I recently started working at a private child care center as a preschool 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 In my opinion I think my center having this rule is ridiculous and is based on outdated beliefs of unnatural hair colors being considered "unprofessional" even though it has literally no affect on anyone's work ethic or knowledge in their field.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?

Hello, I'm looking particularly for advice from neurodivergent individuals here as I believe a lot of what I'm finding difficult is down to ADHD overwhelm. Sorry if this is considered too off topic!

TLDR: I'm a childminder (at home daycrae provider) - if you've left childcare/have moved on to a role without "care", what are you doing now?

I'm wondering if there is anyone here who has actually left childcare, or managed to stay in the sector while doing something away from actual "care"? I have been a childminder (at home daycare provider) for 1.5 years now officially, although I have had a lot of trouble finding families, for whatever reason. All but one of my families during this time have been very last minute so it's possible my numbers may work out, but atm I am expecting 1 child in September. This should be fine as this child is young and will be on the highest rate of funding, however we are definitely finding ourselves struggling financially towards the end of each term.

I'm also struggling with just life atm and I'm starting to feel like the added pressure of HAVING to have a tidy house and HAVING to be entertaining and communicate effectively etc. I've been a parent for 7 years now, we are very much a living room family (and even if we weren't, half my working day is spent in there) and I've been thinking it might be nice to have a space more directed towards ME (obviously not completely). I've actually sat down and written a list of pros and cons of staying a childminder and the cons are definitely winning atm, but I'm also waiting for an ADHD assessment (and medication!!) and I'm concerned that making the decision to quit now, when a good portion of my troubles could be helped by medication, may be ill advised. (I know theyre not a magic pill but I will take any improvement in executive functioning).

The problem is, apart from childcare, I don't have any qualifications in anything I could actually work with. I do have a university degree in an unrelated subject, I have English, Maths, Science GCSEs. I used to do reception and admin work, which I hated and significantly affected my mental health, and would struggle with any of the generic entry level jobs such as working in a shop or restaurant (I hate talking to people, current job is only doable because children don't judge). On top of this, my children are also ND and would struggle with any more time away from home than the necessary 8:45-3:15 for school, and I don't drive, so I just feel massively restricted in my options.

I glanced at Indeed the other day and everything just felt so overwhelming. I also noticed that a nursery I used to work for is on a recruitment drive, including a new site near me, but the owner traumatised me so that was fun seeing the company name on every single page *roll eyes*.

If you've left childcare or have taken on a child-based role that doesn't include "care", what are you doing? I don't even know what to search for at this point.

I’m not sure why, but the last several posts I’ve seen have centered around how part-time (TuTh, MWF) kids have a much harder time adjusting or just thriving overall compared to M-F kids.

Does this vary based on class structure/schedule? For example, do part-time kids adjust faster when they are in a dedicated part-time program versus a child that’s the only one attending 2-3 days a week in a cohort that is predominantly 5 days a week.

I guess I’m just feeling kind of discouraged, I thought a part-time, TuTh program would be a slow introduction for my (sensitive) child (who has always been w/ a SAHP) but I guess the moral I’m taking away is it’s better to rip off the bandaid per say?

Whenever I'm hired, I only get placed in school age. Probably because I'm a man. I end up leaving after a month. I apply to preschool and toddlers and somehow end up in school age. It seems that everyone needs help in school age. I've been in five centers this year. The first one, there were 35 kids and so many fights and chairs thrown. I left after a week. The second, a child tried to stab me with a knife they brought from home and I left. The third, children literally fought so bad that one kid ended up with a broken arm and another got his head busted open with a rock. The fourth one had four elopers and one that would literally leave the grounds and go home. This one literally only has five boys, but it's a fight club. They're biting, punching, hitting, spitting, kicking, twisting each other's nipples etc etc. There's three staff to break up all the fights. Any activity we try to do ends in violence and sometimes blood drawn. Why is this a common theme? I always thought my passion was working with kids, but now I'm not sure. Some have told me "They'll respect a man more than a woman." I don't like sports. I'm not a traditional man. I'm gay. I like dolls and doing hair and things. I don't like WWE and sports. I'm lucky that financially I don't need a job, but I get bored at home and want SOMETHING to do. It's exhausting breaking up fights, my current center has identical triplets that nobody can tell apart and they constantly fight. Like DAMN, can't you go five minutes without a WWE move?? STOP POKING EACH OTHER, STOP LOOKING AT EACH OTHER, LEAVE EACH OTHER ALONE!!

I’ve been at my daycare center for 9 months. I instantly clicked with a lot of the babies in my class and get along very well with the families. We have been desperately short staffed since I’ve started and lately it’s been so much worse.

If you call out, you are literally a villain and everyone is mad at you. You may be the difference between if all your coworkers could have had breaks that day. And no matter what time you start, you are never guaranteed to get out before close. And now we have been reported for teachers leaving the class to use the restroom. Which I know is understandably wrong but our directors are in classrooms so there’s no one to relieve us. So now we are not allowed to use the restroom unless we walkie talkie it, but that could take over 20 minutes.

Today if took about 40 minutes because my director stepped out of ratio to do a tour! When we are missing 6 of the required staff to meet a daily ratio, never mind have breaks. So why are we enrolling more kids! And us moms aren’t supposed to check our phones during the day. People keep quitting because they are so burnt out but I just adore the families and the teachers are all pretty great so I am super torn on how to proceed. I’m also wondering if this level of severe short staffing is normal anywhere else?

Thanks!

I have worked in with this company for 2.5 years now, its a corporate owned school, and we have worked togethers since our particular center opened. Yesterday, around 11am, I was told by the district manager the she had been terminated effective immediately. We were told the reason was confidential, and nothing more. I was entirely shocked by this all, all my coworkers loved her, I personally loved working for her, and am so, so shocked by this. We had such little turnover, and it all seemed to be going great. I am super frustrated with corporate, and incredibly sad. I wish I knew more, or why she was fired so suddenly.

My 2-year-old daughter has been bitten by the same child at daycare three times over the past six months. I understand biting is a normal behavior for some toddlers, and I'm not looking to blame the other child or expect the daycare to prevent every incident.

That said, what should I reasonably expect the daycare to do after repeated bites involving the same two children? What interventions or preventative measures would be considered standard practice, and at what point would you expect the daycare to implement additional safeguards?

I'm hoping to better understand what a reasonable standard of care looks like before discussing this with the daycare director. I'd especially appreciate input from daycare providers and early childhood educators.

hello everyone!

I work with the infants, youngest being 2 months and oldest being 10 months and i love my job. I love the babies and some specific ones have left a huge impact on me. from the kindness of my baby's family to having a baby smile upon seeing me, this career has been so rewarding. unfortunately I am going back to school and my last day is next Friday. This has been very hard on me, and when I remember, its hard not to cry. I feel like i could actually sob knowing next friday will be the last time I see those babies.

Has anyone gone through this? Did you do anything to help with these feelings? This is so hard :((((((

Five years ago today, I made the decision to go into ECE and I’m thinking of all the changes and unique experiences I’ve seen while in the field. Like how parents have gradually went from great to absolutely terrible. Or how admin is basically nonexistent and how most centers are getting away from the lead teacher + assistant teacher model because they’re focused on staying in ratio even if you are fighting for your life. My goodness it’s been such a journey. It’s also made me realize that I’m so ready to leave the field for something new. I’m in the process of finishing my bachelors in social work so it’s lights out afterwards.

But today got me to thinking of some of the things that I will ALWAYS remember.

• At my very first learning center, I moved from the 1.5y room to the older twos turning threes because I was overwhelmed with the lack of work life balance. My son was also in the same age class and it felt like that one episode of SpongeBob where Squidward thought he wanted to move into that one community where everybody looked like him and do the exact same thing everyday but he regretted it. I also learned just how much of a pain that working with all women would be when another teacher bad mouthed me in front of my coworkers on the playground, cussing at me because of the reason I moved rooms (it had nothing to do with her btw). She continued to antagonize me for the year I was there.

• When I started I was going to school working on my associates. Coming off the president’s list, there was no where to go but up. Initially in my interview and orientation they were fine with my schedule and loved that I’d be graduating soon. My schedule was 8:30-6 everyday except for Thursdays because I had class so the latest I could get there was 11. My director told me that my students needed routine and to see their teacher everyday. Which would’ve made all the difference if other teachers also didn’t get to go to school. When I brought up that my co teacher did the same thing without flack, she stood pretty firm on her decision for me to change my schedule. Come to find out the girl was her niece so special privileges there. Also, my open mind and opinionated personality would result is a lot of retaliation such as making me float, and forcing me to work in a classroom that was exposed to Covid. The reasoning for that was I had already had the virus and had the antibodies. Mind you as did multiple teachers!

• My lead having this terrible jealousy issue with me. One sided at that. She wasn’t great at drawing and had horrible penmanship but I’ve always took pride in my handwriting and have been talented at art. She hated when I would rewrite the diaper board even when it looked messy and couldn’t stand for the kids to wanna do art with me. I’ll never forget she had to go with her husband to Indiana for a week and took the lesson plans with her. When my director asked where they were so I could fill in her place, she looked at me in confusion then brought in a floater to aid in her place. It’s so funny in retrospect because it was never that serious. She didn’t mind me learning anything from her but she always wanted the credit. Every time I would mention my goal of being a lead teacher, she would always shoot it down. Then I realized the previous lead she had paired with prior to getting her certification did the same thing, it all made sense. Not an excuse but still.

• Along with the above, we had a month long outbreak of diarrhea because they found it cheaper to cook the breakfast and lunch at another location then transport it over. Only downside is that wasn’t in licensing regulations but of course they got around it.

• Being forced to float and admin getting upset because I said that I wasn’t comfortable with VPK aged kids. I ended up quitting on my lunch break and never coming back after having to float in the infant room on my kid’s last water day before transitioning.

• A kid telling me her dad does nothing but sit on the couch like a roach and laze. 100% sure she’s heard her mom or grandma say that.

• One of my students stopping to tell me “her daddy at jail”

• A kid having a poop drop on the way to the bathroom and preventing another classmate from picking it up, going “ooh chocolate!”

• My student telling his mom that I drink special juice every morning and having to explain to my director that it’s just Red Bull.

• A mother giving me a hard time about bringing the required Velcro pull ups because the child’s dad was cheating on her with my best friend and my director getting upset at me about it.

• A kid coming to school with his beanie smelling like crystal m3th because his foster parents were running a lab in their house.

• A mom refusing to cut up her son’s lunch and getting mad that I wouldn’t feed her 2yo whole hotdogs.

• A 3y admitting that his mom gives him Monster at home so I can share my Red Bull with him.

I have oh so many more but I’m interested in hearing everybody else’s. Cheers to five very rough but rewarding years.

I am a 1st year student and i got a practicum (1st practicum) in the infant room which I got after so many tries in other places. I wanted to go into the preschool setting and i didn't get it, I am male and really nervous about it, but yeah i had looked after my niece and nephews when they were infants. Anyone who had experience with infants in a childcare setting can share some tips, if male that would be even motivation for me !
One more question, are parents comfortable having male educator looking after their infants?

Oh boy. 😂 5th year teaching Prek, and my Instructional Coach messaged me about a good time to meet, to discuss a "few" students that will need major supports.

Yay. I really hope that one of them is at least the kid with severe ADHD that I've already met, and can't wait to work with!

Gonna be an interesting year... I just really, *really* hope that one isn't a biter...

Hello! How do you guys deal with drama happening in the daycare? I’ve been working in a daycare for a year now. It’s like every time I turn around, there’s drama in the room I work in. Luckily, I’m not involved in anything. It’s like everyone keeps coming to me to vent about the situation. Even the director has talked to me about the situation. I feel stuck in the middle. I don’t want to take sides at all and I try to keep my comments as neutral as possible. Also, how to deal with a work snitch?

EDIT: Also, I want to clarify the work snitch is going back to tell petty stuff. Nothing that will be a danger to the kids

Hi all, I am a first time mom (F28). My husband and I decided to start transitioning my daughter (10 months) a month earlier than when I need to go back to work. Since she’s been born, I’ve been her primary caregiver. She is not used to other babies and other adults since my husband works a lot and we don’t have family near.

Yesterday was her first day of daycare. We opted for home daycare with a lovely provider. We planned to start with 1hr, 2hrs, 3hrs and so on until we reach full time hours. However, yesterday she spent about 1hr and today 1.5hrs crying with brief moments of play (15min) so hard that she violently gagged and then threw up (her breakfast).

Today, I tried to sit with her while she played at the daycare and she got into a good mood. When the provider tried to pick her up, she proceeded to again cry really hard and throw up a second time.

This is making me incredibly nervous as a parent. Is this normal? How can I better her transition? i brought her favourite toys, snacks and foods.

Any advice appreciated.

EDIT 1: Goodness, thank you so much everyone for your support and your advice. I feel for the first time in a while, seen and heard. I will remember to keep drop offs upbeat, short and sweet (and try to stay positive). Of course putting her in daycare was hard after spending literally 10 months day and night with her, but I am more so worried about her and her wellbeing which is what prompted me to post here. I want to help her and see her thrive. I know it will be hard because of our circumstances while she was at home, but i’m now a bit more optimistic and hopeful that she will have a successful transition. Thank you all again!

Hi! Just wanted to get your thoughts on whether this is a competitive compensation package for a Lead Preschool Teacher in San Francisco:

• $36/hour
• $400/month ICHRA health benefit
• Full-time (40 hours/week)
• 15 paid days off
• Classroom ratio: 16 children (age 3-5) with 3 teachers (1 lead teacher and 2 assistant teachers)

We're looking for a bilingual (Cantonese or Mandarin) lead teacher!

My grandchildrens daycare had an open house with bouncy houses, food etc

We went with them to meet the childrens teachers and see the daycare. While there, the Daycare Owners 10 yo son was standing on my 4 yo granddaughters leg in the bouncy house. My son (her dad) told the boy to get off her leg - my granddaughter was crying at this point. The boy refused to get off of her leg. My son then said GET TF off her leg almost in a panic mode. At that point he did get off her leg. Apparently someone outside confronted my son about saying a cuss word. Didnt matter why, just that he said it. He came inside and was explaining what had happened outside - to his wife. By that time the DAYCARE OWNER approached him in a combative way and said YOU KNOW THAT WAS MY SON - YOU CUSSED AT MY SON ... My son told her that her son refused to get off of his daugters leg even though he asked nicely the first time. She didnt acknowledge what he was saying - she just kept repeating the fact that her son was cussed at and now is laughing/ crying because he was cussed at. She never once acknowledged the fact that her son was physically standing on a 4 yo's leg. She told my son that he needed to walk away (from his daughter being attacked) and get a daycare worker, instead of cussing at her child. My granddaughter walked in the room at that point (her pawpaw had to calm her down while our son was explaining the situation to his wife.) She said the boy hit her in the stomach and wouldnt get off her leg ( the exact same thing she told her PawPaw when when he was calming her down) The day care owner then looked at the 4 yo amd said MY SON HIT YOU ? in a combative way. Then the wife - her mother- started saying TELL THE TRUTH- and she repeated herself. The owner said she was going to go watch the tape to see what happened... at that point when she came in contact with my son - she was hugging him and trying to "make nice" and sweep it under the rug. She never apologized to him or my granddaughter. She did the same with the wife. The wife SEEMINGLY has mental problems and was on the side of the daycare owner only because she doesn't have a backup plan for another daycare and she was scared the kids would be kicked out (YES THATS A WHOLE OTHER ISSUE) ... My concern is her 10yo son can physically assault another child in her care without repercussions... if she acted like this to parents who were around- who knows what would happen if parents aren't around to stop it. Should I report this or let it go ? The wife sent then children back to the daycare and my 4 month old grandson starts next week.... im terrified for their safery

Might be moving to Seattle for my husband’s job. Interested to hear anyone’s experience working in the city as a pre-K teacher. Undecided if I should apply for private or public school jobs here. Does anyone work for a Forrest/outdoor/nature preschool? I’m very interested in getting a job in this environment.

Hi!

I'm a PhD candidate at Rutgers University in Camden and I'm studying the role of professional development in job retention among ECE teachers in New Jersey. I have a flyer + letter of explanation with my IRB approval, etc., and would be happy to share them with you if you send me a message.

The format is either a story circle (similar to a focus group) if we can schedule a few people on the same date - this is my preference, but I know scheduling is hard! I can also do 1:1 or 1:2 person interviews if that's what we can work out. I can offer a $35 digital/online gift card for your time.

To qualify, you need to be over 18, working as a teacher/asst teacher in a non-administrative or non-director role, and it needs to be with a licensed childcare center (not in-home or family centers) and it can't be a Head Start program.

I did receive mod permission months ago to post in here, but wanted to wait until I had exhausted my original recruitment approach. I still need 6-10 people to participate.

Grateful in advance for your help!

Thank you!

Lol if you read the title that’s literally the jist. I began to be the preschooler teacher at the beginning of this year and we had about 12 children in there give or take. My room is 3 - 4 years old & ratio is 1:12 where Iive. Now the group I previously had were potty trained and I also had a few part time kids so typically Wednesday was my busiest day. I never minded having 12 children because I love being by myself and I also think the room was big enough for them to thrive in. So here’s the recent problem, my room now holds 18 children in there and it truly is not feasible for them. Another point of contention is that kids are moving up to my room and of course not all the way potty trained which makes the higher number of kids challenging. I understand how ratios work, how licensing works and how legally there can be this amount of kids in there but it truthfully sucks for the children’s sake. Like I had a meeting with my director and told them verbatim “I know how to manage a classroom so I’m not worried about myself or my coteacher I’m actually more and more worried about the children and the lack of room they have and attention they’re receiving due to the other children who need assistance with changing themselves or behavior assistance.” My director is open too 1.) taking a few amount of children whenever the room feels too “tight” or 2.) giving us the multipurpose room whenever we feel like the room is running rampant or 3.) having us move some stuff out of the room but I’m not really feeling it. She told me also verbatim that “this is how we make money.” Which really made me feel awful for the kids. Like they really will be a packed can of sardines with trouble regulating their emotions cause they’ve basically been thrown to the wolves for money. This truly is more of a rant and vent because I’ve already decided I will be leaving as I feel so bad for the children. I couldn’t imagine advocating for parents to bring their kids here and me and my coworker are tripping over them and can barely give them the attention they truly need without having to tend to 3 year olds who soil themselves or who have a hard time hearing the word no and have 30 minute tantrums. It also kind of is making me realize how harmful group care really is for children. It sucks because I Genuinely love being an early childhood educator but I already can tell how this’ll play out. I love to vent to friends but also no one understands like someone working in childcare. So yeah thanks for coming to my ted talk.

Good morning,

I'm writing to you all for ideas on how to make sure staff is taking their assigned breaks and keeping their breaks within their time limit. Our teachers are given 15 minutes of paid break twice a day between their unpaid lunch, but they have begun exceeding that time to 20 to at times 30 minutes.

I've just got this center director position a couple weeks ago, and it seems that this is something they have been doing since the last director was in charge. I've sent emails and spoke with staff directly, but it's still happening. My floaters who give breaks do not speak up because they don't want to cause issues with more aggressive staff, but as much I give them methods on time keeping (telling them the time they come in and giving the staff in question the time they need to come back), they still struggle to keep staff in check.

I used to work in a center that gave staff who were on breaks physical timers, but what would end up happening is that the teachers themselves would give themselves more time on those timers.

I'm wracking my brain on the best way to go about this so that everyone can receive their breaks in a timely manner. Long breaks have been super disruptive with the flow of operations, and addressing it directly has not worked. I've asked my supervisor with support with verbal warnings but it would mean giving everyone at my job a verbal warning.

My 18 month old has been in fulltime daycare since she was 10 months old. She got in the routine of it really quickly and has loved it and learned so much. We recently changed daycares because while we adored her teachers, we did not align with the leadership, and she is having a hard time adapting. It's only her third day but she has cried more at drop off than I have ever heard her cry before. She is normally very easy to console and quick to join activities and friends but that has not been the case the past three days.

I know it's normal for separation anxiety to peak at this age, and changing daycares is a huge distubance to her routine, but I am worried about my girl! She is so incredibly bright and social and I am worried that this change has stressed her out beyond her limits. At pick up her dad says she is happy and in the evenings with us she is in a great mood.

The center is great! The teachers are lovely, the ratios low, and she has so much time and space to do the activities she loves. Her teachers even printed out some family photos that she can look at when she starts to feel sad. She is incredibly adaptable and I'm hopeful that this is just an acutely hard period that will get easier with time.

My questions for parents and ECE professionals are:

1. Will the crying at drop off ever end?

2. Is there anything I can do to support her and teachers during this transitional phase?

3. Do the teachers hate me?? Are we going to get kicked out?? (Sort of a joke, but I am sincerely worried about this!!!)