Any childcare workers-- need advice!!!!

[NOHOTTIE_1996]

I just got fired from my job more than a month ago. I was a toddler teacher with 12 kids to myself, no assistant teacher. I asked my super for an assistant teacher and she told me that she was not hiring another teacher for the classroom. Now understand that the student-ratio for that age is 12:1, but how can you responsibly care for 12 two-year-old children by yourself? Well when i asked for an assistant she moved me from the class to the infant room where it is 4:1. I asked for supplies for the room and my $1 raise after 90 day probationary period and was denied that. When I asked for staff meetings and some direction to where the director/owner wanted me to take the class she told me I had a college degree and should already know what to do!!!!

Well when she hired another teacher for the toddler class, she began to complain about the same thing, but I encouraged her to stick it out. Well needless to say we both got fired on the same day because a little girl was severely bitten while I was left out of ratio with the children(maybe about 12 - 15 children between the ages of 1 - 3) There is more to this story but I want to know how your center is organized and/or what do you expect when you are dealing with early childhood.

 

[melonpecan]

Sorry I can't help too much on this but good luck on finding another job. This doesn't sound like the job went well though...

 

[jucurious]

Well I wasn't a paid employee but I was a volunteer at a childcare center many years ago and it was the most structured/ intentional childcare center I have ever seen.

I worked with 2-3 year old children and my classroom had 2 licensed teachers and a rotation of a full-time toddler assistant, part-time teachers aids and college fieldwork students with a child:adult ratio of 1:4

I feel that this particular child care center was so intentional b/c it was research supported and affiliated. There was a curriculum that we followed and everything (maybe even nap time) was educational .

In the way of supervision, it was more informal for the non-full time staff but I scheduled bi-weekly meetings with the program director b/c I had to do a report and research plus, I just wanted more information. I was able to talk with the teachers about the curriculum, goals and the like. We also discussed students who had disabilities and those who were not meeting developmental milestones.

There was also a parents' advisory committee that met monthly to discuss policy, procedures, special activities and fundraising. They also provided workshops for parents dealing with certain issues with their children. There was a lot of parent/staff interaction and parental involvement.

All of this is expected for a place you dropping almost $900/month for your child to attend lol.

Now I have interned/worked a lot of places and this was the most structured, I have also interned and worked a lot of places in which I was just thrown in there and had to make it work on my own. As basic as we think supervision, mentorship and the like are when working in a new environment, a good portion of places don't provide it for many reasons (both ridic and semi legit). Some people also feel that they didn't hire you to "baby" you every week (that is what interning/field practicum is for) and that your degree means you know what the hell to do.

Are you planning on staying in the childcare field? If so, maybe asking about goals, visions, mission statements and supervision is something that you may want to ask in the interview (but not in a rapidfire/overwhelming way); some things you have to role out gradually and just get a feel for. I hate to say it, but a good number of child care institutions aren't that intentional; they simply are babysitting with a few activities. from the sound of it, you need more of a structure and purpose.

Good luck!