Men in Daycare

By Andrea Belanger www.askanece.com

How many of you work with a man in the child care field or have a male
child care provider at your child’s centre? How do you feel about men in
the child care field?

I took my Early Childhood Education Diploma both through Seneca College
and Loyalist College. Out of all the courses I took to get my diploma, I
had only one male in any of my classes. This student was fantastic. He
had a real love for children, a willingness to learn, his projects were
fantastic and creative. He would have been great addition to any daycare
centre.

He did however have one problem…there was not one child care centre in
our area that would allow him to do his field placement in their
establishment. Without field placements he could not graduate. He was
very discouraged, as you could imagine. He had taken the course after
his nephews were born. This student had discovered he had a talent with
young children and he really enjoyed spending time with them. I ended up
leaving the school before I found out if he was ever allowed to graduate
and I always hoped our paths would cross again somewhere in our field.

Today, as a supervisor, I would hire him in an instant based on his
talent and passion for the job, however I also have to think of the
parent’s in my centre. How would they react to a male diapering and
toilet training their children? Sadly, there is a stigma attached to men
in child care. I have had the pleasure of working with only two men in
the child care field over the span of six years, and both were in
school-age programs where there is no diapering or toileting involved.

Perhaps this is why these men were more widely accepted. Although I must
admit, there was more then one odd glance or derogatory comment made by
parents about his choice of profession.

From these two experiences, I have come to realize the benefits of male
staff in a child care centre:

* They work twice as hard to prove they are capable of handling the job.
* They have a natural ability with the older boys who are usually
embarrassed to be attending daycare in the first place.
* They provide different styles of teaching, behaviour modification
and life experiences which only improves the program.
* A well rounded childcare team is more representative of real life
situations.
* They provide a strong male role model for the children in the centre.
* Men in the child care field help break the stereotype that child
care as women’s work.

Men make great parents, why not great child care workers too?

What a sad story:

http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/article/128141

Cleaning out some old magazines, I came across a great set of daycare articles in Today’s Parent that I think is a must-read for parents and providers alike.

• Daycare decisions: Finding the right child care arrangement can be overwhelming. Here’s help sorting through your options. Full story here.
• Child Care. What Canadian Parents Need Now: Listen up, politicians, as Today’s Parent readers tell it like it is. Full story here.
• Report Card: How the provinces — and the country — spend on child care. Full story here.
• Four Ideas That Could Change Child Care: Surprise — it may happen sooner than you think. Full story here.

Don’t forget there are great resources and links on Durham Region Daycare for parents and providers.

Anie, one of the women from my weekly Durham Mom’s Night Out group, is due with her first baby right about now, and is already thinking about daycare for her daughter — and rightly so.

She is only able to take four months off from work.

So that means she needs care for an almost-newborn baby, and really soon. Here are the questions her and her husband are debating:

• Do they start looking for care now, or wait until it’s closer to the time they need it?
• The pros and cons of home, centre and nanny care for such a young baby
• Will a newborn be more expensive to car for? If so, how much?

Any advice for her?

I’ve sent her the links from the resource page for parents on the site, which includes great links on questions to ask potential childcare providers, and how to decide what is right for your family.

Personally, I think she should start looking ASAP, as finding care for a baby so young may prove to be difficult when a year or older is far more common. I’d think a nanny would be the best bet, at least for the first few months until the baby is older. Which raises the question of a live-in or live-out person.

Anie’s going to be checking in her for your tips and suggestions, so please leave a comment below for her.

Thanks for sharing your expertise!

Oh, the excruciating process of interviewing childcare providers. In our search for home, or “family”, care for Lucy, I interviewed more than a dozen providers either in person or on the phone.

(I’ve been writing about Lucy and our family’s wonderful (and sometimes wacky and sad) childcare searches and experiences — with Daycare Debbie, Julia and Shelby — for years. Read it here.)

Although absolutely necessary when looking for the special person (or centre) to be, almost, your surrogate, it doesn’t make it any less stressful.

Just like interviewing for a job, one of the most helpful tips I read about before beginning the search was to be prepared and know exactly the questions to ask a potential provider.

There’s a wealth of information for parents online, often broken down by type of childcare, too. Here are our favourites:

• About Kids Health (from the Hospital for Sick Children): Questions to ask for infant/toddler care, preschool care, and school-age before-/after-school care
• Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services: Childcare choices and questions
• CBC news in-depth on daycare: Questions parents should ask
• BC Health Guide on choosing childcare: Questions, plus how to decide between a home and centre
• The search is on: A lengthy but worthwhile read from the Brantford Expositor

Any favourite sites or resources to share? Leave ‘em below!