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Why Working with Children Is the Most Rewarding Job You Could Do

My Opinions as to How and Why Childcare Is One of the Most Rewarding Jobs I Have Ever Experienced

By Old SoulsPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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When I first told my tutor that I wanted to go into childcare, he told me that I was throwing my life away because I could achieve better. Luckily childcare proved him wrong. Since I was young I always wanted to work with children (apart from when I wanted to be a fairy). My heart has always been set on working with children, so hearing that I was throwing my life away by going into childcare was a very hard statement to hear. It made me more motivated to prove him wrong.

Childcare isn't just sitting down and playing with the children, it is giving you a chance to help shape young minds.

One of the most common key phrases I hear about childcare is that it is an easy job because all you do is play all day. I mean in some ways they are correct, I've played with lego more times as a practitioner than I ever did as a child. But childcare is in no way easy. The job isn't just looking after children and playing with them. The job is making sure that you have helped the child learn and grow. We made the choice to take 20 toddlers and help shape their mind and watch them grow into unique, talented and all around amazing children, and that is one of the most rewarding feelings you could ever have.

You don't just have an impact on the children, the children have an impact on you too.

As a practitioner you have a large impact on the child's growing and development. You help teach the children learn key skills for life. A child might come into nursery with serious separation anxiety and will find it hard to leave their parents. As a practitioner you take it upon yourself to help settle that child and make sure that they have a comfortable and fun experience. By the end of the day that same child might be leaving nursery with the biggest smile on their face.

That smile can impact you more than you could ever imagine. Whether it is just a simple smile or a cuddle, it can change your day from a miserable one to a brighter one. There is not a better feeling in the world than when a child runs over to you before they go home just to hug you and say "thank you for looking after me today!" The fact that you get to feel that again the next morning when the same child runs to you just to say hello. That rewarding feeling knowing that you may have only helped a little bit, but to that child you have helped them a huge amount.

There's a special feeling that you as a practitioner hold as you are both the child's friend and also their carer. The children both respect you and trust you and that is a once in a lifetime feeling that you could ever experience.

You have so much responsibility as a practitioner—not only are you supporting children with their key learning, but you are also having to look after up to 20 children who are not your own. The most rewarding feeling in the world is when a parent or a carer walks in and thanks you for all you have done. Whether it is helping their child out with potty training, or helping a child who might have additional needs. We don't just support the children either; we also help support the parent and carers. If a parent feels lost or doesn't know what to do they might come to you for help, and we will do everything we can do help the parents in that case. At the end of the day, it isn't just the children's trust that you need to earn, it is also the parent's trust.

In my opinion, childcare is a very rewarding job, like any other job. It's just a shame that us childcare practitioners do not get the same recognition for the jobs that we do. It's time to stop categorising childcare as a "waste of time" or a "drop-out job" and start seeing it for how it really is.

Going into childcare has been one of the best decisions of my life. It's challenging, hard work and some days I do find myself thinking why did I decide to choose this profession? But then I think back to all the children who have looked up to me with their smiles and who gave me the biggest and heart warming hugs before they go home, to all the parents who have taken me to one side to say "thank you for everything you have done." I think back to the big family I have made since working in childcare and I realise I wouldn't change it for the world. Childcare is hard but it is also such a rewarding job that it is worth all the hard days.

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About the Creator

Old Souls

OldSouls is a writer who likes to leave an impact on their readers. She writes about her life, her job and many other things which she thinks that her readers can relate to.

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