Child Caregiver Job Description, Skills and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a child caregiver. 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 caregiver.
Who is a Child Caregiver?
The child caregiver is a trained professional who looks after children and aids in their growth. The job of a child caregiver involves taking care of children’s emotional and physical needs, as well as helping with their education. Depending on the age and requirements of the children under their care, the job description could be completely different.
For instance, for infants and toddlers, the responsibilities include assisting with potty training and watching children constantly to ensure they’re safe and also teaching them basic skills such as how to use cutlery and how to play with other children. However, when it comes to older kids who have greater independence the child-caregiver may just concentrate on providing healthy meals and snacks, and assisting with their learning by helping with, reading and any other assignments they’re required to do.
Child Caregiving is a broad term, that encompasses a lot of job roles and settings. For instance, a child caregiver could be self-employed working for a private family or school or a family support center.
Child Caregiver roles can come in the form of a nanny job. The caregivers at childcare centers are employed in facilities that offer programs that can give you a headstart. They typically employ the team approach and collaborate with preschool teachers and assistant teachers to instruct children in a prescribed program. They create weekly and long-term plans of activities that stimulate and instruct the children under their care. They also keep track of children’s development.
Family childcare givers operate from their homes, looking after children during regular working hours. They must ensure that their facilities and the employees they hire meet requirements for family-owned childcare providers. They also create contracts that specify the amount of pay, the time when payments are expected, as well as the time the children are to be taken care of.
Child Caregiver Job Description
Below are the child caregiver job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a child caregiver job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
- Making sure that you have a consistent routine for children, which includes adequate time for meals and nap times. Helping children develop through activities that increase their knowledge of the world and aid them to develop new skills.
- Monitoring and recording the progress of children’s development and interests to provide specific assistance in the future.
- Identifying any developmental or behavioral issues that may arise and discussing the issues with parents to ensure that they find the child additional help
- Making healthy meals and snacks for children to encourage healthy eating habits, and also taking into account particular dietary requirements and possible allergens
- Ensuring children’s security throughout the day.
- Promoting high standards of hygiene by changing children’s dirty clothes, or ensuring that they wash their hands after using the bathroom.
- Helping toddlers change nappies and assisting in potty training
Qualifications
Here are some of the requirements you must meet to be a child caregiver:
Education
In regards to education, the majority of daycares require that employees possess a graduation certificate from a high school. The High School diploma or GED can prove to an employer that you’re proficient in a number of the subjects you may be required to teach if you accept the job at the daycare center. They can also confirm your age for prospective employers since most daycare centers require their employees to be 18 years old. This will be the age at which students are typically able to finish high school.
Experience
When you’ve completed any educational requirements, you should consider getting some knowledge in the field of childcare. While it’s not a mandatory necessity, employers usually prefer candidates with relevant prior experience. A caregiver job can require fundamental elements of child care, but also higher-level skills like instructing subjects or managing structured activities.
One method to get relevant experience is being an assistant to a teacher in an elementary school and learning the most effective methods for teaching children in a classroom. It is also possible to work with some of your clients to care for children by taking care of babies or being a nanny. This can help you spend longer hours engaging and supervising small children.
Certificates and licenses
Since child caregivers work closely with children, it’s essential to be licensed and certified to ensure that you’ve received the education you need to be successful in your area and to keep the children you interact with secure. The requirements for licensure and certification may differ based on the state you reside in, and it may be beneficial to study the requirements of your state before applying for certification or licensure.
Driver’s license
A lot of daycare centers require employees to possess valid driver’s licenses before deciding whether or not to employ them. This is because the employees of the daycare center may face situations that require them to go outside of the premises during their working hours.
Essential Skills
- Communication skills
A blend of written, non-verbal and verbal communication skills are crucial to your work as a caregiver for children. Planning and recording your lessons, activities, and other documentation rely on your ability to effectively communicate through writing. Communicating verbally is crucial to interact with staff members, children as well as parents. Your body language and other methods of non-verbal communication can be very beneficial when you need to connect and create connections with colleagues at work.
- Instruction and planning
Based on their workplace, child caregivers can also be responsible for planning and delivering classes to children that they supervise. For example, an in-home nanny for children in preschool may create educational programs and teach them about various topics like writing and reading. It is therefore essential to learn these abilities in your role as an educator for children particularly if you intend for a job in a school setting or another academic job.
- Decision-making skills
The ability to make informed decisions and evaluate the various factors that influence your decision is a crucial quality you can develop as a child caregiver. There are a variety of decisions they make every day which includes what curriculum to teach, the best way to prepare for learning differences, and a myriad of other types of decisions that determine how they handle their work. In addition, the ability to make smart choices and swiftly make decisions in the event of a crisis is something that child care professionals must be able to do.
- Analytical abilities
Making informed options, weighing the effects of curriculum choices, and monitoring the progress of children’s education are just a few examples of how child caregivers can apply their analytical abilities in the workplace. Your ability to analyze data is essential to your success.
- Empathy and compassion
Being around children at any age demands compassion, empathy, and patience. A lot of child caregivers work as the sole caregivers throughout the day, as mentors, guidance counselors, teachers, and mentors. The ability to connect and communicate with the children and families you interact with is contingent upon your capacity to discover an understanding of others’ thoughts as well as their feelings. Also, when children get injured or experience a difficult day, you’ll have to depend on your compassion and patience to provide the highest level of help and assistance you can to them.
- Organization Skills
Children caregivers must maintain a high degree of organization, particularly when they act as the sole caregiver or teacher. For example, a caregiver at a preschool is usually responsible for the recording and maintenance of the student’s files, inventory of supplies as well as other records and documents within the classroom. This demands attention to detail as well as an excellent set of organizational abilities.
- Leadership skills
Child caregivers oversee and supervise children in a variety of events throughout the week and may also have meetings with parents and other staff. The ability to delegate and manage the daily tasks that child caregivers are required to perform is dependent on leadership skills.
- Physical endurance
Children’s work requires physical endurance, regardless of the conditions. As a child care professional, when you are working with large groups of children, you are expected to be active all day. From watching a classroom to taking children under your care to the playground. Doing all this can be demanding, and that is the reason why physical endurance is crucial.
How to Become a Child Caregiver
- Get a High School Diploma
In general, it’s typically recommended that a child caregiver holds a high school diploma or GED, but an associate’s or bachelor’s degree may be beneficial, especially for those who want to operate the daycare of their choice. There are numerous early childhood education and development programs at both the bachelor’s and associate degree levels that will help you prepare for becoming a child caregiver.
- Learn about your state’s licensing requirements.
If you are planning to begin the process of starting your child caregiving in your home, it is essential to study the licensing requirements for your state. No matter where you reside, it is likely that you’ll need to get certified to be a licensed child caregiver, however, the procedure for getting a license may differ significantly from state to state. Additionally, the kind of license you have to obtain will be contingent on the number of children you’re planning on taking care of.
- Begin the Application Process
After you’ve researched the best method to get the child care permit within your particular state you’ll be able to begin the process of applying. Take time when filling out all forms and double-check to ensure that there are no mistakes, as you don’t want any minor mistakes to impede your application. When you’ve completed the process of applying, you’ll likely have to pay a fee as well as be a part of orientation.
The child caregiver, along with anyone else living at home must also undergo fingerprinting, background checks as well as Tuberculosis (TB) testing to ensure security and safety. Be sure to keep an inventory of the tasks you must complete before the licensing process to ensure that you don’t accidentally meet any deadlines. If you’re assigned a caseworker to approve your certification, it is advisable to communicate with them frequently to know where your application is and what time it will be as well as if there are any other steps you have to complete to ensure that everything is done promptly.
- Complete any necessary training
In the meantime, while you wait for your license approval, you can use the time to complete any required training to ensure you’re prepared to launch your company once you’ve got the license. In some states, for instance, they require that child care professionals undergo a CPR course and get certificates on these topics (and you’ll likely need to renew your certification every year). Although these classes aren’t mandatory in some states, you might be interested in enrolling in these courses because they are essential abilities that every child-caregiver needs to have. Many parents want to make sure that they leave their children with a caregiver that has the basics of CPR instruction to ensure the safety of their child.
- Make a Business Plan
When your application for a license has been accepted, you’ll be able to start building and growing your daycare business. One of the first steps you’ll need to complete to start your own business is to prepare an outline of your business. The creation of a business plan can be an essential aspect of growing any business since it provides an outline of your business that can give you direction when you attempt to establish yourself in the industry. Furthermore, having an effective business plan will force you to make crucial choices regarding how you intend to promote your business and how you intend to manage your business, and what you would like your company to look like going ahead.
Where Can You Work?
Child caregivers can be found in daycare facilities, schools, and childcare centers. They usually work during normal working hours, while their parents are working, however, they could also be required to work part-time shifts.
Child Caregiver Salary Scale
The median child caregiver’s salary in the USA is $28,272 annually which is $14.50 an hour. The entry-level position starts at $23,953 per year, while the most experienced caregivers earn as much as $36,137 per annum.