Are you a working parent looking for some personal benefits? Here’s why you should consider a career in family day care
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Finding the perfect balance between work and caring for your children can be demanding for any family.
But if you’re searching for a way to continue to work, enjoy both professional and personal benefits, and spend time with your child, you might consider a career in Family Day Care.
Providing high-quality and flexible early education that’s run in an educator’s own home—with plenty of professional development opportunities and support available—it ticks all the boxes if you’re searching to strike the perfect balance in your work and home life.
With very flexible working hours, and the opportunity to receive the same high levels of education and training as other early learning educators, it’s the perfect role for those caring for children of their own.
For Communities at Work Educator Maria, it’s something she has always loved about her time working in Family Day Care.
“I’ve been doing Family Day Care for 30 years and I’m still loving it,” says Maria.
“Family Day Care is so rewarding because you meet other families, take care of their children and build a solid foundation for those children to succeed in life. I know what it’s like as a mother to look for someone that you can trust with your children.”
For Maria, becoming a Family Day Care educator was an easy choice. Inspired after using Communities at Work Family Day Care for her own children, it was the flexibility and fun of the day-to-day that has kept her in the role for more than three decades.
“When I had my second child I said, ‘I think I can do this. I think this job is for me’. At the same time, I can be with my children and earn extra income.’ It worked really well for me,” she says.
“The most rewarding thing has been doing Family Day Care for 30 years and raising three kids of my own. I think that’s something that I can be proud of.
“I also love the relationships I develop with the children – sometimes right through to their adulthood. They remember their time with me. It’s very special – for both of us,” Maria says emotionally.
Maria finds her role so rewarding that she’s remained a family day care educator for over 30 years.
Educators care for a maximum of seven children at a time—no more than four under-school-aged children and no more than three school-aged children. This makes working in Communities at Work Family Day Care different from other early learning models.
By tailoring play-based learning to the children’s developmental needs and interests, in this career path you can walk away knowing that you’d genuinely supported another family on their child’s learning journey.
Need an example?
“We love cooking!” says Maria. “In cooking, the children learn to share, take turns with different utensils and identify basic measurements. It’s really good for them to experience that.”
And that’s just the beginning. Attending playgroups, helping in the community garden, water play, and feeding the ducks in the park are just some of the other play-based learning activities Maria does with the children she cares for.
According to Communities at Work Family Day Care Educational Leader Chamalee Prathiraja, it’s this work-life balance that is one of the main benefits of working as a Family Day Care educator.
“Because the working hours are flexible, that means their work-life balance is on track—leaving extra time and energy for them to do the things that they love apart from work,” she says.
“It’s very much a nurturing environment, with so many opportunities for them.”
“Educators have access to a range of professional development opportunities and our team tailors that support based on their individual needs. We create a personal development calendar, which provides the opportunity to extend the educator’s professional knowledge,” says Chamalee.
“We also regularly visit educators at their homes and keep in touch by phone or email. They know we’ve got their back. They’re never alone.”
Educational Leader Chamalee (left) and her team visit family day care educators regularly to provide support and guidance.
With their award-winning coordination team with you step-by-step—no matter if you’re just starting out or already have a long career under your belt like Maria—you’ll be valued and supported by the whole Communities at Work team, says Maria.
And it’s not just the coordination team—the team of 62 other family day care educators are there for you too.
“If new educators arrive, the older educators are there to help,” explains Maria. We network, we do playgroups, and we help each other. I’ve mentored many new educators and they’re still here and loving it. For me, it feels like I’ve done something good.”
The Communities at Work Family Day Care service is a proud multi-award winner in the National Excellence in FDC Awards—a testament to the quality of its coordination team and educators.
