“Rewarding” is how most child care workers describe their jobs at Links Childcare, and the joy of helping children grow both intellectually and emotionally is one of its most appealing features. A child care worker manages each child’s day, usually attending to the children from early morning through the rest of the day, keeping the child engaged with games, exercise, meals, and study.
Children need to trust and feel at home with the people around them, the successful childcare worker deals with situations as they arise, from health to wellbeing and sometimes this means calming a very active child or helping another get out of their shell.
The ability to provide a solid framework of activity, a flexible outlook, and a sense of caring, fun, and energy, are all important facets of being a good child care worker.
So what does it take!
Perhaps the most important characteristic of the child care worker is a delicate balance of maturity and wonder. A professional must be mature enough to act responsibly with and around the child but be sufficiently filled with wonder to share in the child’s excitement about learning.
One of the most difficult aspects of being a child care worker is maintaining infinite patience in handling young and excitable children but the reward are there to see.
Many childcare workers organize each child’s schedule around a series of structured activities. This is to ensure each child gets enough play and rest. They might also be responsible for observing any emotional or developmental problems that arise with a child. Depending on how much time a childcare worker spends with the children, she or he might be the first one to spot a problem.
An example of a normal day
Mornings are usually a busy time in the crèche. For babies this can mean a calming introduction to the day and for younger children, mornings can be time for feeding, and play. For school age children, this can mean getting children through a whirlwind of activities to eat breakfast, and get to school.
Late Mornings Every childcare worker will have a different routine for the children, but mid-morning activities are an important structured part of the day. Activities include Messy play, sand, water, garden fun, painting, gluing sticking & dancing etc…
Lunch: This could mean preparing a bottle or serving a lunch either way it’s a time for bonding and fun!
Afternoon: For young children, part of the afternoon will be devoted to sleep time. After sleep time, the childcare worker will have other activities for the children to do from drawing to playing music.
And of course let’s not forget the special relationship you have with parents and guardians after all you are their peace of mind. Parental involvement in the crèche is a vital part of your success as a childcare worker, so you will often find yourself involved in a fun day or charity event that involves the little people and the Big People, so the fun never ends!
And after work!
Whatever crèche you are in, it’s a very unique experience and luckily the only thing you need to take home is the diverse and fun filled stories of the day! And remember that when that child is tucked in at night they have you in their memories!
All our centres are state of the art, fully equipped friendly and warm! You can visit any one of our crèches to find a home away from home, our Blackrock Creche even has its own dance studio!