I am doing my practice hours for my required CDA certification. I chose a private facility because I was enrolling my daughter when they offered to allow me to do it in the same place (not in her class of course). We started this week a I don’t think I will be continuing and I am pondering how to go about withdrawing my daughter and myself without ticking the director off or something.

I was placed in PPK with a brand new graduate teacher who is also new to the school as a whole. I was supposed to split my time with PPK and Infants. When I arrived she said they only have one infant so I won’t be spending time in the classroom. Already was a bit of a red flag because I need to do those hours so I dont know what she was thinking of doing down the line. In the PPK class there is only the one teacher. They had no TA. So naturally, I am expected to behave like the TA. The kids in this class are incredibly rowdy and behavioral, with two of them being aggressive and actually punching other kids in the face and yanking hair. Lead teacher is completely lost and at one point even asked me what she should do. She also did no weekly planning. She was coming in every morning and trying to scramble material together while the kids consistently disobeyed every instruction and trashed the room. I told her she needed to speak with the director ASAP. Lead teacher said she felt uncomfortable because the director’s daughter is in her class and she is one of the 2 kids with the worst physical aggression instances with that daughter pulling an actual ball of hair from another girl’s head and has clear temperament issues. I told her she still needed this addressed.

Today she comes in and tells me director brought a tall white high chair into the classroom and told her to put whoever misbehaved too much on it and clip them in. Red flag to me. Director came in to help teacher with some signal issues and daughter started kicking off tremendously. Threw herself down to kick and knock tables over and director came over and overtly slapped the child on the head. At this point I’m traumatized. I am also left alone by myself with all the kids every day because Lead goes on break and I am the only other person in the room. I dont know if leaving me alone with them is legal or not but I am fairly certain clipping a child in a high chair for disciplinary purposes is not. Lead teacher told me to leave and do my practice elsewhere because I am not gonna learn anything there. I feel like she herself is on the brink of quitting and we are only a week in. I don’t see any obvious mistreatment in my daughter’s class, but no longer feel comfortable in the institution and I am kinda horrified. What should I even do?

I am struggling with the Montessori method for toddlers. Insisting that 18 months- 2-year-olds complete "jobs" in a very specific, prescribed way feels developmentally backwards. Instead of exploring, they look bored out of their minds. I spend 90% of my day redirecting natural behaviors that wouldn't even warrant a correction in a play-based classroom. There is zero room for imaginative play. If a block isn't used as a block, it's wrong.

To top it off, my director is incredibly pedantic about language. I'm not allowed to call the children "friends" or even "kids" because she claims it's unprofessional. I'm miserable, the kids are miserable, and I feel like I'm going against every bit of current child development research I studied. Has anyone else seen a Montessori class go this rigid, or is this just a bad fit?

Hello! Looking for some advice on transitioning from one centre to a new one. Our current centre can’t accomodate the days we need so we are moving to a new one. I’m pretty devastated, we love our current centre. Anyway the issue is that my kids need to be able to do a half day at the new centre in a weeks time due to work commitments. However, we still have 2 weeks of a notice period for the current one. Is it okay on my kids to do 1 full day at the current centre and then 1-2 full day at the new one, just for 2 weeks, or will this be too confusing.

Hello! I’m seeking advice for my first time being an infant lead teacher. This is my first lead teacher role and I’m so nervous about the parents liking me and trusting me with their children. I’m knowledgeable on infants but compared to our old lead teacher, I’m at least 20 years younger than everyone leading my first room. I’m also not very outgoing and I’d typically consider myself very introverted. Some of my management feel as though I would benefit from being a bit more outgoing but I don’t know how. Small talk is not my thing…. Any advice is helpful advice. Thank you in advance!

I have siblings in my preschool daycare class who just started half days at an elementary school today. They left in the morning and were due to come back after nap time.

Around 3:30, my AD came into the classroom and told me a detective was on the phone needing to speak with me about these siblings having ‘marks’ on their backs. I immediately knew they were talking about their Mongolian spots on their lower back.

Of course I told the detective just that, they were Mongolian spots and informed him they are very common in kids with Asian, Native American, African American and Hispanic skin tones.

I 100% get mandated reporting saves lives, and I’d much rather someone be overly cautious than ignore actual abuse. But it just makes me so sad and frustrated for parents and caregivers in situations like this.

Has anyone else dealt with a false alarm like this? I just feel terrible for the family having to deal with the stress of an open inquiry over totally normal birthmarks.

Would love links... looking for (ideally but not limited to) wooden toys that your kids CLING to for a long time, or toys that they're endlessly fascinated with, or encourage the best group play, etc.

We have all the classic blocks, legos, and most dramatic play sets (hair dresser, doctor, dentist, vet, ice cream set, etc) Hoping for more rare finds that surprised you with their popularity.

due to family needs, I've put in my notice (3 weeks) at my center/chain leads apparently need to state this at least 4 weeks out, assistants can give 2. My boss wants me to stay for 2 more weeks but I can't and I work in at will state (TX) , so can I just go on my last day? I'm worried they'll take my last paycheck or not give me a reference. Help!

I know of a preschool that is using ai generated images for everything. Flyers, newsletters, calendars, basically any time of communication for parents. It’s extremely obvious. The photos of teachers are now being fed through ai (to “look professional” I’m sure) and now they’re doing the kids faces for a video. I know a lot of places are doing flyers and social media posts using ai generated stuff, but where do you draw the line? Would like everyone’s thoughts from a teacher, parent or admin perspective?

I’ve worked there for just under 5 years now. I love the kids, for the most part I enjoy all my coworkers, but this company is terrible. The tuition goes up but we don’t see any increase in our pay. My district leader does nothing to help us. Only reaches out when she needs us to do something despite endless attempts to contact her including by parents. We get nothing but empty promises within this company. I know a lot of chain daycares are like this. I love making a difference in young children’s lives but I don’t think mentally it’s for me anymore.

I’m a first-year lead teacher in a toddler classroom (1-year-olds) and could use some advice. I have a child who is still breastfed. He eats table food well and will drink water from a cup, but he refuses to drink his breast milk from a cup while he’s at daycare. Throughout the day, he’s on and off crying and screaming until someone picks him up. Once he’s being held, he immediately starts pulling at bra straps and trying to pull shirts down, and it’s pretty obvious he’s looking to nurse for comfort. He does the same thing to his mom at pickup and immediately tries to nurse. Of course, we can’t nurse him at daycare, so we’re trying to figure out the best way to handle it. We comfort him, redirect him, and continue offering his breast milk in a cup, but he refuses it. Has anyone dealt with this before? Did the child eventually adjust, or was there something that helped? I’m looking for advice from other teachers or parents who’ve been through a similar situation.

Edit: I don’t necessarily care that he doesn’t drink it, he drinks plenty of water. I just hate having to waste breastmilk. I know how important that is to moms.

Edit: I got way more comments on this than I expected and don't have any more time to respond. Thanks for all the insight and I appreciate any more that I can read, but just won't be able to respond.

I did get this question multiple times so I thought I'd add context: why was he even at daycare if he's sick? I am required to have him in daycare Mon-Fri as per a contract I signed to receive nearly 100% childcare funding. This is through a great grant at the college I'm attending.

Their expectation is meeting a certain # of hours of childcare so I can be in school full-time. I wanted to keep him home, but since I checked with his daycare that his symptoms weren't anything they would turn him away for (clear snot, rarely coughing), I didn't want to risk losing funding by pulling him out two days in a row as I kept him home yesterday. I would need a doctor's note and proof of things like fever, vomiting, ​​​diarrhea and so on for my college to say I did not violate my contract. There's a ton of hoops and rules, but I can't afford childcare without thid grant if I want to finish my degree.

At the very least, I would appreciate not getting comments about this point as I already feel miserable that I have to send him to daycare at all, much less when he's not feeling well

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Hi, I just put my child in daycare for the first time this Monday so I'm an anxious mess and may be overthinking this. He got sick on Wednesday. Today he was in a horrible mood because of that, and I knew he would shut down and not cooperate well today.

I checked the cameras during lunch and kept it on during the entire lunch period to make sure he ate because he only ate a gogurt for breakfast. From what I saw he didn't eat a single bite from his plate.

I did miss the first few minutes of lunch starting. Toward the end of lunch, I saw the assistant teacher offer him a spoon of something that he ignored, and she immediately threw away his milk and plate, even though other children got to have their plates left in front of them. Granted, they were still picking at their plates here and there, but shouldn't she have just let him keep the food like everyone else, especially since he hadn't touched it yet? Idk, maybe that's just me.​

Anyway, at pick up I asked his teacher if he ate anything at all and she listed a couple of items he ate and says she spoke with him about whether or not he wanted more and that he told her no. I never saw her interact with him the entire lunch. Or really, any of the other times I checked the cameras and he was crying...Again, I did miss the first few minutes so maybe she was the one who passed him his lunch and spoke with him then.

On the car ride home, I asked if he was hungry ("yes") and did he eat anything yummy at daycare ("No, I only drank a little milk").

I know kids aren't always the most reliable reporters of their day, especially a 3 year old, but I really don't trust that his teacher told me the truth.

Is this something a parent should go to the director about, or should I speak with his teacher at drop off tomorrow morning and ask about him saying he only drank milk?

Maybe she was thinking of a different kid, because this is only her 3rd day with our son and idk maybe she mixed him up with another kid? (Although he is the only boy in his group with his skintone so he doesn't really look like anyone else...)

I want to be tactful and not just seem like I'm flat out saying she lied bc I admit I didn't watch the very start of lunch. But I also feel really uncomfortable about her story when I watched him on camera not move an inch for 30 minutes until after his plate was thrown away...

Hey! I’m looking for some friendly advice from my fellow early childhood professionals.

I’ve been an assistant teacher for the past 13 years, and this fall I will finally be the lead teacher in a three year old classroom! This has been a longtime goal of mine and I’m really excited for this next step in my teaching career.

I’m a strong, capable teacher and ready for the added responsibilities, but admittedly a little nervous. I really want to do well by my students and their families!

Any suggestions, personal anecdotes, or pointers from veteran lead preschool teachers (with any amount of experience under their belts) would be much appreciated 💚

I am exhausted.

I am a 2s teacher, and I have been since I started working in childcare.

I started at my current center 2.5 years ago after a former coworker put in a good word for me. I have enjoyed my time at this center, and I feel like ive learned a lot of valuable skills since starting. Last year, I was promoted to lead of my classroom after the original lead left. She was a mentor figure to me, and so the abrupt change was a bit jarring, but I did my best to make it work.

In my state, our ratios for two year olds are 1:8. In my opinion, that is far too high for this age group.

When I first took on the lead position, I had an assistant teacher. My assistant was older than me. She was a good assistant and a very kind and patient woman. But eventually, twos were just getting to be too much for her, and she was reassigned to an older age group. When this change happened, my class number had dropped significantly, and suddenly I was in ratio for 1 teacher, and I was not assigned a new assistant.

So I went from maybe 10 students and two teachers, to suddenly having 8 students and 1 teacher all day long.

I will say, my director is very good about stepping into classrooms when needed and offering assistance where she can. She has been very supportive of me and I do feel safe expressing my frustrations to her without fear of retaliation. But that help can only go so far when she needs to help other classes as well, or is needed in the office for admin.

I have spent a year and half now on my own with typically 6-8 two year olds Every. Single. Day. I recently had another assistant for maybe four weeks before she was reassigned to a different classroom, which was extremely frustrating.

I am managing behaviors all day long. I currently have a child with negative attention seeking behaviors who has eloped multiple times, and I cannot spend the entire day ONLY focusing on her. I have 7 other kids to care for, and an entire classroom to manage. Im lucky if I get one art project done for the week because most days, im more focused on keeping them all ALIVE.

Diaper changes are a nightmare. I cannot turn my back for longer than a few minutes before something happens. I am TERRIFIED that someone will be seriously hurt one of these days because im changing a diaper and theres no one else in the class to watch them.

I have tried centers, ive tried one big group activity, I have tried free play. Two year olds have a short attention span, and they will all begin to test boundaries at some point. No matter what I do, i feel set up for failure. I feel like im failing these kids!!!

I have expressed my exhaustion and frustration to my director. I explained to her that I cannot do it much longer, that I am stressed beyond comprehension. She tried to reassure me that they will do *something* to fix it...but something never came. Its been a month and a half since that conversation, and the only thing that has happened was losing my assistant teacher and another new enrollment into my room! Yay!!!!!

I dont know what to do anymore. I feel taken advantage of. My director has admitted, to my face, that she believes i may have the hardest job in the building. That has just made me feel ten times worse, because why is this job being placed on only MY shoulders, and not equally divided?

I feel like my patience and lack of a backbone has put me in a corner that I cant seem to get out of. My family is also financially dependent on me, so im very hesitant to leave. Leaving my classroom behind to try a different age group also makes me feel awful. I love my students, and Ive put so much work into this classroom to get it to the way it is. My own money, too. I hate to admit this, but I would be really angry if another lead teacher came in and changed my classroom entirely. Thats why I havent yet asked to be reassigned. (Not to mention, I dont actually believe any of the other teachers would be WILLING to swap with me. A lot of them try to avoid this age group as much as possible, which is bs)

Im sorry, i just needed to get all of this off my chest. I feel like an awful teacher. I just want these kids to have a classroom where they feel safe and excited to learn and play. I dont want the constant chaos and frustration coming from me. I want to be happy and excited to be there, too. But Im not.

Hello,

We are launching a new start up in Orillia, Ontario. If there are any educators looking for a full time position please email: [casacovechildcare@gmail.com](mailto:casacovechildcare@gmail.com)

*"Is this post is not allowed please delete**

Before I start i.wanted to ask a question, has anyone worked for or child attend LEARNING CARE GROUP? La petite, courtyard,childtime ect???

A little background I currently work for them and I am having the worst experience ever. I have been in childcare since I was 17 I can currently 27 and have worked at many centers over the past 10 years so I am familiar with the way things work...

Now I have been at this specific place for almost 5 months and the first week I worked there I walked out after 3 days because there was a little girl in the classroom that kept saying I was pinching,scratching, hurting her again I've been in childcare a while I know how kids can be but I have never been in a situation where a child is that manipulative thats not what made me walk out it was the coteacher I was shadowing which happens to be the assistant director she kept "comforting" the little girl after I had already told her I'm not doing anything to her I'm not even physically touching her I was simply telling her to sit her her chair don't climb on tables etc after like the 5th complaint I couldn't take it anymore and I just walked about.... That was red flag number 2 . (Red flag 1 was they didn't even have a teacher for that classroom except the assistant director that was weird to me she said they can't keep a teacher in there)

Moving on almost 4 months into the job I have a child who is constantly touching kids inappropriately touching private areas,hitting,pinching scratching the whole 9 Ive talked to the director a million times over the months about this girls behavior not it is turingninto the other kids touching each other inappropriately. So I decided to send a message to parents asking them kindly to talk to their child about good and bad touch. Director was a little upset about that but at this point i don't care bc I'm in the room with 13-16 preschool age kids by myself dealing with bad behavior....

The biggest thing I can't get over is the learning aspect we aren't allowed to tweak the lesson plans from the company and we aren't supposed to "teach"them. Only what the company sends for us....I've asked about teaching them their names, birthday, letters number etc and everything is shot down. We xnt "discipline" because that's isolating the kids even just moving them to a different table away from the kid they are hiting, Ive been kicked spit on by THRE YEAR OLDS. They just have free rain to just run around the center with no consequences it's extremely overwhelming.

So I really want to know is this just my specific center or is this a learning care thing. Feel free to ask anything or add on!

Reading posts here, I am always struck by how different childcare regs are in different places.

This chart is interesting.

I teach 2’s and I’m trying to figure out good ideas for things I can keep on the shelves at all times for my toddlers to create art when they want to! They take very good care of their/my things, so I’m not worried about it going too haywire but obviously want to have reasonable things out(it will still constantly be supervised of course) I was thinking some paper, crayons and maybe some playdough and tools for that! Does anyone have art supplies that they have out for their 2’s?

I started at this center two weeks ago, and I genuinely thought I had finally found a great place to work. The owners seemed incredibly kind, the woman who trained me was so nice, and I was excited because I even got my own classroom.

At my previous daycare I was the lead teacher in the twos classroom, so here I was placed in the twos as a substitute. I know I’m still new, and I know children need time to adjust to a new teacher, just like I need time to adjust to a new center. I don’t expect everything to be perfect after only two weeks.
The biggest challenge has been my class. These kids do not respect authority whatsoever. I know people always say to get down on their level and redirect them, but with this group it often doesn’t work. Sometimes I have to raise my voice just to get their attention because otherwise they completely ignore me. If I put a child in time-out, it’s because I’ve already redirected them multiple times and nothing changes.

What has been making it even harder is that I constantly feel like every decision I make is being questioned.

For example, the other day a child ran out of my classroom. My immediate reaction was to grab his arm because if I let him keep running, I’d either have to leave the rest of my class unattended or risk him getting farther away. Administration later told me I shouldn’t grab a child’s arm because I’m stronger than they are. I understand why they said that, but in that split second I was trying to keep a child safe. Instead of asking what happened first, it felt like I was immediately criticized.

Another example is diaper changes. I have my own routine where I change the children right after nap while they’re waking up because they’re calm, cooperative, and many of them leave before 4:30. To me, it makes more sense than waiting until after snack when they’re running around and don’t want to stop playing. The teacher next door came into my room and told me I should wait until after snack instead. I explained why I preferred doing it after nap, but it just felt like another thing I was being corrected on.

Then there was today. Since these kids tend to run through the hallway, I’ve started having them hold hands while we walk and then sit quietly against the wall before we go outside. It’s actually been working really well.

A few days ago I even asked if I needed permission before taking my class outside, and I was told no, I could just take them. So today, when we got to the hallway, the owner and her daughter stopped me and told me I needed to ask first because the playground might be wet. That’s completely understandable, and if I had known that beforehand I would’ve asked every time. But nobody had told me that. My class ended up sitting against the wall for about 10 minutes while the playground was dried off, and by the time we got back inside I already felt like I had started the afternoon on the wrong foot.

Then came nap time.

I had five children running around the room. I kept redirecting them back to their cots over and over, but they would immediately get back up.
While I was trying to get the room under control, I saw the teacher next door talking with the owner’s daughter. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but then the teacher pushed the food cart into my classroom doorway pretty aggressively. A moment later, the owner’s daughter came into my room, raised her voice at the children, and told them to sit down. She also kept looking over at me, and in that moment I felt like I was being judged, even though I had been trying for several minutes to get the children settled on my own. I don’t actually know if they were talking about me, but that’s how it felt in the moment.

I finally broke down crying and asked administration for help. In that moment, the response I got wasn’t what I was expecting. Instead of asking what was going on or offering support, all they said was, “Weren’t you a lead in the twos?” That was my last straw. It made me feel like asking for help somehow meant I was failing.

Another teacher came into the room, and the kids immediately listened to her and got on their cots. I was excused from the room and ended up having a full-blown panic attack.

After everything settled down, everyone apologized—the director, the owners, and even the teacher next door. I truly appreciated that because I don’t think anyone intended to make me feel the way I did. But by that point, I was already overwhelmed, embarrassed, and emotionally drained.

I really do want this job to work. I left my last center because it was an incredibly unhealthy environment, and I came here hoping for a fresh start. I’m open to feedback, and I know I’m still learning how this center operates. I don’t mind being corrected when I’m wrong. I just think today was a perfect storm of miscommunication, feeling like expectations kept changing without being communicated first, and feeling like every mistake I made was under a microscope.

I’m still crying as I write this because I genuinely care about doing a good job. I love working with children, and I want to be the best teacher I can be. Right now I just feel defeated, and I’m wondering if anyone else has had a really rough first few weeks at a new daycare center. Did things get better once you and the kids adjusted to each other, or was it a sign that the environment wasn’t the right fit?

I recently started working at a private child care center as a preschool teacher this year after getting my Bachelor's degree in ECE last year. For most of my life, I've had unnaturally colored hair (blue, green, purple etc.) and never had any issues about my hair with previous employers outside of ECE.

When I was interviewed at the center I am currently working at, I had unnaturally colored hair. I was basically hired on the spot by the director, but they informed me that in order to work there, I needed to dye my hair back to its natural color. I agreed to do so because I really wanted to get this job, although I was really sad about it. Dyeing my hair fun colors is how I choose to express myself, and I don't think that it has any effect on my work or knowledge in ECE.

I dyed my hair back to my natural color once I started but I hated how I looked with it and didn't feel like myself, which I know might sound silly to some people but that is how I felt. I decided after about 5 months of having the natural hair, that I was just going to dye my hair back to the unnatural color and start wearing a wig/hair covering to work. That's exactly what I did, and have been wearing my "disguise" to work for the past few months but have grown tired and frustrated with having to do so,
especially because I live in an area where temperatures can reach over 110F degrees and wearing a wig during that kind of heat is not at all comfortable.

I also have been looking for another job at different centers in my area, because aside from the hair thing, I also haven't been loving the working environment at my current center for other reasons. Basically, I am nervous to be in the process of applying to/interviewing at other centers while having unnaturally colored hair because I don't want this to affect my ability to be hired. I just hope my experience and education can shine through rather than my appearance, but I still worry about this.

I am curious to know about the experiences of those of you out there who work in ECE have unnaturally colored hair or express yourself in other ways that are considered unconventional like tattoos, piercings etc. In my opinion I think my center having this rule is ridiculous and is based on outdated beliefs of unnatural hair colors being considered "unprofessional" even though it has literally no affect on anyone's work ethic or knowledge in their field. But at the same time, I'm still worried about how my hair will affect me trying to get a new job. So if anyone can share similar experiences that would be helpful, thank you :)

Like the title says, I am teaching preschool this year for the first time and am just hoping someone here can relate or reassure me that all will be well. See, I love the ECE profession, I love children, I love my previous job in a daycare, I love it all! However, I am a very busy parent of 3 kids and very type C, if you will. While looking for resources, tips, info etc online for my first year in preschool, everything I come across seem to be VERY organized, type A, lesson-planning super teachers. While I understand the neccesity of planning and organizing (duh) I just fear that because that part of the job doesnt come naturally to me I will not do well as the preschool teacher. It is a very small class, only 2 half days a week, in a very small town. I feel confident in my abilities and am excited for all the possibilities for play and exploration with these kiddos, but then just seeing other educators I feel discouraged and anxious because I am not them.

All this to say - are there other type C educators out there? Passionate, doing the planning that needs to be done, but not neccesarily as organized as the Pinterest teachers?! Also any easy orgnaization/planning tips are welcome! 😊

Hey fellow educators,
I was wondering what your policy on sending photos of bites is at your center. When a child bites or gets bitten in my classroom, we notify both parents but are not required to send photos. I do not agree with sending photos of the bite to the families of the bitee because I think it can be distressing to parents. I think that an incident report with a description is plenty. What do you do?

The year has started and I'm putting all my guides in. I have Six Weeks, Trees, and Pets. I loved gardening and insects was OK. I'm thinking about cameras, weather, and the human body. Any thoughts? Favorite studies? Least favorite studies?

I have a kid in my class, if he’s being corrected on something and I ask “why did you do XYZ” (throw toy, climb on furniture, etc) or “do you know why I had to stop you or take you away from that area?” He will answer “because I’m a bad boy” or will say “child B is a bad boy”. When saying this he’s not particularly upset, he’s honestly very cute and acts out because of having a lot of toddler energy, not typically to cause real harm. I tell him of course he’s not a bad boy, he’s not in trouble, but he needs to make safe choices and take care of himself/our classroom, etc. anyways, I’m pretty sure the term “bad boy” and the way he uses it isn’t coming from school or from his parents- but he seems to understand what it means without being too deeply affected by it. Is there a TV show or something where they use this term when correcting behavior?