Why did u want to be a child care worker / work with children?
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Why did u want to be a child care worker / work with children?
I think the reason I work in childcare has evolved in the 10 years that I've been doing it. I have always loved kids, but working in childcare goes beyond that. It's about being passionate about wanting the best for all children, and about building relationships, supporting families, and being an active part of the community.
Yep that, plus, I personally have a real passion about giving children their best start in their journey of learning. I still believe primarily parents are the best people to do that full time, but in reality, that is not at all possible for alot of people. As a childcare director, I can ensure that those who choose my service, know that their children are receiving the best possible other than parent care and education they can get.:
The girls that come in for interviews and answer the question - why do you want to be in child care, and answer, cause I've always loved kids -(and that's their only reason) - they don't cut it for me. Cause yep, you definitely need a love for children initially, but you need so much more to make you last the distance in what can be a really challenging industry.
And if you dont have much more of an idea that that, placement will teach you. If you're not in the right mindframe you will want out by the time you finish your first placement. It's really tough if ir's not about more than children, IYKWIM.:
The reason I first started out working in and studying childcare was just because I had a general interest in wanting to work with children. After having been in the industry for 10 years now and am currently a Director for a council run service, I can say that you really need a genuine interest in wanting to work with children to do this and also patience.
This is not a job that you would do for the money and the people that do often burn out in the industry very quickly, it is more than just caring for children and changing nappies and playing with them, it is about educating children, extending thier skills and learning, teaching them to interact with others and use social skills, on a daily basis you are negotiating, counselling, comforting, educating, guiding, it's so much more than people realise.
Then there is the paperwork and mountains of it, keeping upo with changes in frameworks and curriculums, working out the best way to document, meet requirements etc.
All I can say there is a lot more to the job than people realise, but if you are genuinely interested and find you enjoy it all the hard work can be very rewarding to.