It’s that time of year again. The regular school year is just about over. Some teachers will be leaving soon and you are enrolling for the summer session. Are you overwhelmed with the thought of hiring new staff to cover the summer enrollment? I have a few tips to share with you starting with creating your job description.

It is important to define the job to attract the type of person you want working in your center. Why not start with this model that I found in Competency Based Hiring and Selection of Child Care Teachers by Freda Bernotavicz?

Define the Job

JOB DUTIES – What do you want this person to do? Here are some ideas that come from Truity.com childcare workers job duties to include the following:

• Supervise and monitor the safety of children in their care
• Prepare meals and organize mealtimes and snacks for children
• Help children keep good hygiene
• Change the diapers of infants and toddlers
• Organize activities so that children can learn about the world and explore interests
• Develop schedules and routines to ensure that children have enough physical activity, rest, and playtime
• Watch for signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring the problems to the attention of parents
• Keep records of children’s progress, routines, and interest

Childcare workers care for children when parents and other family members are unavailable. They care for children’s basic needs, such as bathing and feeding.

Is this your definition or would you want more from your prospective employee? Try to form a clear mental image of what the teacher you want to hire is doing and list all the duties so prospective employees will know exactly what you are looking for.

The average pay in Texas is $9.95 an hour according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That takes all reported child care worker salaries and averages them across the state. Each region varies in their average. Here are the averages across the State of Texas.

Region	Per Hour	Annually
Amarillo	9.56	19,890
West Texas	9.37	19,480
Lubbock	9.27	19,290
Wichita Falls	8.50	17,680
Dallas	10.74	22,330
North Texas	8.70	18,100
Ft. Worth	9.28	19,300
Midland	11.51	23,940
El Paso	9.15	19,020
Border Area	10.08	20,970
Coastal Region	9.40	19,560
San Antonio	10.43	21,700
College Station	9.40	19,560
Waco	8.95	18,650
Corpus Christi	9.47	19,690
Laredo	8.85	18,410
Houston	9.75	20,280

 Annual Mean Wage of Child Care Workers (2016)

 Analyzing the Organization

Next analyze your organization. What is your organization’s philosophy, organizational structure and climate, and staffing mix? What do you want from the new teacher? What skills or assets do you need him or her to bring to the team? This is a good time to evaluate your current staff and see what is missing or what you need to improve the team? Do you need someone with a lot of energy to motivate others or do you need someone that simply follows the lead and does what she or he is told? Your staff is a reflection of your program philosophy and goals. The members’ quality and performance are critical to the success of your center.

Requirements

Now that you have thought about your organization’s needs, determine what skills, abilities and competencies you want your new teacher to possess and describe this person. Do you want them to possess a Bachelor’s Degree or is a High School Diploma sufficient? Do you want them to have experience or are you willing to provide them on-the-job training to get the experience? Do you require them to have completed their Pre-Service Training or do you provide it after hiring?

So here we go with an example.  To do this job, you must be able to do the following:

• Supervise and monitor the safety of children in your care
• Prepare meals and organize mealtimes and snacks for children
• Help children keep good hygiene
• Change diapers of infants and toddlers
• Organize activities so that children can learn about the world and explore interests
• Develop schedules and routines to ensure that children have enough physical activity, rest, and playtime
• Watch for signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring the problems to the attention of parents
• Keep records of children’s progress, routines, and interest

In this center, we believe our job is to foster independent, confident, academically prepared, and socially responsible citizens, who will be lifelong learners and problem solvers.  (Mission statement of Amarillo Montessori Academy) This position requires you to be energetic, helpful, kind, and understanding.  You must be empathetic with young children and parents. You must also be a problem solver and able to quickly adjust to changing situations and willing to help a fellow teacher.

If this sounds like a job for you, contact me at job@live.com.

I hope you found this blog to be helpful in your search for new employees.  When you are ready, we are here to help you train your staff. We provide the State Mandated Pre-Service Training to meet the State Minimum Standards. Click here to purchase the entire 24 Hour Pre-Service Training today at the Blog Special rate of $90 or visit us at www.stephanielearning/course for other options including the Eight Hour Pre-Service Training required before a teacher can be counted in the student-teacher ratio. If you have any questions or just want to visit, call me at 806-410-0947 or email at stephwilk@live.com. At stephaniElearning, we inspire you to be the best teacher, childcare provider, and parent you can be. We provide you the tools, resources and training to do it.

 

 

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