Child care is a profession.
Child care professionals requires patience; creativity; an ability to nurture, motivate, teach, and influence children; and leadership, organizational, and administrative skills. Others who work with children and need these qualities and skills include teacher assistants; teachers—preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary; and teachers—special education. Child Care providers wear many hats and provide a long list of abilities to their services.
Providers are also helping to keep children healthy which is another important part of the job. Child care professionals serve nutritious meals and snacks and teach good eating habits and personal hygiene. They ensure that children have proper rest periods. They identify children who may not feel well and, in some cases, may help parents locate programs that will provide basic health services. Child care professionals also watch for children who show signs of emotional or developmental problems and discuss these matters with the child’s parents. Early identification of children with special needs—such as those with behavioral, emotional, physical, or learning disabilities—is important to improve their future learning ability.
Work environment.
Helping children grow, learn, and gain new skills can be very rewarding. The work is sometimes routine but new activities and challenges mark each day. Child care can be physically and emotionally taxing, as providers constantly stand, walk, bend, stoop, and lift to attend to each child’s interests and problems.
Family child care providers work out of their own homes. While this arrangement provides convenience, it also requires that their homes be accommodating to young children. The providers home is no longer a private sanctuary for her and her family. It is now shared with numerous children from different cultures and backgrounds. The child care provider answers to licensing regulations that are often very intrusive on her personal family life. Although it might be convenient to be home it is far from easy and comfortable.
The work hours
of child care professional vary widely. Child cares usually are open year round, with long hours so that parents can drop off and pick up their children before and after work. Some child care's are opened for all shifts including weekends. Most providers who operate 24/7 will enlist the help of an assistant. Some providers are unable to take regular breaks during the day due to limited staffing. Family child care providers have flexible hours and daily routines, but they may work long or unusual hours to fit parents’ work schedules.
Education and training.
The training and qualifications required of child care workers vary widely. Each State has its own licensing requirements that regulate caregiver training. These requirements range from a high school diploma, a national Child Development Associate (CDA) credential to community college courses or a college degree in child development or early childhood education. Child care professionals generally have a lot of professional training hours annually and have met many educational requirements. Thousands of Providers have obtained their accreditation. Accreditation are standards far and above licnensing standards in order to insure quality child care. Most Child Care Professionals have taken secondary or post secondary courses in child development and early childhood education or have work experience in a child care setting prior to opening up their own Child Care. Child Care professionals are increasing numbers by getting their associate degree or BA in early childhood education.
Licensure.
Many States require child care homes, to be licensed if they care for more than one family. In order to obtain their license, the licensing agency may require child care providers to pass a criminal background check and get immunizations. Furthermore, child care professionals may need to be trained in first aid and CPR and receive continuous training on topics of health and safety.
Other qualifications.
Child care professionals must anticipate and prevent problems, deal with disruptive children, provide fair but firm discipline, and be enthusiastic and constantly alert. They must communicate effectively with the children and their parents, as well as with teachers and other child care workers. Workers should be mature, patient, understanding, and articulate and have energy and physical stamina.
Skills in music, art, drama, and storytelling also are important. Self-employed child care workers must have business sense and management abilities. They pay taxes, like anyone else.
Child Care Professionals will work more hours than the average worker who is not self employed but working under an employer/company.
Child Care Professionals need to be assured that they can have holidays off like anyone else, and take vacation time off like anyone else. Child Care professionals set their rates to include these days into their fees. Even with these things included the average child care professional earns about $16,320.00 annually. This is a national average.
Earnings of self-employed child care professionals vary depending on the number of hours worked, the number and ages of the children, and the location.
The parents of the children have benefits vary. Many employers offer free or discounted child care to employees. Some offer a full benefits package, including health insurance and paid vacations, (there are always the exception of those who offer no benefits at all.)
Some employers offer seminars and workshops to help workers learn new skills. A few are willing to cover the cost of courses taken at community colleges or technical schools. The self employed Child Care professionals has to make compensations in order to afford the holiday off, or a week off for some R&R.
If they are not included in the fees then the child care Provider is unable to take the time off affordably, and this can cause health issues, and burn out. Try going to your job every day knowing you have no paid time off for anything. Not even the simple holidays or a week's vacation once a year, or even two weeks off. Unless your working part time somewhere with no benefits or with a company that has no regards for their employees then you are more than likely receiving paid holidays and paid personal days off for illness or vacations.
Child Care Professionals have the most important job in the world. Caring for our nations young children so their parents can go to their jobs each day knowing their child is being cared for. For that reason, it is a small price to pay giving your provider some paid holidays and a few days off each year. It is worth your respect and acknowledgement to your providers that they are valued and appreciated.
CHILD CARE PROFESSIONALS the care givers of the nation......................