Child Care Specialist Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a child care specialist. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a child care specialist.
Who is a Child Care Specialist?
A Child Care Specialist monitors and cares for children. Child care specialists can supervise a child or a group of children. They provide help to teachers in a preschool setting and are supposed to look after the mental and physical well-being of the children.
Child care specialists usually work in day-care centers, Montessori, kindergarten, early childhood development programs, sometimes primary schools, and private homes of employees. Whenever they work in big schools, they assist teachers in supervising and teaching children, but in small schools, they assume both the role of a teacher and a child care specialist. In school, they are responsible for leading a class, dishing out instructions, or conducting group activities. When working in a school, they mostly take care of little children between the age of one and five. Then while out of school, they work with slightly older children, ranging between six to ten years or a bit more. These professionals keep an eye on them and ensure that they are in a safe and supportive environment.
Child care specialists organize several activities and educational experiences to aid cognitive upbringing in children. Some of their employers are busy people whose works and engagements take up most of their time, so they have to assist with children’s homework and help them develop excellent behaviors. They also engage these kids in various sorts of play, from storytelling to constructing blocks, puzzle games, history, and other educative learning. In addition to teaching them educative stuff and activities, they help them learn hygiene and basic ethics like personal hygiene rules. They also teach them to respect their elders, treat their friends and people they come across nicely, and avoid social vices. If the kids are so little and can not do certain things for themselves, you might have to bathe, feed, and dress them when.
It is hard to be a childcare specialist because you are dealing with little children and will need patience. Some children are very stubborn, so be compassionate and teach them gently. You may also discuss a ward’s progress with their parents or guardians as you strive to prepare children for future social interactions with targeted activities such as art projects and field trips. For many working parents, quality childcare is a valuable and necessary alternative that allows them to continue their professional ambitions. Child care specialists are to understand early childhood education and recognize potential emotional distress or developmental issues in children, to provide parents with the peace of mind to meet their child’s needs even when absent throughout the day.
Child Care Specialist Job Description
Below are the child care specialist job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a child care specialist job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
- Create a safe, loving, and engaging setting for children.
- Monitor the children during leisure and when they are having their meals.
- Provide primary childcare services to little children such as nappy change, bath assistance, feeding, and getting clothed correctly.
- Teach and motivate youngsters to practice good character and grooming habits.
- Support children emotionally and physically in situations where they are hurt.
- Notify parents or guardians in the event of an emergency.
- Take children to and from school, assist with schoolwork, and prepare meals and snacks.
- Adjust schedules to ensure they align with the parents to avoid schedule clashes.
- Encourage indoor and outdoor activities for children to develop them cognitively.
- Offer nonverbal comfort and support to the children.
- Motivate them to have mind and body positivity.
- Discuss with teachers, parents, and guardians to resolve the child’s behavioral or academic problems.
- Develop individual educational plans (IEPs) to promote educative, physical, or social development.
- Draft and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
- Employ educational strategies or techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, or memory.
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
Qualifications
- Possess a high school certificate or its equivalent.
- Pass background checks and scrutiny.
- Early childhood education certification or its equivalent; is optional, however advantageous.
- Have experience working with little children.
- Knowledge of First aid applications will give you an edge.
Essential Skills
- Decision-making skills: A child care specialist should know how to make quick decisions because taking care of children is tasking, and various circumstances may arise. In such situations, a childcare specialist must make quick decisions to resolve whatever problem it is. Childcare specialists’ decision-making abilities are also critical in guaranteeing the safety of the children; they must make decisions in such a way that they benefit all parties involved. Every child is unique, so what is suitable for one child might not be for another; child care specialists’ decisions impact children.
- Patience: A child care specialist must be patient as dealing with children can be difficult, but patience is the key to success. Children learn in different phases and paces, so one needs to exude extreme patience to handle them in certain circumstances. Kids throw tantrums, repeatedly do things you tell them not to do, and display other forms of stubbornness, so correcting them with love and patience might help. As a child care specialist, be slow to anger; so you do not lose your cool towards a child. You will also help children adjust to new situations.
- Communication: Child care specialists must be great at communicating as they need to communicate frequently with both the children and their parents. They need to learn how to interact as they need to instruct the wards on what they should do and should not do; the instructions must be clear and concise so that the children can understand them. It is one thing to explain things, while it is another for the audience to listen to, and that is why you should not just talk but communicate. As a child care specialist, your listening skills should also be on point so that when these kids complain about something, you can pay attention to the problem and take appropriate action. In this career, verbal and written communication is necessary, so your writing must be clear and concise. Your body language will also aid in positive interactions with the kids. You can use stories and examples to communicate with the kids.
- Observant: Children sometimes do not communicate verbally but give certain expressions via their hands, faces, or body language, so you should observe whichever kid you take care to know when they are trying to send a message. Little kids can hold their bellies when hungry, while some can go to a corner and mope when something is bothering them. Even when bullies harass kids in school, sometimes they do not say anything when they get home out of fear that has been instilled in them by their bullies. An observant carer will likely notice unusual withdrawal behavior of the child or little body harm that the child might be trying to hide. Carers who know how these kids carry themselves or react to things would likely figure out when something is wrong, then take necessary steps or actions to handle the situation and report to the school authority or relevant authorities.
- Monitoring: A child care specialist’s primary goal is to look after kids, so they need to monitor children’s movements and actions. To safeguard the children’s growth, they will need to assess information and pay attention to details. Just like they can be observant, they should monitor the kids while with them so they do not put themselves in trouble or make rash decisions because kids can be unpredictable. Some children do not easily communicate with others or participate in activities like them, so monitoring them would make you discover that and think of solutions to the child’s antisocial attitude. Monitoring these youngsters will aid in resolving the numerous issues they may encounter while transitioning to a new setting so they can check if there is progress in the child’s development.
- Enthusiasm: A child care specialist must be enthusiastic so that pupils can actively participate in various activities. A child care specialist’s excitement and pleasant attitude will be a tremendous source of encouragement to children because they will engage in activities. Kids love when their carers initiate enjoyable activities and sometimes participate with them in these activities. A child care specialist must have a lot of physical stamina because children have so much energy and can play for a long time, so you need it to keep up with them; from participating in outdoor and indoor activities to following them to keeping track with them and more. Your enthusiasm and energy as a carer will enable you to flow better with them and come up with fresh ideas to engage them.
- Counseling and confidant: Parents of the kids might hardly be around, so sometimes these kids speak up or talk to whichever adults they have around them. Kids are vulnerable, so it is good when people around them can act as a confidant to them and not be quick to scold them whenever they speak up. As a child care specialist, you should be able to counsel children when they are not doing things the right way or when they need advice on issues. Sometimes, these kids are not on good terms with their ever-busy parents, who are mostly physically unavailable or recently had a quarrel over issues, so you can serve as a middleman to mend the relationship. Siblings also fight each other for various reasons, so you can also serve as a mediator and ensure they do not carry grudges but be at peace with themselves.
- Talent development: As someone who spends time with kids, you can help them discover their hidden talents by initiating different activities such as singing, dancing, spelling bee, playing games suitable for their age, writing, reading, craft-making, and more. When these activities are done from time to time, you might start discovering talents you did not know they had. You might see an upcoming music star, a future spelling bee champion, etc. Once you discover what they are good at and passionate about, help them practice more and join extracurricular activities where they often do these things. If you work in private homes, you can talk to their parents about it so they can find organizations to register, interact with other kids of similar interests and develop these skills or passions.
- Organizational: Child care specialists should be excellent organizers because it is not just about kids doing different things but you being able to organize their calendar and time better. Being a great organizer will make you prevent them from engaging in plays that will make them forget their homework. You will be able to draw plans on how kids can be productive at school or at home. How they can do their assignments, have a siesta, play or do other engagements at the right time.
How to Become a Child Care Specialist
To start this job or enjoy it, you firstly need to love being with kids. Not liking kids’ company or having the patience will make you unable to cope as a child care specialist. Child care specialists can work in different settings such as schools and private homes. Prerequisites for being one determines by your employer and workplace. Here is a great way to become a child care specialist:
Graduate from high school and ensure to get your certificate.
Go to a tertiary institution and get a degree. The course you should study is not compulsory, however, a degree in early childhood education is a plus and might be a requirement for some employers.
Ensure you have a good track record so you can pass the background. Schools will not want to employ people with terrible histories to care for kids. Parents will also not want to leave their kids with people they do not know from anywhere, so they investigate and do a background check on those who will be their child’s potential child care specialists. Background checks cut across mental health tests, past criminal activities, social vices, and more; the results will determine if these parents are ready to risk leaving their kids with their carers or not.
Where to work as a Child Care Specialist
- Day-care Center
- Preschool
- Montessori
- Employers homes
- Religious places
Child Care Specialist Salary Scale
In the United States, a child care specialist can earn an average of $29,370 annually. The salary range may fall between $19,850-$32,500 or a bit more. Certain factors such as location, qualification, availability of carers, and more determine the amount your employers will pay you.