I'm thinking about changing careers and I'm very interested in working as a daycare provider or a teacher for toddlers in a facility. I did not go to college. What courses do I need to take and where? Thanks so much.
Okay, preschool teacher is out of the question.
In NYS, it's only a two year associate's degree in early childhood education to be a nursery school teacher, not sure about Florida. There is no required higher education for a teacher's aide here. Fair warning, the pay is very low either way. Good Luck!
Look at places like Bright Horizons. They have many locations all over the US. Many people start working there out of high school. They even work in 'preschool' rooms. I will say, pay is terrible at most daycares/preschools.
In illinois to be a preschool teacher you need a 2 yr degree plus 6 hours of early childhood education training. don't thing you need anything accept to be 18 to be an aide in the classroom. Daycare provider's don't need any training except to be licensed by the state.
A great place to start would be checking in at local facilities and looking at your state's licensing website. Each state requires certain number of continuing education for early childhood educators annually regardless of certifications and degrees. Some certifications that are desired are CDA certificate, college hours in early childhood development and classes in early childhood education.
I agree that Bright Horizons is a great place to start as they have a number of in-house trainings and are very supportive of their teachers and have a great internal promotion track from what I have seen as a mom who took her kids there for four years. I believe your eyes are wide open to pay scales and that you are choosing to do this because you love and want to educate children.
Best of luck!
