Many people who go to college in order to work with young children wonder about the types of jobs available with an early childhood education degree. After you graduate with your degree, you could find yourself doing any number of things. For instance, you could provide day care, become a preschool teacher or find a job as a nanny.
Day Care
Out of all the types of jobs available with an early childhood education degree, you may find that providing day care to children is your passion. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 20 percent of four-year-old children don’t need any type of day care arrangement. Around another 20 percent are cared for in private homes, and about 60 percent of all four-year-olds regularly attend center-based programs such as Head Start. If you find a job at a center or choose to start your own business from home, you’ll find yourself preparing and giving out meals and snacks, making sure that the children are clean and safe and playing with them so that they can have fun and learn necessary life skills. Paperwork also needs to be done on a normal basis so that both parents and the daycare can keep track of how each individual child is progressing.
Preschool Teacher
If you think teaching children basic concepts and preparing them for kindergarten sounds fun, you may want to think about becoming a preschool teacher. While many types of jobs available with an early childhood education degree only require an associate’s degree, you should strongly consider getting a bachelor’s degree for this career. Public schools usually require all teacher to have a four-year degree, and Head Start programs also prefer that their preschool teachers are well-educated. If you become a preschool teacher, you’ll get to teach children between the ages of three and five about subjects such as math, reading, social studies, science and life skills. Don’t forget, preschools often run on similar schedules as elementary and secondary schools that are nearby. This means that many preschool teachers can look forward to having summers off.
Nanny
Working as a preschool teacher or a daycare worker usually means being in charge of quite a few children at a time. If you prefer to have one-on-one time with the children you work with, you may find that out of all the types of jobs available with an early childhood education degree, becoming a nanny sounds like the best option for you. Depending on the family you work for, you could end up caring for four or five children, or you may only have to care for one child. If multiple children are in your care, there’s a very good chance that at least one of them will be older or younger than preschool-age. Some nannies work regular hours, but depending on the family’s needs, you could work early in the morning or late at night. If you get a job as a nanny, your family may even request that you live with them while you’re their employee.
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No matter which career you choose out of all of the types of jobs available with an early childhood education degree, you’ll have fun and make lots of memories with the children who are entrusted to you.