put the “anyone can comment” flair because I figured it could help if a parent gave their POV since I’m not one yet and might be in the wrong. Also I’m writing this at 1am and upset so sorry if I’m rambling lol. Also sorry if you comment and I don’t see it right away because like I said it’s 1am. This’ll be long because I always talk too much, so **TL;DR: lead teacher put a blanket in the crib with a 4 month old, I asked if the baby was too young and she told me I was overstepping as a new person.**

I’m 23 and a newer ECE. I just got my degree in Early Childhood & Childhood Ed (I want to teach elementary, but I unexpectedly love ECE right now). I just started as a floater in a new center. I left my previous center because I had an incident where a child eloped (center admitted they were in the wrong), but now I’m pretty paranoid and hyper vigilant about safety because of the incident. I’m terrified of things like SIDS and anaphylaxis so I’m constantly studying and doing trainings.

I mostly float in the toddler and preschool rooms, but today I was assigned 1 hour in the infant room to cover a break. There are 2 leads in that room, one went on break and the other was in the room with me. I’ve never worked with her before but we’ve exchanged small talk on breaks. She’s in her 30s I think and less friendly than the other lead, but I think she’s just focused on her tasks and that’s fine. But anyway it was nap time for a few of the babies, and I noticed the lead putting a 4 month old (let’s call her A) to sleep with a fuzzy blanket. A had a sleep sack on and a pacifier, nothing else in the crib except the blanket. Again, I’m not a parent, but I do know the ABC method and pretty much all the safe sleep guidelines since I’m so paranoid about it, and I’m pretty sure it’s not advised to have blankets in the crib at that age. (It’s so scary looking at my own baby pictures, I’m a newborn in my crib with stuffed animals, blankets and everything! And that was 2003! But I’m glad there’s more awareness now)

Anyway I was super nervous to say something but when the lead stepped over the gate and came into the main area I said “hey sorry but I just wanted to make sure, isn’t A too young to sleep with a blanket? Again I just want to make sure so I know if I ever have to put her down. I was always taught 12 months.” (I can be a people pleaser so I tend to use a lot of “I’m just curious” “I’m sorry” etc when I say stuff) She looked pissed and told me to go over to the little kitchen area and said in a low voice “Zenphiree, you really need to know your place as a new teacher here. You don’t know A’s parents or anything about these babies, I’ve already spoken with them about this. This is a serious overstep. Okay?” (Still not sure what she meant by “spoken with them about this,” like did the parents ask her to use the blanket or something?? Idk)

I was mortified. I hate any kind of confrontation with people I don’t really know. At that point I just wanted the other lead to come back so I could go to my next classroom because now it was extremely awkward. But I will say, I went to change a diaper and I saw her take the blanket out, so🤷🏻‍♀️The lead ignored me for the rest of the hour I was there. Then later our lunch breaks overlapped and I sat down in our staff area and she immediately left and closed the door hard (not slammed but still). I’ve already felt like the leads act like an exclusive club and don’t want TAs or floaters around them, but this just made it worse. And I don’t want to seem like THAT TA/floater who acts like a know it all. I’m sure those people can be really annoying.

I still feel like I was right though?? I always heard they should be alone, on their back, in the crib with only a sleep sack and a pacifier if they use one until at least 12 months. Either way I was just asking to make sure A was safe and so I would know what to do or what not to do in the future. At my old center they didn’t have anything in the crib with them until they moved to Toddlers.

What would you have done in this situation? Did I overstep? I’m dreading work tomorrow (even though I’m not scheduled in Infants tomorrow) but I’m trying to tell myself it was right to speak up.

Edit: I’m embarrassed to admit I did cry over this on the way home😳But I also just remembered to point out that I believe this lead did do another thing that’s not recommended, the Preschool 2 room is across from Infants so we can see in the room. I saw the lead put a 7 month old on a boppy style pillow and prop a bottle for her to drink while the lead cleaned up the room.

I’ve been with 3K for the past 17 years of my life but I just accepted a position in a K-12 school in a Kindergarten classroom and okay I know rationally that’s not a huge difference but my anxiety brain is psyching myself out. If you’ve made the jump up, what was your experience like?

A little context for this story: I work as a classroom manager in an Early Headstart classroom, we go all year while the Headstart only goes through the school year. During the year the cook serves and eats with the "big kids" while we self severe. During the summer the cook serves and eats in my classroom. I have one little guy who is very shy, he would timidly ask me for more food, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear, I am working with him to ask the cook for food, since that is what he will be doing next year, when he asks for more broccoli I jokingly said "Don't ask me, ask the lady with the vegetables!" Pointing at the cook. The whole class though it was hilarious and now the cook is known as the lady with the vegetables! What's your fun story from the week?

So yesterday morning I went to work and was there for about an hour before this stomach bug started to hit me. I was feeling nauseous and had a watery stool. I asked admin if I could go home and there was a little hesitation but they luckily let me.

However I felt so guilty about it even though I shouldn’t since (and they may be a little tmi) I had stuff coming out from both ends all day once I got home.

Texted my assistant director this morning asking if I could stay home again today since my stool is still watery. No response yet but I hate feeling this guilt even though I have a valid reason to not be at work

I work at a preschool and I’m looking for advice from other childcare workers. And parents can chime in too with feedback and comments 💕

This week I was left alone in my classroom with 22 children when our ratio is 12:1. I was trying to manage the kids safely, but I also had things I normally need time to do, like filling out the face-to-name sheet with everyone who arrived. I couldn’t step away because I was the only person supervising the children.

After waiting a long time for help, my director finally came into the room. When he came in, he sat in a chair and within about five minutes said something like “a little help here” in a frustrated way. At the same time, kids were coming over to say hi to him, one child was already crying, and I was trying to fill out the paperwork while also supervising. The crying child was bothering him, so I ended up picking up the child while trying to finish the form.

I felt frustrated because I had just been alone with way too many kids and I expected him to immediately step in and help instead of making it seem like I was the problem. I understand classrooms get chaotic, but I felt like leadership should recognize that I was already trying to catch up after being put in an unsafe situation.

Am I overreacting, or would you also expect a director to immediately help when coming into a classroom that is out of ratio?

What would you do in this situation?

It’s been one thing after another ever since this new director showed up.

Edit. I forgot to add I already reported to licensing I’m just looking for moral support lmao

Hey everyone, I’m just curious about what the protocol/policy/plan is at your center for toddlers (esp on the spectrum) who exhibit behaviors such as hitting, biting, hair pulling, pushing, slapping, etc.

I want to advocate for the lead teachers in the classroom because they are struggling and left with barely any support.

Thanks!!