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The truth is ugly in child care, but I do have hope. After all, I've stayed in the field for 5 decades regardless of the bad things I've seen and/or heard. Maybe that's because I've also been witness to so many positive situations.
I have a unique skill set. I can hold my own in academia, keeping up with current ideas and the brain research that fuels them. I hold an MA in human development and a BS in education.
I can also work in the field of child care successfully, deal with child guidance, parent interactions, serve nutritionally sound meals, supervise safety, provide curriculum, and more. I've worked in the field for the last 50 years.
My unique skill set allows me to see the situation from a bird's eye view. I can boil down complicated subject matter presenting it in a way that makes sense to parents and people in the field. I strive to make everything I write or present short, to the point, entertaining, and most of all useful!
So starting today I'm going to reveal the truth about child care. The good, the bad and the ugly. It's time.
One of the best-kept secrets in child care is that often when you start a new job, if you're too "nice" to the children, you get in trouble with your co-workers. Maybe the kids aren't used to that or maybe you don't know how to create a feeling of good-natured control in your classroom. That can take years to perfect and is more of an art than a skill.
Here's a new provider's response to a question about quality.
THE BAD
What does your program do regularly that you consider to be a sign of high quality?
We smile a lot, we have fun, we talk with, sing with read to our children and have a calm atmosphere. I love my new school!
Same teacher the following week:
Ugh i am so sorry but i was writing this after my first day and it all went downhill from there. Apparently, i am not a good judge of character as this director was such a narcissist!
The toddler teacher was fired 2 days before I quit. Horrible. I lasted almost 7 days but it was terribly unsafe so i had to leave and call licensing.
note: This teacher left early childhood and is now working with developmentally challenged adults. She loves her new job and says she's treated well. I think this shows how turnover issues happen in real-life situations.
THE GOOD
What does your program do regularly that you consider to be a sign of high quality?
teacher 1
We change the materials in our sensory table weekly.
teacher 2
We bring 3-year-olds with us and have them be our "buddies" when they try to hurt others. Sometimes we ask them to hold on to us. I have a squiggly key chain on my belt that works well because it's a sensory thing.
When they stay with us they can see us show empathy to others as we move around the room and they often stay out of trouble long enough to calm down. We find this works better than time outs because time outs take away too much teacher time from other kids who need us.
teacher 3
We learn about nature both indoors and outdoors in our program. We use natural items and include children's ideas when we play and create.
THE HOPEFUL
I hope these real-life situations help you start to see the picture. The "good" descriptions are wonderful ideas from high-quality teachers but remember that only 10% of all centers are high-quality. Here's one sad example.
An anonymous provider...
Once I started a “trial” position at a child care center. I was to work for two days in the program as an assistant and after that, they would decide whether to offer me the job. On the first day, we took a “field trip” to the lead teacher’s house in the neighborhood to watch Reading Rainbow. On the short walk, the 2-year-olds were allowed to run up to the streets and stop at the curb ahead of us. I questioned this and was told they were “trained” to stop.
At the house, the teacher talked on the phone while the children jumped on old student furniture. Reading Rainbow wasn’t keeping their attention as it’s for kids older than 2. Back at the center, the children played in the sandbox and climbed on an expensive climbing structure purchased with the director’s personal money. One of the teachers asked about my education and said, “I wish I had an education so I didn’t have to work here.”
On day two, I watched a volunteer remove a child from a climber through the top. The 3-year-old was pulled up by one arm. The volunteer then yelled at him, "No, hitting!"
Later, I offered to supervise the same volunteer during a diaper change and was told "no", he was fine.
When the director offered me the position, I said, “No thank you.
I should have called licensing as this was a state-licensed, for-profit center with 2 locations in town. Their reputation wasn't great, but not horrible either.
Are you interested in learning more about the true state of child care today, the good, the bad, and the ugly? This post is just a preview of what's to come for our VIP site members at early childhood rocks. By donating just 9.99, one-time you can help support early childhood educators everywhere. As a gift, we include access to our member's only section, which includes The Good, The Bad, The Ugly blog, and much more.
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Nanci J Bradley is an early childhood and family educator, author, teacher, family aerobics instructor, and an all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, healthy eating, lifelong learning, and most of all, PLAY! She studied early childhood ed at Triton College and received her BS in education in 1986 from NIU. She received her MA in human development from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison WI
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