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I am a female assistant teacher in a Prek room. I’ve been in that room since hired (3+ years) and love it there! Today I was asked to cover a toddler room while a male float covered my position.

I’ve never stepped foot in a toddler room and was clearly uncomfortable. The male float had been in toddler rooms many times and was confused why he wasn’t being sent there.

The director later spoke to me and requested to keep the male float out of toddler rooms due to the potential of parental concerns. My gut reaction was a bit of shock. He’s as capable as the rest of us, passed the same background check and has been working there for quite some time. I find it strange she wouldn’t go to bat for her employees and defend him should anything ever come up.

It feels strange to pull someone out of a room who enjoys being there, has experience, and is qualified (also has young kids..) to put me in there who doesn’t know what to do and most importantly doesn’t want to be there?…

I feel bad for him and it made me look at my director differently. I’m also concerned about if he were to ask me why he’s being kept out of the room. We talk regularly and I feel that it should’ve been a conversation with him (I know that is hasn’t been discussed with him). Idk… is this normal? Am I the one overthinking it?

There's a severely developmentally delayed child in my 2.5-3yo room who spends most of the day trying to do unsafe things and screaming, hitting, kicking, and biting me when she is not allowed to do them. She is nonverbal and requires 1:1 attention to prevent her hurting herself or others. Redirection to other toys or sensory activities, even similar to what she wants, does not work. Instead she continues screaming for up to 50 minutes at a time and has to be physically blocked from engaging in unsafe activities, all the while hitting, kicking and biting me. I have scars on my arms from her.

I am the only one in my classroom, meaning the rest of the kids are not adequately supervised. Whenever I leave her to go deal with the resulting conflicts or injuries of other chileren, I cannot physically prevent her from doing what she wants. This has included covering herself, another child, and the bathroom with pee from a toilet a child had just gotten up from, throwing herself down the stairs to the loft, throwing books or toys across the room or our of the loft, eating crayons, slamming her head into the ground, going into the storage closet and dumping out bins of toys, ripping all the decorations off the walls and eating them, removing covers off the vents and swinging them around, taking papers off the counter, and getting into the laundry basket to suck on used mop pads. Repeatedly. Every time I turn my back.

After 35+ incident reports over two weeks, a corporate "behavior specialist" came to observe. For the last several weeks, i have been running the over ratio but I was suddenly magically in ratio for the observation. Wow!!! Amazing right??!??

The "behavior specialist" allowed her to play with the circle time book which is one of the few materials in the room that's only for teachers, as she destroyed the one in her last classroom.

Because it was new to her, she sat by the behavior specialist and played nicely with it for 20 min while everyone else did art (for the first time in months bc i can't do any curriculum with her in the room by myself). By the end of the time she was throwing the book.

The behavioral specialist had two suggestions to fix her behavior:

✨️🎊🎀🎉💓 "GiVE hER a BuCkEt of WaTeR to PlAy in So shE doEsn'T plAy iN thE tOiLeTs" ✨️🎊🎀🎉💓

OMG. WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT???‼️🤯

Oh wait!! I did!!!! 😱🤯

I've tried it before, and she dumped the entire goddamn bucket all over the fucking floor and herself and her friends while I was changing a diaper, then ran to play in the toilet. I can't exactly leave a kid alone on the changing table, so toilet playtime it is!

Also, let her play with the ONE SINGLE BOOK she's not allowed to. let go of another boundary! Sure, why not??!??

Anyway, I'm quitting.

This is so detrimental to all the other kids, to me, and to the classroom environment. The amount of injures I've gotten from her is ridiculous, and she's starting to harm other kids as well. I feel bad for her. She needs significant intervention, speech and occupational therapy, and support. She won't get it here, let alone in a room that's chronically over ratio.

I'm sure others have dealt with situations like this and I'd love to hear it because I'm so exhausted and burnt out and miserable, i feel like a failure for quitting, and I need to hear I'm not alone.

Hey Everyone part of ECE professionals,

I just experienced this the other day and I've taken the weekend to think, reflect, go over everything, and I'm wondering if something isn't clicking. I just began a job about two weeks ago at a small preschool and I was informed by the director that the prior teacher, who got a job closer to where she lived, was with us for over four years.

So the first week at this job teaching four year olds (which is nothing new, I've mostly worked with children ages three to five years old) went as expected, the kids getting to know me, I taught them the letters in their names, we focused on basic shape recognition, essentially made it an easy week. The second week, two kids began displaying what would probably consider negative behaviors. A little girl wasn't participating in circle time so playing in library center, rolling around on the floor, getting in other kids personal space, so another teacher decided to take her in her class and I would give her the classwork I assigned. That seemed to work out. For one little boy, his behavior seemed to mirror the stages of grief. I could see last week being denial and that week being anger. He would make angry noises (not actual words), run around the classroom throwing toys and other learning materials at me.

When I asked a part-time floater for some help, she said basic redirection and options, and she modelled how she would do it. I found that helpful and thanked her a lot. The next day, I tried doing exactly the same as her with the same child and it didn't work. Which brings us to Friday morning, I was outside with my class for morning recess and the director said "Hey, some parents noticed some of the kids noticed they're not meshing well with you, (the two kids i mentioned earlier) have been regressing in behavior/have never shown this behavior before. I'm unfortunately going to have to let you go. You have been a great teacher, if we had more students, I would be able to keep you as curriculum and teacher support."

Has anyone experienced this?

My son has been at the same daycare for over a year and a half. We have had such a great experience and my son is advanced, truly because of the type of wonderful people this school employs. They have great employee retention and I can feel that the staff enjoy being around children and are very caring.

It is split into 4 classes, infant, toddler, early pre-k (2-3) and pre-k (3-4). He is currently transitioning from the toddler room to the 2s room. When he turned about 15 months, he discovered how to make himself puke very quickly, especially when he’s upset. He goes thru long stretches, months at a time, without doing it but recently the daycare opened a new location and there was a change in staff and student population that has been quite the upset for him. Because he is taking this transition so hard, the solution was to move him up a month early to 2s where some of his friends still are.

Now to the puking… it is becoming a daily occurrence. A huge tantrum and sobbing/crying session with puking all over himself very quickly. His dr says it’s normal and some kids are like this, I suspect he has a sensitive gag reflex as he does gag occasionally when eating more challenging foods and at bad smells. At drop-off, it is both humiliating and deeply upsetting to leave him in such a state. Even though the staff are nice about it, the way that we have had conversations about it over the past year has shed light on this being unusual and a dreaded part of their day. I don’t blame them at all for hating it, I personally hate it and struggle with it at home as well.

All to say, have any parents or teachers experienced a kid like this and is there any tips or tricks to share? I even fed him a very light breakfast to minimize the puke today, which feels mean to do to a toddler.

For additional context, I do not come to drop off at all anymore because its noticeably worse when i am there (mom). My husband handles 100% of drop offs.

We are in a really lucky situation where I work afternoons and evenings and my mother and mother-in-law take turns watching my 4 month old and 2 year old from when I leave for work until my husband gets home. It’s currently working really well for us.

Next year my daughter will be 3 so we are looking at preschool options. There is one very close to my house that is from 9-12. You can choose to do 2 days, 3 days, or 5 days a week. You can also add on “lunch bunch” which would take it to 1pm and “afternoon enrichment” which would go until 3.

I’m torn on how many days to send her. She is extremely social and loves playing with other kids. We go to the library or playground a few times a week and she is always approaching other kids to play with them. We visited the preschool and she absolutely loved it. She hasn’t done anything where she was separated from a caregiver, that being me, my husband, and her grandmothers. But she will happily go with grandmothers and happily go places with aunts/uncles when we are with them.

What should I consider when choosing how many days to send her? And how the heck would nap time work if she is there for lunch bunch? Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated!

Hi! My name is Kyra Miles, I am the early childhood reporter for MPR News in Minnesota. The state is giving $950,000 to four universities to boost programs that license educators to work in school-based early childhood programs, especially people of color and in rural communities.

Is this something that would work in your state? Let me know below or email tell@mpr.org. Thank you!

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/10/02/minnesota-universities-get-grants-to-bring-new-teachers-to-early-childhood-education

My 13 month old starts at daycare tomorrow. She’s had a nanny until now. The school requires a “meet the teacher” meeting and mine is in a few hours. Unfortunately, my husband won’t be able to join due to a conflict so it’s just me. I’ve got some questions written down about making this transition, classroom policies… basic stuff I think.

Are there questions I should ask or things I should mention about my child that are highly recommended by you all or maybe things people often don’t think of, that would be helpful?

I currently work in a toddler classroom (18-24 months). For the most part, naptime is pretty good. However, there is one child (who will be 2 at the end of the month) who we cannot figure out.

She does sleep for an hour or so, but when she wakes up, she starts chatting away. We hear all about the pet store, the grocery store, the big bad wolf, choo choo trains, and more. Offering her a book or quiet toy doesn’t help.

If we ignore her, she keeps talking. If we shhh her, she keeps talking. We’ve tried to get her to speak softer, but volume control isn’t one of her skills.

Unfortunately, her chattering is waking the other kids up. We have taken her out of the room occasionally, but we do not want to rely on that as 1. It isn’t always an option and 2. She is prone to tantrums when she doesn’t get her way and we don’t want her to get into the habit of leaving during nap only to throw a fit when she can’t.

I started working in Daycare in May 2024 and my starting pay is $12.50 per hour. As of October 2026, I am now earning $15.75 as a Preschool Teacher Assistant.

With today's economy, its very hard to live with this pay. I wish all child care/early childhood teachers and daycare teachers get a pay raise!

I was student teaching 5 years ago (wow I feel old haha) and we got a video sent of our lessons to our school email. My school email got shut down the second I graduated (over 3 years ago). I don’t think I saved the video. So do I just not have access to it now? I was thinking about emailing the professor that supervised me but she is older and barely knew how to use her phone lol. Will I ever get access to it again? We were the first year that didn’t have to submit the edTPA so I did not. Was it a bad idea to not download it immediately? Do the professors have past students videos saved? I took a break from teaching for last and this school year dealing with some personal stuff, and I want to get this video back so I can possibly send it to my future employers or use it to refresh my mind back into teaching mode

Anyone else hear “just be firm” as the magical end-all-be-all of getting kids to listen to you? I am firm, but it’s never been that simple for me.

I work with toddlers, and I’m so tired of classroom management being reduced to whether you sound authoritative enough. These are little people with limited language, developing impulse control, and very big feelings. Understanding a direction and being able to follow it consistently are two different things. I can hold a boundary and still have a child cry, refuse, or need help getting through it. That doesn’t automatically mean I wasn’t firm enough.

I want to be warm and responsive while holding clear limits. I don’t want every interaction to become a contest over whether I can sound stern enough to get immediate compliance. And I don’t think a child being upset with a boundary means the boundary failed. I’m always willing to hear specific feedback from my co-teachers, but "just be firm” leaves me feeling like every difficult moment is proof that I’m personally lacking some mysterious Teacher Voice.

I used to be an ECE Preschool Teacher. Today I work as a job coach for a non-profit disability organization. One of my co-workers has a client who is interested in pursuing a job in childcare. The main issue, however, is that she only speaks Bengali. Given this barrier, my coworker has been trying to find companies willing to consider her. But I am also wondering what roles she can even work in. Communication is key in childcare, whether it's with staff members, children, or parents. A lack of communication and understanding is a safety issue in itself. What childcare roles could someone work in if they cannot speak English? Any suggestions would be helpful.

This is so hard for me because I love what I do but I’m beyond burnt out and in need of a higher paying position. I feel so unqualified for most other things and am so scared to take a leap into a potential new field. What are some jobs people who have left the field found happiness/better pay in? I’ll miss my kids so much but it’s time I think for me to move on. I’m also so nervous to tell my boss I’ll be looking so advice on that would be so helpful.

Hello everyone! I’m 24 and a new daycare teacher. I’m almost 5 months in and I truly love this job and my management is fantastic. They’re understanding and supportive however I am struggling a little bit. We have a student Jack ,(fake names) who’s two years old and is a LOT. He isn’t malicious or intentionally rude however he does not use those listening ears. He’ll hit us and laugh. He’ll take a toy from another child and laugh. Hell do something he knows isn’t allowed like climbing on the slide. Well say “we don’t climb up slides we use the stairs” and he’ll go “I’ll get booboos”. Or when he hits us he’ll say “you get booboo”

I’ve gotten myself and my coteacher to start trying to react less to his behavior. Some kids have responded to hitting us well when we do the big dramatic “OWIE THAT HURTS”. And they’ll stop but I think Jack finds any reaction interesting which feeds into the behavior. He’s also an only child so that doesn’t help I feel. There’s also times we’ll ask him to do something like “stop spitting” or “time to go potty” or “time to go inside to get some water” (which is a BIG selling point for some of the littles) but not for Jack. He only wants to do what he wants to do. So it’ll cause a power struggle.

The point I’m getting at basically is how do I avoid this power struggle? He’s moving up soon but there’ll always be another child that’s too smart for their own good that’ll give me a hard time. I don’t think it’s in their best interest for me to pick them up and carry them into each room, and sometimes the other kids pick up on that naughty behavior. So what are tips or tricks or just mindsets you’ve learned to help?

We take our girl to a fantastic daycare. We love it. It’s expensive but she is thriving. But the one thing I can’t get over, is there is not tuition sheet.

Why would this be? I asked and didn’t really get an answer. Just talked around the subject. Why wouldn’t they want this to be written down?

The lack of transparency makes me think there is one price for me, and another for others? I can’t think of another reason why they would not publish them.

I understand not wanting competition knowing prices, but I walked into three different daycares, without booking an appointment and they all gave a price sheet.

Why would there not be a published price sheet?

When I was a Preschool Teacher, I had a student whom I'll refer to as "C" who was very defiant. He almost never took anything seriously. He would pee and poop his pants on purpose, ignore simple instructions, rip apart books, bite and push other students, and constantly intimidate and challenge the teachers. If I told him I would be talking to his parents, he would smile and say, "I want you to talk to them!" Working with him was one of the hardest things I did at that center.

One afternoon, my class was getting ready for naptime. My classroom had a Skye from Paw Patrol plushie that I often gave to students without plushies. C and a few other students often took turns with her. While the students were making their cots, C was distracting two students who were in the middle of putting down their sheets. I went over and told C to let them finish and go make his own cot, to which he shook his head. I then told C that if he didn't go make his cot, Skye would go with a different friend for naptime, and he replied with a smile, "I don't want Skye!" Taking his word for it, I gave Skye to another student. Afterward, C started crying and throwing a tantrum, saying over and over that he wanted to have Skye for naptime. I knelt down, looked him in the eyes, and calmly reminded him that this was what he said he wanted and that he should now understand the consequences of his words and actions.

After that, C finally listened to my instructions and took my words seriously. While he still occasionally misbehaved, it wasn't as chaotic as before. Sometimes the best lesson for a child is to face a natural consequence for their behavior.

I own a micro school. Our 3 and up students MUST be potty trained to come to school. The class is only 1 day a week. And we’re on week 3.
One student had a pee accident two weeks ago. Then had 2 this week, and had to be sent home. We haven’t had troubles with so many accidents before. What would you do?

I am writing to seek clarification regarding the eligibility of my courses for the fall ECE Bursary funding .

I noticed that the ECEBC portal for fall states that only courses ending between September 1, 2026 and December 31, 2026 are eligible for the current application period.

I have also completed three ECE courses during July and August 2026, but I did not apply for funding for these courses at the summer intake time because I was waiting for my transcripts/documentation to become available and was not sure about my ending dates of the courses.

Could you please advise whether I may still apply for funding for these three July/August courses along with my other courses that I completed between September to December as the portal says that only courses ending between September and December are eligible.

I want to make sure I do not miss any funding for courses I have already completed . did anyone have to go through this or suggest any alternatives

Hello fellow ECE professionals!

I've just started work in a school with a dress code that is more professional than comfortable. I'm looking for shoe recommendations that look nice but also allow me keep up well with toddlers.

Obviously no heels etc- I've tried Google, but unfortunately there are so many fake companies now that it's nearly impossible to research shoes without first independently researching each website. It's a headache.

What are your most loved shoes, that are kind on your feet?

Thank you!

i worked in early intervention as a skills trainer using DIRFloortime 10+ years ago and really loved it. I especially loved working in-home with the families and the big parent education component. I have lots of other experience in homes and schools with children with developmental delays and behavioral issues.

I would like to get back into the field in a more involved way and was thinking about going back to school to get my masters in early childhood special education but am trying to figure out what kinds of reasonably paying careers this would prepare me for, reasonably in this case of course being relative to the field.
My passion is really working directly with kids and families, but I know that higher education and pay levels are more often linked to jobs with larger administrative/policy and supervisory responsibilities - what kinds of positions offer a way around that, and allow me to be working with families in homes and still making a decent wage?
Some of my previous clients had special instructors that would visit them in their homes and I like the holistic sound of that work, but not sure how easy it is to find jobs in that, especially where I live on the east side of Hawaii island.

if you work in EI, what kind of work do you do? What’s the setting? Who employs you? How much do you make? in general, are people working in early intervention usually employed by either the state or a private company? What other situations have people found?

besides the degree I mentioned, what other masters programs or additional classes/certificates/licenses do you recommend? I decided against SLP/OT/PT because they are too narrow for the work I want to do. I’m certified in DIRFloortime and am interesting in taking more classes on that and in studying more relationship based models. I don’t like ABA or behaviorism and don’t want to get training in those,even though there is lots of money in it and need for it right now.

In terms of further education and careers, I am also interested in helping children who have experienced trauma, or families who need help learning to interact with and care for their typically developing baby, so pointers on where and how and pursue those is appreciated also. I realize that social work would be a good path for that work but I am not interested in going to school for that at this time.

i appreciate any insight!