Early Childcare Assistant

Potential Work Environments to Explore After Early Childcare Assistant College

December 20, 2021

Few jobs are more rewarding than those that allow you to support, inspire, and nurture young minds. As an early childcare assistant (ECA), you will have the opportunity to work closely with young children, laying a solid foundation for their education and growth, and essentially helping to shape who they will become.

With the right training, you’ll gain the knowledge and skills needed to thrive on this career path. Your courses will provide insights into better understanding children and their needs–as well the mental, physical, and emotional developmental stages that they go through in their early years.

Once you become an ECA, you’ll be responsible for observing infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children, and supporting their growth and development. You’ll also be able to do this from within a number of different work environments. Here, we discuss potential environments you can explore upon graduation.

Work Within a Childcare Centre After Early Childcare Assistant College

A childcare centre offers part-time and full-time childcare services to working parents of children aged between a few months old and pre-school or kindergarten age. If you choose to work in this setting after earning your early childcare assistant diploma, you’ll be responsible for caring for young children from early in the morning well into the afternoon.

ECAs assist in the organization and implementation of activities in childcare centres

As an ECA at a childcare centre, you’ll have many responsibilities throughout your workday. On a typical day, you’ll greet the children when they arrive, feed them at snack times and lunchtime, supervise their nap period, and help them participate in learning activities, crafts, and playtime in between. Such duties require extensive training since you’ll need to have the knowledge and skills to prepare educational activities, help children to eat, dress, and use the toilet, as well as record observations about their progress and challenges for your supervisors to share with their parents.

Find Work in a Family or Child Literacy Centre

A family or child literacy centre is a designated place or space that’s specifically designed to offer children support in reading comprehension, writing development, language learning, and social skills. This area is meant to provide children with opportunities to read, write, and collaborate with others all while developing and enriching their literacy skills. Such centres could be integrated into existing classrooms and libraries, and are typically organized and executed by educators and professionals holding an early childcare assistant diploma.

If you decide to work in a child literacy centre, some of your daily responsibilities will include assisting the educator in:

  • Planning and delivering programs and lesson plans
  • Leading lessons for classes or small groups
  • Coordinating literacy and learning activities
  • Observing and recording childrens’ progress and information
  • Tracking attendance
  • Communicating with parents and/or caregivers

This type of environment is the right fit for someone who is passionate about literacy and understands the importance of building this knowledge from a young age. Here, you will provide young students with the opportunity to build skills, collaborate with others, and develop routines, all at a level and pace that is manageable for them.

Early childcare assistant college provides the skills needed to help children develop literacy skills

Secure an ECA Position at a School After Earning Your Diploma

Another environment you might choose to work in once you’ve completed your program is a school, working with children up until the age of 12. Within a school setting, an ECA works under the guidance of the teacher. Their main responsibility is to assist and lead children in educational activities that support and promote their physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development.

You might lead activities such as reading stories, teaching and singing songs, preparing arts and crafts projects, and more. As an ECA, you could also be called upon to observe children for signs of potential learning or behavioural challenges, and document such observations for teachers and parents. You might organize activities for before and after school programs, prepare snacks, clean and arrange classrooms, and more.

Finally, one of the most important roles of any professional working with young children is to create and maintain an environment that promotes the safety, health, security, and well-being of children.

Are you ready to enroll at an early childcare assistant college in Ontario?

Contact Medix College to learn how you can get started!

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