Child Day Care Typical Work Environment

As a childcare worker, individuals may be employed by a family as an in-home care nanny and/or babysitter, a childcare center, or a pre-school.Professionally run childcare centers are usually open all year round, with long hours so that parents can drop off and pick up their children before and after their workday. Some centers employ both full-time and part-time staff with staggered shifts to cover the entire day. Private household childcare workers typically work in the pleasant and comfortable homes or apartments of the families. Individual families may require their child care workers to live at the home, or be present in the evenings and weekends To ensure children receive proper care and the care workers are able to properly perform their jobs, state and/or local regulations may require a certain ratio of children to workers.Experts generally provide the following recommendations: no more than 3-4 infants (less than one year), 5-6 toddlers (1-2 years old), or 10 school-aged children (2-5 years old).If someone is employed by a before or after school program they may be responsible for many more school aged children.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

Childcare workers responsibilities vary based on the age and number of children as well as the type of location and employer.In general, keeping children happy and healthy is an important part of the job.Workers are expected to serve nutritious meals and snacks to teach good eating habits to the children at a young age.They ensure infants and children receive proper rest periods.Older toddlers and children should be entertained and challenged with varying activities, crafts, songs, games and outings.Childcare workers are usually able to enjoy the fun of going to parks, amusement parks, animal parks, etc.The work may sometimes become routine, but the possibility of introducing new activities and challenges each day is always an option. Child care can be physically and emotionally draining, as child care workers constantly stand, walk, bend, stoop, and lift to attend to each child?s interests, needs and problems.

Typical Earning Summary

Salary is dependant on a number of factors such as level of education attained, work experience, employer and type of establishment.Pay tends to be low but additional education may result in increased wages.According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in May of 2004 the median hourly earning of wage and salary childcare workers was $8.06.Residential care facilities tend to offer the highest wages, followed by elementary and secondary schools.Professional child day care services averaged the lowest paid wages.Earning of self-employed workers usually vary depending on the hours worker, ages and number of children and the location.Benefits vary but are usually minimal. Some employers offer discounted or free childcare to employees. Many offer full benefits packages, to include health insurance and paid vacations, while others offer no benefits at all.Live-in nannies should receive free room and board, or at least a highly discounted rate.

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