Jill’s Life Updates and Random Thoughts

Hey all. This is going to be a long one, so enter in at your own risk. I thought I would talk today a little more in-depth about my job. I have mentioned that I work in a child care center and that I particularly enjoy it, but I haven’t really talked about what I do or what it’s like. And perhaps you’re interested in the inner workings of the daycare system. I’ll be focusing mainly on the infant/toddler aspects of the center, because that’s where I work. So here we go…

First of all, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not just a babysitter who sits there and plays all day. Certification to be a teacher in a good child care center involves quite a lot of schooling and skills. In fact, the early childhood education classes that I am taking are some of the most involved and require the most work of any classes I have taken. As early childhood teachers, we seek to take care of and form the whole child. This does involve changing diapers and feeding the children, and it also involves teaching the children… language, encouraging inquiry, math and science, social skills, and moral behaviors (which we do whether we intend to or not). Teaching these things really require a thorough knowledge of how young children learn and how we can encourage their inquiry. It’s tough stuff, trust me.

I don’t think anyone will be surprised when I say that there are quite a few disadvantages to placing one’s child in a child care center. In the case of young infants, consistently being in a daycare setting for long days can cause some serious separation problems as the child starts to grow up. In all age groups, there is an almost inescapable problem of the children getting less individual attention than is ideal. This problem gets less severe in smaller centers, but it’s very hard for a teacher to give a child a lot of one-on-one attention when there are 3 or 7 or 15 other kids to keep track of. These are problems that pervade even high-quality centers; low-quality centers are often much worse than this. They usually hold teachers with few or no qualifications, they have large class sizes, and toys and materials may be in a state of disrepair. This may sound like an unreasonable place to put your child, but high-quality centers are very expensive, so many people, especially those who need childcare the most, have to settle for low-quality centers. One of the other problems that I see in childcare is the parents. Now I don’t want to present all-encompassing steretypes; I know some parents who are amazing and who I love to talk to; for the rest, I don’t pretend to know all of their situations or motives, but I become rather infuriated with them sometimes. Some parents leave their children with us for 10 or more hours a day, even when they are not working or even when their children are sick (it takes a lot of force to convice some parents to come retrieve their sick child). My favorite thing is when parents don’t spend any time with their kids, and then they try to dictate our every move at work. Here’s my advice: if you want to control every minute aspect of how your kids are raised, then raise your kids!

In spite of all the disadvantages of child care, there are some advantages. High-quality centers with small class sizes and highly qualified teachers really give young children great opportunities for social interaction and the ability to learn a great deal. The first few years of life are some of the most vital in shaping the way children will learn in later years, and good teachers can be invaluable in promoting a child’s exploration and independence in learning. Studies have shown that positive early learning experiences really do affect the achievements of children in elementary school and beyond. My job is a very important one, and it is also very rewarding, because I get to see the progress that the kids make over time. If everyone got the sense of purpose and joy that I get out of my job, then I’m sure that the world would be just a little happier.

I happen to have the privilege of working in a really high-quality center. We are pretty small… we have 4 infants, 8 toddlers, and up to 20 preschoolers, and our staff is comprised of great, highly-qualified teachers, most of whom have been there for a few years already. I can tell that all of my coworkers are there because they love children, and we have a great rapport with the families of our children. I don’t think I could choose a better place to work. In spite of my love of my job, though, I wouldn’t want to put my kids in this center, or in any other center. I really believe that a young child belongs with his or her parents, at the very least for the first few, vital years of development. I understand that it’s necessary for some people to put their children in child care, but in general, people use it unnecessarily and miss out on the best years of the kids’ lives. On that note, I better go read some more about the way the minds of small children work. I hope this post doesn’t sound too bitter… I really do love my job, I swear!

Thanking you for reading so much blabber,
Jill