At Kiddie Academy® Educational Child Care, we value the important roles our teachers play in Early Childhood Education (ECE). They’re introducing far more than just the basics that will prepare young children for school. They’re also helping them learn critical social and emotional skills and establishing a partnership among the students, parents and teachers to promote successful learning and development.
Time spent working in Early Childhood Education can also be a powerful investment in yourself, whether you intend to make it your life’s calling or use it as a steppingstone to move into another profession. We recently had a chance to interview several of our Kiddie Academy corporate colleagues to hear how their time as an ECE teacher helped them rise the ranks to where they are today.
Skills Early Childhood Education teaches beyond the classroom
-“My work in child care taught me how to think on my feet, be flexible, handle stressful situations and have patience; all while having fun on the job!”– Carmen Draayer, Curriculum Project Manager
-“In my years of teaching in the Early Childhood field, I have had the opportunity to learn and grow in so many ways. My experience has led me to be more empathetic and to truly see life through the eyes of a child.” – Sharon Pindell, Training Project Manager
-“My time in ECE strengthened my interpersonal communication skills. In ECE, a teacher not only interacts with children, but other staff, parents, guardians and support staff from outside organizations. I learned the value of active listening, collaboration, and compromise.” – Rob Bieschke, Curriculum Project Manager
-“A few years ago, a parent of one of my students offered me this Swedish proverb: ‘In calm water, every ship has a good captain.’ My experience in ECE as a teacher, Assistant Director, Director and Regional Director taught me how to navigate the storm – a skill that has never been more valuable than it is for my work today.” – Deven Lilburn, Franchise Business Consultant
-“My past ECE experience helped me to see the value of quality Early Childhood Education firsthand and brought out a passion within me to help all children have access to safe, equitable and loving learning environments. That passion made me strive for bigger opportunities, so I could have an impact on the ECE field by mentoring and training teachers and helping them see a career path for themselves.” – Sandra Graham, Director of Training
-“My experience in the classroom taught me that you must be flexible and be able to take another’s perspective in order to cultivate successful relationships with others, whether it’s with students, parents or administrators.” Megan Lott, Franchise Business Consultant
Does having an ECE background improve your resume?
We also wanted to know what hiring managers in other fields think when they see ECE experience listed on the resumes of job seekers. Here’s what they told us:
–“Early childhood educators possess skills ranging from impressive agility to being master problem solvers. Successful teachers have the ability to thrive in unpredictable environments, bring teams together with varying backgrounds and skills while creating and nurturing collaborative working environments.” – Sharon Lytwynec, Senior Vice President of Operations
-“Child care is a good entry into any sort of service or customer-focused industry. What I like about people with child care experience is that they are focused on the needs of someone else and they are familiar with working with the most critical customer. There is nothing more important to a parent than their children. People who appreciate that are very adept at communicating with customers who have very high expectations.” – Chairman and CEO of a national behavioral health care company
“Child care experience shows that an applicant has a caring heart and patience. We also find that someone who performs well in child care can multitask while maintaining a calm exterior in the busiest of settings.” – Vice President of Sales and Marketing at a retirement-living community
-“I would absolutely hire someone with past child care experience to work on my team in the hospitality industry. That type of experience typically indicates that someone can manage chaos, can multitask, communicate well with a lot of different types of personalities and is energetic and ready to learn.” – Operations Manager for a luxury hotel
-“When I see early childhood education on a resume, I know the candidate should be versatile because they have had to teach various subjects at once, and an understanding of how to differentiate and break down material so the student can understand.” – Assistant Principal at a high school
Make sure you take a moment this Teacher Appreciation Week to thank a teacher who’s enriched the life of your family. Or maybe you’d like to be on the receiving end of all that appreciation by becoming a part of this noble profession. If you’re about to start a career, considering a change or looking to return to the working world, maybe a job as an early childhood educator is for you. If you’d like to find out more about a career as a Kiddie Academy teacher, contact your local Academy to set up a time to talk.
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