Infant/Toddler Teachers Need to be Valued More As Teachers

                    
[Image Description: There is an image of a colorful infant classroom taken from the front left corner of the room with light yellow and light green walls with bulletin boards and handprint and dinosaur decals and decorations hanging from the ceiling. There are 10 light tan cribs with bars on both sides and clear glass on the front and back of each set up on the left, middle, and right walls in back of the classrooom. The floor in the back of the classroom is a dark gray carpet with the cribs, a beige rocking chair, low and high level shelves bolted into the floor filled with toys, a colorful soft mat with a blue obstacle course on it, and an exersaucer. The floor in the front of the classroom has a light gray tile floor with a white and light blue diaper changing table, 2 gray highchairs with gray tables attached to them and a gray highchair with a red table attached to it, a small round blue table with 2 big red chairs on both sides of the table in front of the high chairs, another beige rocking chair, and an enclosed play area with climbing and crawling equipment. "Infant/Toddler Teachers Need to be Valued More as Teachers" is in center-aligned bold black text in a white text box center-aligned at the top of the image. My First Former Buddy Club President logo is in the bottom left corner of the image with "FIRST FORMER BUDDY CLUB PRESIDENT" in center-aligned italicized black text overlapping an enlarged light blue heart with several small red hearts and a light blue background in the background of the enlarged heart. The image of the infant classroom, text box, and my logo are overlapping a light pink Procreate cloudy background.]





CONTENT WARNING: Keep in mind that the purpose of this blog post is not to diminish nor express bias against teachers of older ages and grades at all. The purpose of this blog post is just to advocate for the concern about how infant/toddler teachers seem to be one of the types of teachers that lack value the most. I am also writing about this disparity as a whole. To all of the true teachers out there: Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for all that you do. You are amazing, making a difference, and keep being you. All teachers matter and deserve appreciation.



    The infant/toddler stage is where Early Childhood Education (ECE) starts. Learning and development starts from birth and the first five years of life are the most important years of learning and development. We infant/toddler teachers teach children their first language and the beginning of their developmental skills. We are many children's first teachers; however, infant/toddler teachers are not valued enough as teachers. All teachers are not valued enough, especially who teach in childcare centers and Special Education, but preschool and school age teachers seem to be valued more than infant/toddler teachers. There is a lack of recognition that we are teachers and contrary to popular belief, baby rooms do not consist of "all of the babies just playing all day." Here are some common concerns about the lack of value that infant/toddler teachers (including myself who is a former infant/toddler teacher and former childcare center floater) have as teachers:


1. Lack of recognition that we are teachers too
    The education field is discussed by many current and former teachers, administrators, service providers, education program professors, education advocates/activists, and other educational professionals along with at many teacher conferences and on social media, in books, etc.; however, in many of these discussions, every grade and age group are usually mentioned except for infants and toddlers.

    While this disparity has always existed, it became worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will speak freely that it was very bizarre that public school teachers had the opportunity to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before childcare center teachers. We childcare center teachers were labeled as "childcare center workers" instead of teachers and public, parochial, and private school teachers were labeled as "teachers." There is not a difference between childcare center workers and teachers. Childcare center, public, parochial, and private school teachers are all teachers. I will speak freely further that actually childcare center teachers should have been allowed to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine first before public, parochial, and private school teachers. We were back in person longer than public, parochial, and private school teachers. We were already exposed to germs prior to the pandemic since young children tend to be cute little germ buckets anyway; however, young children were a high-risk group for catching COVID-19 in the height of the pandemic and they still are a high risk group and when we childcare center teachers were teaching in person during the red and yellow phases, we were exposed more with all of the germs that we had to deal with. Infant/toddler teachers have been at risk for so many sicknesses long before the pandemic for this matter despite the requirement of repetitively disinfecting the diaper changing tables, all of the highchairs, tables, shelves, and toys, wearing gloves for every diaper change and feeding, and washing and wiping our and the babies' hands. We also deal with way more germs than school district teachers. Unfortunately, even 4 years after the pandemic, this label has seemed to stay and become more common instead of including infant/toddler teachers in the job occupation name, teachers. All because we teach different age groups does not mean that infant/toddler teachers are not teachers and the fact that they are underappreciated does not matter. Infant/toddler teachers ARE "real teachers."

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2. Why is teaching infants and toddlers not required to be taught about as part of ECE degree programs' curriculums at colleges and universities?
    All of the ECE major curriculum at many colleges and universities is about preschool through elementary school. While I completely understand the reason for there being courses about certain specific age groups that ECE majors are required to take, none of or barely any of them cover information about infants and toddlers. Only one of the courses that I was required to take for my Associate's Degree covered all ECE age groups because it was about assessing young children's developmental skills; however, it is not recognized in most other college and university courses' content for ECE majors at all. When ECE majors need to do lesson plan assignments for their classes, they are not allowed to do them for infants and toddlers, barely any fieldwork observations in infant/toddler classrooms are allowed and doing practicum labs/Field Experience internships and student teaching in infant/toddler classrooms is not allowed as part of many colleges and universities' curriculums. I honestly do not understand why this is not allowed because infant/toddler teachers are required to create lesson plans, use classroom management and collaboration, conduct assessments, and need education and experience in order to know how to teach these age groups. It is not "easy." In addition, infants and toddlers can learn about the same academic subjects as older age groups even though they are on a different developmental level. The topics, curriculum, teaching strategies, and classroom management techniques are just modified to accommodate those age groups. Infant/toddler teachers need to go to school to become qualified just like any other teachers to work this job by law. Infant/toddler teachers are required to have at least one or more of the following qualifications:
  • Child Development Associate (CDA) certification, which certifies teachers in the United States of America to teach and take care of all infants, toddlers, and preschoolers
  • Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, and/or Doctoral Degrees in Early Childhood Education
  • Their state's certification test in Early Childhood Education [e.g. Pennsylvania Educator Certification Test (PECT)]
    However, the title of that major does not recognize infant/toddler education for some reason. This major at not all but many colleges and universities is called "Early Childhood Education PreK-4"; while Pre-K is ECE, ECE actually starts at birth, which is infants, instead of PreK. So, this major should be called "Early Childhood Education B-4." The ironic part about degrees and state certification tests in Early Childhood Education PreK-4 in Pennsylvania is that they qualify infant/toddler teachers despite not all but many college/university programs' curriculums not teaching the skills needed to teach infant/toddler education and not all but many people who are and are not education professionals saying that "infant/toddler teachers are not real teachers"🤔 The PECT ECE PreK-4 exam also includes some questions about infants and toddlers despite this disparity🧐 The definition of preschool is also often not recognized correctly when discussed, which is explained next in #2.


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3. Correct definition of preschool
Preschool is wonderful and very important for early learning and development; however, preschool and elementary school are recognized for the majority when it comes to talking about ECE. People will either say preschool or PreK (stands for Pre-Kindergarten) and barely mention anything about infants and toddlers except for when giving the definition of ECE or not acknowledge that these age groups are part of ECE at all. When preschool is talked about, many people will only refer to three to five year olds when ECE does not start there; infant and toddler classrooms are preschool too. "Pre" means "before"; so, therefore, Pre-Kindergarten means before Kindergarten and infant/toddler education and preschool are before Kindergarten. Like I said, however, only preschool for three to five year olds is recognized when this terminology is discussed. To reiterate, infant/toddler classrooms are the start of ECE.


4. Getting told "That's all your students do is play all day. Babies cannot learn anything."
    This is way too common of a misconception about infant/toddler classrooms and far from the truth at all. Infant/toddler teachers actually do teach their students. No one is supposed to just play all day in infant/toddler classrooms. Play is not all that this job entails. Teaching infants and toddlers is much more than that and the play is educational. Babies are so smart and sometimes the smart stuff that they do is so funny😂 In fact, studies have shown that early access to high-quality infant/toddler education programs can have long-term positive results in individuals' learning and development. According to Diane Horm, the founding director of the Early Childhood Education Institute at the University of Oklahoma at Tulsa and a George Kaiser Family Foundation Endowed Chair of Early Childhood Education, "When children start young, they can reap the benefits of a high-quality program at a time when brains are growing at a rapid pace. An infant's brain doubles in size before age 1. During this time and the toddler years that follow, interactions between young children and their caregivers have a profound impact on the brain's development and wiring. 'The infant-toddler period is increasingly recognized as a unique developmental stage that really does set the path for all that follows" (Mader 2023). Enrolling children in infant/toddler education programs can contribute to preventing the "stubborn achievement gap that has plagued America's education system for generations" (Mader 2023). To elaborate, the researchers who conducted this 2015 study discovered that children who entered high-quality infant/toddler programs and stayed in ECE programs longer "had better outcomes on language and social-emotional skill outcomes" and "prevent the early decline in language scores often associated with poverty" (Mader 2023).

    Infant/toddler teachers are required to teach lessons to their students in the subject areas of literacy, art, music, math, science, Social Studies, and even developmental skills, such as language, social-emotional, fine motor, gross motor, oral motor, and sensory skills. Infants and toddlers can even learn some independence.

    Typically, the types of independence that infants can learn include:
  • Holding their head up
  • Pulling oneself up
  • Crawling
  • Rolling
  • Sitting
  • Standing
  • Walking (FYI some babies do not start walking until eighteen months old, which is developmentally typical - just fact sharing about child development)
  • Self-feeding prepared finger food and bottles
  • Self-soothing
  • Independently falling asleep (Independently falling asleep should always only be encouraged instead of forced since some infants may need assistance with falling asleep.)
  • Independently playing by choosing which toys that they want to play with by grabbing and exploring how to play with them
    "Tummy time" is essential for infants to lay on their bellies to learn how to hold their head up, pull themselves up, crawl, and roll before learning how to sit, stand, and walk. These very important self-help and gross motor skills also help to prevent smothering. Usually, infants master holding their heads up, pulling themselves up, crawling, rolling over, and sitting by six months old or earlier before learning standing or walking (Some babies also stand and walk as early as six months old! It is important to keep in mind that all children's developmental milestones are mastered at different times though). Typically, "tummy time" starts at about three to four months old for about five minutes every day. Eventually, the number of minutes for "tummy time" is supposed to increase the more that infants do it to give them more exposure to building these gross motor skills.

    Typically, the types of independence that toddlers can learn include:
  • Walking (if not mastered yet in infant years)
  • Walking up steps, through hallways, and into a school
  • Climbing
  • More advanced self-feeding (when provided with developmentally appropriate solid foods, such as finger food, spoon-fed food, or fork-fed spoon, and drinking out of a sippy cup on their own; some toddlers can even drink out of an open-faced cup if filled to a level that they can handle)
  • Self-soothing
  • Independently falling asleep (Just like for infants, independently falling asleep should always only be encouraged instead of forced since some toddlers may need assistance with falling asleep.)
  • Independently playing by choosing which toys that they want to play with and exploring how to play with them
  • Turning pages in books
  • Hand washing
    Typically, toddlers can also learn basic and small decision-making with visuals and talking to them at eye level starting at twelve months and up. Usually, this looks like showing toddlers no more two things at eye level and name them to ask them which one that they want. This is usually followed by the toddler grabbing or pointing at what they want. For example, if you are giving toys to choose to play with to a toddler, show them two toys at eye level and say something like, "Ball or book?". Encouraging students of all ages and differences to make choices in activities gives them the opportunity to get what they want sometimes while also learning that they cannot always get their way. Incorporating encouraging students to make choices can even boost their self-esteem because it gives them the opportunity to contribute something and values their interests.

    Infant/toddler teachers also change diapers and teaching potty training usually starts at two years old. All infants, young toddlers (12-24 months old), and two years old who are still learning potty training need their diapers changed, someone to prepare and serve them their meals, and nurture and play with them. Infants also need someone to prepare and feed them their bottles and some infants need to be held when their teachers' hands are free. It is impossible for one teacher to change diapers and hold babies to happen at the same time. Holding multiple babies at the same time also cannot always happen all at once since one teacher can only hold so many babies at a time when multiple babies want to be held. We only have two hands (and some teachers only have one hand if they have a limb difference) and can only do so much at a time. So, babies need to wait their turns in all of these scenarios, which is another essential independence skill when it comes to problem-solving. Besides parents/guardians, infant/toddler teachers also contribute to the language development of infants and toddlers. It is common for teaching Sign Language to be part of many infant/toddler curriculums to encourage verbal (e.g. "mama", "dada" for infants; "mama/mommy", "dada/daddy", "more", etc. for toddlers) and nonverbal communication (e.g. signing more, milk, or all done). The language development of infants and toddlers also contributes to building their independence skills. Sign Language is also a developmentally appropriate way to teach about disabilities and inclusion in classrooms for students of all ages and abilities.

    The importance of anyone learning independence is to gain self-help and self-care skills in order to survive. The lessons are just created in ways that these age groups will understand according to their developmental levels.


5. When nonteachers say that "All teachers get the summers off and long holiday breaks."
    I also want to debunk the fallacy that that "All teachers get the summers off and long holiday breaks." Infant/toddler and some preschool teachers teach in childcare centers, which are open all year round with a limited amount of request offs allowed. Some Kindergarten teachers teach in childcare centers as well and not all, but many childcare centers have before and after care and summer camp programs for school age children. I noticed that many childcare centers are open from 6:00am-6:30pm or a similar time range to accommodate families who need to work early shifts or have long commutes to their jobs. Now that's a day. For many childcare center teachers, children may be with them for 8-10 hours a day! There are many childcare center teachers who love their jobs and teaching and taking care of the children; however, their days are very long and not just all fun and games. Childcare center teachers have the same responsibilities as grade school teachers (Teaching and supervising a potentially big class of children, planning lessons according to state standards and requirements, classroom management, prepping and cleaning up after everything and sometimes all of this is on their own) along with additional responsibilities. There are also not all but many families and unqualified coworkers and higher-ups who have no idea what it takes to do the job of being a teacher in a childcare center. We ARE NOT "babysitters." To reiterate, WE ARE "real teachers."


6. Low salary as compared to school district teachers and being told "Have fun making no money."
    As many people know, all teachers make a low salary; however, infant/toddler teachers tend to be underpaid much less than grade school teachers even when they have the same level of education. According to ZipRecruiter, Pennsylvania public grade school teachers make $6,383.00 per year ($20.00 per hour, $792.00 per week, $3,435.00 per month, & $41,222) more or higher than infant/toddler teachers ($17.00 per hour, $669.00 per week, & $2,903.00 per month, & $34,839 per year) on average even though our teaching is equally important.

    Did I also mention how much unqualified teachers are hired to teach in childcare centers despite this being illegal and that not all but many childcare center administrators and these unqualified teachers insist that this law does not exist despite the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Code saying that at least one of the following qualifications or credentials are required?:
  • "Child Development Associate (CDA) certification or Certified Childcare Professional (CCP) certification equivalent to 9 credit hours from an accredited college or university in early childhood education or child development" (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 2024)
  • College degree in Early Childhood Education "accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council on Postsecondary Education and acceptable to the Department of Education" (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Code 2024)
  • "Pennsylvania school-age credential equivalent to 9 credit hours from an accredited college or university in elementary education or child development" (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Code 2024)
    In childcare centers, many unqualified teachers will also snub the qualified teachers as if their qualifications do not matter after all the hard work that they put in to get those certification(s) and/or degree(s). It is not "just a piece of paper" or "hoopla." So, please put an end to that insult. According to a study conducted by Slate.com, "the educational and experience requirements for people directing early childcare vary wildly by state" (Bornfreund & Lieberman 2017). In not all but many states, including Pennsylvania, ALL childcare center teachers, assistant directors, and directors, ARE required to have at least a college degree in ECE and/or CDA certification. Professional development continuing education unit (CEU) trainings are also required on a daily basis. 


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6. Rarely represented in programs, organizations, and social media content for teachers
    Do not get me wrong. I have complete respect for teachers of all age groups, but there is a lack of inclusion of all teachers. Why is it that when the age groups that teachers teach are discussed that educators and noneducators seem to mention only PreK and up and teachers for only specific subject areas? Also why is it that not all but most organization, special programs, and social media content for teachers only show support for PreK-12 without including infant/toddler education according to their information about them? And why do they not recognize PreK correctly?


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Why Infant/Toddler Teachers Should Be Valued:
    I know that I already said this many times, but I am saying it again: Infant/toddler teachers are one of children's first teachers because children start out as babies. So, not to sound conceited at all, but because of that we deserve more respect for what we do. Infant/toddler teachers teach babies a lot of developmental skills and developmentally appropriate topics for academic subjects. It is not just playing all day. Infant/toddler teachers actually do write and teach lesson plans just like any other teachers do. Besides play, we do arts and crafts, sing songs, sensory play (e.g. popping bubbles), go outside (stroller rides for infants and playground for toddlers), and build their developmental skills.


                                
[Image Description: There are four pink pig footprints on rectangular lighter pink papers stapled on light orange bulletin board paper with rainbow bulletin borders. On each paper, "went to the market" is written in black marker with a black line above it pointing to the big toe print, "stayed at home" is written in black marker with a black line above it pointing to the index toe print, "had roast beef" is written in black marker with a black line above it pointing to the middle toe print, "had none" is written in black marker with a black line above it pointing to the fourth toe print, and "went wee wee wee wee all the way home" is written in black marker with a black line above it pointing to the pinky toe print. "this little piggy" is written in pink marker in cursive writing at the top of each paper. There are pig faces drawn on each toe print made with pig and black markers. These footprint crafts represent the This Little Piggy nursery rhyme. The names of the infants who these crafts were made by are blurred to protect their identities.]



    Since infants have limited developmental skills, the arts and crafts lessons that they do are mostly handprint and footprint crafts for sensory experiences. Integration of building other skills and exposure to other subject areas can be incorporated into these lessons as well though. When the lesson theme of the week was nursery rhymes in my infant classroom, I made footprint pigs with my infant students to go with the nursery rhyme called This Little Piggy. My infant students' love for when I would play This Little Piggy with their toes inspired this lesson idea of mine because incorporating students' interests into lessons is part of my teaching philosophy. I drew the pig faces and wrote the nursery rhyme in pink and black markers and fancy writing after the footprints were dry.

    In this lesson, the infants learned the following:
  • Art Education (making the footprints and I showed the infants their footprints after stamping their painted feet on the paper)
  • Sensory skills (the feeling of the paint on their feet, getting their feet wiped, and my fingers gently wiggling their toes along with hearing the nursery rhyme)
  • Social skills (Making crafts with infants is always a one-on-one activity while supervising all of the infants at the same time. This up-close one-on-one time can build teacher-to-student relationships.)
  • Language development (hearing the music and what I am saying during our social interactions)

                          
[Image Description: There is a footprint boat on rectangular white paper laying on a brown table. The footprint is brown with a red and blue sail and blue wavy lines drawn around it. "S.S." followed by an infant's blurred name is written in purple marker below the footprint.]



    Another footprint craft that I made with my infant students was footprint boats while listening to the nursery rhyme song called Row, Row, Row Your Boat, when our lesson theme of the week was transportation. While the infants were waiting their turns, they were encouraged to play with different types of transportation toys. In this lesson, the infants learned:
  • Art Education (making footprints and I showed the infants their footprints after stamping their painted feet on the paper)
  • Listening to Row, Row, Row Your Boat taught Music Education and sensory skills from hearing the lyrics and instrumental. The feeling of the paint on their feet and getting their feet wiped also taught sensory skills.
  • Social Studies (learning about different types of transportation)
  • Social skills (Making crafts with infants is always a one-on-one activity while supervising all of the infants at the same time. This up-close one-on-one time can build teacher-to-student relationships.)


    As for toddlers, their arts and crafts lessons are process art. Process art can be gluing things together to make collages, painting, finger painting, paper plate crafts, and even coloring. Letting children choose which colors that they want to use (this usually depends on the craft) is also part of process art. It is important to keep all arts and crafts projects with toddlers and up as process art so that the artwork shows purpose and other people can actually tell that the toddlers put effort into their creations. When I was a toddler teacher, I taught eighteen to twenty-four month olds in my first two years of teaching and then twelve to twenty-four month olds in my third year of teaching. My co-teacher and I did all of our arts and crafts lessons in small groups.


       
[Image Description: There are eight paper plate bus crafts laid out in three rows on a gray table in my former toddler classroom. The paper plate bus crafts are created as half of a paper plate painted yellow with two of each paper cut-out black circles, triangles, and squares glued on each plate in a scattered order.]



    In the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year when I was in my third year of being a toddler teacher, our first classroom theme was Magic School Bus. So, I let my toddler students make paper plate school bus crafts. To prepare this lesson activity, I cut paper plates in half to make them look like a semi-circle (represents vehicle). Then, I made two paper cut-out black circles (represents wheels) and two paper cut-out triangles and squares (represents windows) per child and took out the yellow paint, glue, and a pen ahead of time. To make this craft, the toddlers painted their paper plates yellow and glued the paper cut-out wheels and windows on the plate. We also listened to the song called Wheels on the Bus as they made this craft and painted together in small groups. Since at the time that this lesson was taught was during the yellow phase of the COVID-19 school year, toddler and preschool classrooms were prohibited from using smocks due to these age groups being a high-risk group. So, my co-teacher and I rolled up our toddler students' sleeves and continued to supervise them closely to prevent them from getting paint on their clothes. When the children were finished making their craft, I used the pen to write their names on the front of their school bus crafts.

    In this lesson, the children learned the following:
  • Art Education
  • Fine motor skills (how to hold and use a paint brush and paint)
  • Math Education (The windows were different shapes and shapes are math.)
  • Listening to Wheels on the Bus taught Music Education and sensory skills from hearing the lyrics and instrumental.
  • This activity being a small group activity can build social skills.
    Depending on the craft that I assigned my toddler students to make, I would let the children paint with a color of their choice and even let them choose to paint with a regular brush or sponge brush. To let the toddlers choose these things, I let them see the paints and brushes as visuals and we named the colors together.

                          
[Image Description: There are three green handprint monster crafts and six orange handprint monster crafts scattered in a circle taped and displayed on the exterior side of a clear classroom window with a purple frame in a hallway. Each handprint monster craft has two to five paper cut eyes glued on it. "TODDLER B'S LITTLE MONSTERS" is displayed in center-aligned paper cut-out dark blue letters above the handprint monster crafts. The interior of the classroom blurred in the background of the window.]



    In the month of October 2019, I let my toddler students make handprint monsters in honor of the Halloween season. I let my students choose to make their handprints either orange or green. To let them choose, I showed them these two paint colors as visuals and said, "Orange or green?". After they chose a color, I painted their hand the color of their choice and provided hand-over-hand assistance as stamped it on the paper on the paper together. After making their handprint, I wiped it off with a baby wipe (FYI my co-teacher and I ordered a separate pack of wipes just for handprint and footprint crafts on our monthly supply list instead of using the children's personal wipes). Then, I let the students glue as many paper cut-out eyes as they wanted onto their handprint to complete their monsters.

    In this lesson, my students learned the following:
  • Art Education (This is a handprint craft.)
  • Fine motor skills (the acts of stamping their hands on paper and gluing on paper cut-out eyes)
  • Sensory skills (the feeling of paint on their hand)
  • Math Education (counting the eyes)
  • Language development (counting the eyes and naming the colors)
  • Color identification (associating the name of the color with its visual)
  • Independence (choosing which color paint to use)
  • Social skills (Each student working on waiting their turns to participate in making one of these crafts.)

             
[Image Description: There are three post office truck crafts and four ambulance truck crafts mixed up and hanging from separate clothespins attached to hemp string hanging from the ceiling in my former toddler classroom.]



    In fall 2019 when I was a toddler teacher, one of our lesson themes of the week was community helpers. So, I let my toddler students make post office trucks and ambulance trucks as crafts. To prepare this lesson activity, I made enough paper cut-outs of each truck's vehicle parts (truck, wheels, windows, lights, sirens, and symbols/logo) for each toddler and took out the glue and a pen ahead of time. I made prepared enough materials for each toddler and samples of each truck craft. I let the children choose which truck that they wanted to make by showing them the samples as visuals and saying, "Mail truck or ambulance truck?". After they chose which truck that they wanted to make, I put the glue on the back of each vehicle part and instructed them to glue it on the paper cut-out truck. Each individual toddler and I named the vehicle parts and the name of the truck that they crafted as they created it. When each toddler finished making their craft, I used the pen to write their names or initials on the front of their truck crafts. While waiting for their turns, I let the toddlers play with toy vehicles.

    In this lesson, the children learned the following:
  • Art Education
  • Fine motor skills
  • Independence (Decision making by choosing which vehicle to make and being able to glue the parts together all by themselves.)
  • Language (Naming the parts of the vehicle and types of vehicles)
  • Social skills (Each child worked on waiting their turns to participate in making one of these crafts.)

         
[Image Description: There are two rows of five paper cut-out white uppercase L's laid out on a gray table in my former toddler classroom with several yellow fingerprints scattered on them.]



    When our letter of the week was L, it was also around the winter holidays. So, let my toddler students make fingerprint lights since the word, "lights," starts with letter L and lights are festive around that time of year. To prepare this lesson activity, I made enough paper cut-out uppercase L's for each toddler and took out the yellow paint, glue, and a pen ahead of time. To make the craft, the toddlers dipped one of their fingers in in the yellow paint following making as many fingerprints as they wanted to and wherever they wanted to put them on their paper cut-out letter L.

    In this lesson, the toddlers learned the following:
  • Art Education (fingerprinting with paint)
  • Fine motor skills (the act of dipping their fingers in paint and stamping their painted fingertips on the paper to make the fingerprints)
  • Sensory skills (the feeling of paint on their fingers)
  • Language development (The toddlers and I named the letter, its sound, and words that start with L together.)
  • Math Education (The toddlers and I counted their fingerprints together as they made them.)
  • Social Studies (Learning about different holidays teaches diversity and inclusion and lights are festive during the winter holidays.)
  • Social skills (Each student working on waiting their turns to participate in making one of these crafts.)
    At the time that I taught this lesson, our youngest students who were under eighteen months old were learning how to build the fine motor skill of making fingerprints for the first time. So, my co-teacher and I provided these individual toddlers with hand-over-hand assistance while still letting them choose how to make it. For the children who had already mastered this fine motor skill, we let them independently make their fingerprints with close supervision.

    In addition, I specifically picked yellow paint to keep the holiday lights neutrally inclusive to all cultures. In the future, however, I would let the children choose between two color paints to make their fingerprint lights. This is because any colors of holiday lights are inclusive of all cultures and choosing which colors to paint with can build young children's independence skills.

           
[Image Description: A light yellow rectangular board book that has "Ten Little FINGERS and Ten Little TOES" in center-aligned black text on the top left side of the book cover. On the right side of the title, there is a smiling Asian baby sitting on a wooden swing that is hanging from rope. The baby has black hair and is wearing a dark blue jacket with two white buttons on it and a gray scarf with bare feet and their hands spread out. In the bottom left corner of the book cover, "MEM FOX" is in black text and "Illustrated by HELEN OXENBURY" is in right-aligned black text in the bottom right corner of the book cover.]


    Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury was one of the top favorite children's books of my former toddler students. Every year when I would go on vacation while I was teaching in childcare, I would buy a children's book from OCNJ's Asbury Avenue bookstore for my students as a gift. I thought that Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes would be a cute book to share with my infant students as well. My former infant and toddler students loved to see pictures of other babies, other babies in-person, and anything about babies. My infant and toddler students learned the following from this book:
  • Language development (Infants and young toddlers may not be able to identify written words nor be able to maintain the attention span to listen to every little word in books; however, hearing brief descriptions about the pictures can build language development and looking at the pictures can encourage young toddlers to build their language development. When young toddlers look at a picture, they might name it (e.g. "baby", "happy", "silly", "clap", "hug", "peekaboo", etc.)
  • Social Studies (While infants and young toddlers may not have the awareness of different races, exposure to visuals of babies of all differences can be a beneficial Social Studies for early childhood youth of all ages. I love that Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes features babies from many diverse races, physical appearances, cultures, and parts of the world.
In addition, one of my favorite lessons that my infant/toddler students participated in every day was circle time! Believe it or not, infants can also participate in circle time! Infant circle time activities (minimum of 3 minutes) in my classroom included:
  • Listening to the Circle Time Song by The Kiboomers played on our classroom's Alexa Echo and other songs [Music Education, sensory skills, social skills (integrated inclusion and building teacher-to-student and student-to-student relationships)]
  • Working on clapping (fine motor skills)
  • Learning Sign Language [language development, social skills (nonverbal communication), Social Studies (exposure to learning a diverse language)]
Toddler circle time activities (minimum of 5 minutes) in my classroom included:
  • Singing Look Who Came to School Today as a greeting song and other songs 
  • [Music Education, sensory skills, social skills (integrated inclusion and building teacher-to-student and student-to-student relationships)]
  • Clapping along to Look Who Came to School Today (fine motor skills)
  • Learning Sign Language [language development, social skills (nonverbal communication), Social Studies (exposure to learning a diverse language)]
  • Reading books (language development)
    Besides teaching academics, we teach the skills that students need in order to attend grade school and learn the skills that school teachers teach them, such as how to hold things to later learn how to hold a crayon and pronounce words. Infant/toddler teachers teach babies in the development delay and disability communities who receive Early Intervention (EI) and Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) because students legally can't have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) until they are three years old. Some of us childcare center teachers even had to deal with the heartbreak of watching our students in the disability community who were really improving before the COVID-19 pandemic struggle more than they ever did before. This was due to losing almost all of their developmental skills from regression when COVID-19 caused childcare centers to go into lockdown and in-person EI services were paused. Infant/toddler teachers deal with some other teachers and administrators who will not follow IFSPs, childcare laws, and education laws even though they legally need to. In addition, unfortunately, we have students and families who have experienced trauma (along with us who have potentially experienced trauma and/or are currently going through it behind closed doors). Both school teachers and infant/toddler teachers are required to report child abuse and neglect. Most infant/toddler teachers are required to work late shifts for aftercare as part of their job responsibilities and/or because they need the money in order to survive. Infant/toddler teachers struggle with a lack of resources and short staffing due to a lack of government funding.


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    I also reached out to a mix of nine Pennsylvanian current or former infant/toddler teachers and former floaters) whose names will remain anonymous to protect their identities for commentary. I asked them what they love or loved about teaching in infant/toddler classrooms and what their concerns about this job are that they felt comfortable sharing. Five out of these nine teachers responded, and this is what they said:

1) "I loved my time working with toddlers and infants! I began my teaching journey with a job working as a floater in a childcare center and finished it as a toddler teacher. Eventually, I found I was working more and more hours, on and off the clock, with less and less appreciation or even acknowledgement. I left when I began experiencing health problems due to stress. It was a hard but necessary choice. Even though I ended up having to move on, I look back on my time as a teacher fondly and I treasure the lessons I learned and relationships I made during my career. I love that you are bringing awareness to the experiences of early childhood teachers, and I am honored to be a part of it. It is an issue that definitely needs to be talked about more. If I had a dollar for every time that someone said that I'm 'just playing with babies all day' I'd be rich! Lol It is crazy how many people say, 'Babies learn nothing!' Babies are little sponges. Of course they learn! 😂 Some people just do not get it!" - Former Floater/Toddler Teacher to 1-2 year olds in Philadelphia, PA

2) "I love the relationships and bonds with the children, watching them grow, and the milestones that they reach within time; however, we should be appreciated more and paid more." - Former Floater in Southampton, PA and Current Infant Teacher in Hatboro, PA

3) "The infants and toddlers were so cute, fun to take care of, and connect with; however, I received a lack of training when I first started working in childcare as a floater and had to figure out a lot on my own. I was and still am so thankful for when a coworker started training me and had my back as soon as I got placed in her young toddler classroom. Infant/toddler teachers and floaters also seem to experience a lack of teamwork and support from administration more than preschool and school age classroom teachers. I resigned in 2021 because I had had it with how much serious things were constantly brushed under the rug by the administrators and I told administration that I needed a change. I found a much better teaching job in a school district." - Former Floater in Southampton, PA

4) "In my own opinion, it is true that infant/toddler teachers often face disparities and may not receive the same recognition as grade school teachers, despite their crucial role in early childhood development. This disparity can stem from various factors, including differences in educational requirements, pay scales, and societal perceptions of early childhood education versus primary or secondary education. Recognizing the importance of all teachers, regardless of the age group that they teach is crucial for fostering a supportive educational environment at all stages of development. A main reason that they do not have the same recognition would that 'it's just a baby' or 'just a toddler.' "These children do not know how to do anything on their own, to learn' as someone would say, but we are their first teachers along with their parents/guardians we see them most of the day. Implementing our instruction from day one from sign language to singing, talking, etc. is the first thing a child learns, and they are like a sponge and if we were not the start to their life what may be?" - Former Floater/Infant/Twos Teacher in Southampton, PA

5) "I loved being in the infant/toddler classrooms because I helped play a crucial role in laying down foundational skills in language development, social skills, and motor skills, which are essential for their future development. I found that toddlers are at a stage where they are rapidly learning and discovering the world around them. So, I was happy to help facilitate their curiosity and eagerness even more. Toddlers are also unpredictable lol So, it brought a lot of joy and kept the environment lively and engaging. As far as concerns: low compensation, emotional and physical demands, lack of PD, high parental expectations can be hard to navigate and lead to burnout. Floaters are expected to just hop in wherever they are needed, which yes that is their job, but it can be extremely hard to just enter a room and not know the routines that their primary teacher uses leading to chaos in the classroom." - Former Floater in Southampton, PA


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    Besides teachers who are leaving the education field overall, there are teachers who a leaving teaching in childcare and switching to teaching in schools. Teachers who make this change tend to say that while there are still concerns and rewarding parts of this job, schools tend to provide more resources, acknowledgement, support, and a better salary to survive. In addition, currently, there is an ongoing childcare crisis that worries many families of infants, toddlers, and preschool and Kindergarten aged children and their teachers. Childcare centers are extremely short staffed because teachers are leaving teaching in childcare for various reasons. Several childcare centers have waiting lists for families who have yet to be enrolled due to their short staffing that does not meet student-to-teacher ratios, which is how many children that a teacher can be left alone according to most state laws. As a result of no access to childcare, there are many families who are unable to work or need to leave work. Childcare centers also struggle with a lack of federal funding and raising the cost of childcare is a rough decision due to families with low income who are unable to pay. According to Jessica Sager who is co-founder and chief executive officer of All Our Kin, which is an organization that supports family childcare providers, "Most of the family childcare educators that we work with are not in a position to raise their prices because their parents just can't pay" (Mader 2023).


Related Links:

    Infant/toddler teachers deserve more credit instead of being told that they "are not real teachers" in comparison to grade school teachers. Both childcare center teachers and grade school teachers deserve to be shown equal respect, appreciation, and acknowledgement for all of the hard work that they do as teachers. FYI, I did not write this blog post to complain or for attention and neither are other true current and former infant/toddler teachers who share these same concerns. We know that we picked this job. We truly understand how important our responsibilities for our students are. We do and did love how rewarding our jobs are/were. I am so passionate about it that infants were my favorite age group to teach along with young toddlers being my second favorite age group when I was still teaching in childcare centers. I am passionately writing this post as an advocate to prove a point that infant/toddler teachers are not valued enough. It is also to prove the point that the jobs of infant/toddler teachers are not easier than preschool and grade school teachers. ALL teachers have hard jobs, and all teachers matter. As the saying goes, "Teaching is hard because it matters."


Things I learned from being a toddler teacher:
1. Developmentally appropriate practices (DAP)
2. How to teach engaging and developmentally appropriate lessons📚🎨🖌️🖍️⚽🧩🎶🧼
3. Time management skills - all thanks to my mentor who was the time management wizard! ⏰⏳💡
4. Mentoring skills
5. Classroom management skills🏫 - behaviors, incorporating interests, and hands-on activities to increase engagement, encouraging lots of independence, class jobs
6. More inclusion practices such as accommodations, adaptations, and specially designed instructions (SDI) for toddlers in the disability community and inclusive language for people of all differences❤️🩵💞
7. Teamwork skills🫱🏿‍🫲🏻
8. More creativity skills💡
9. Child development👶🏼👧🏽🧑‍🦰🧠🦵💪🏽🦶🙌🏿- This includes developmental skills.
10. Being even more open-minded🧠
11. Child caregiving skills👶👶🏻👶🏼👶🏽👶🏾👶🏿🧻🧷🛏🍽🍼
12. Became more observant👀 Lots of observing and analyzing to understand infants and toddlers since their communication skills, language skills, and overall development is so limited.
13. Baby Sign Language🤟🏿🫶🏻 I am SO happy that this is required as part of many childcare centers' infant/toddler curriculums! This communication method is great for toddlers of all abilities and an awesome way to teach about disability and inclusion in classrooms.
14. That taking risks is really important for development👍🏽
15. How to improve in teacher skill areas that I struggled with and now no longer do or am much better at than before. I never thought that I would be highly skilled at time management, communication, classroom management, and problem-solving prior to this job and now I am.
16. Professional development👩🏾‍🏫
17. It is okay to not be perfect and to make mistakes sometimes as long as you take responsibility and work hard to improve. I also learned this with constant reassurance from my mentor/co-teacher who was always very supportive of me during stressful times and when I was feeling self-conscious when we were toddler teachers together💚
18. That I am a good enough teacher
19. That I made a positive impact in the lives of my students and their families🍎👩‍🏫🩷🌠✨️





You might also like and gain a better understanding of the job responsibilities of infant/toddlers teachers by reading my other blog posts linked below:

    If you are an ECE major, infant teacher, administrator, service provider, parent/guardian/family member, ECE program professor, education advocate, and/or other education professional and you are interested in learning more about infants and toddlers, I highly recommend the following books below:
    • The Happiest Baby on the Block written by Dr. Harvey Karp
    • The Happiest Toddler on the Block written by Dr. Harvey Karp
    • Great Expectations: The Toddler Years: The Essential Guide to Your 1-To-3-Year-Old written by Sandy Jones
    • The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep: Simple Solutions for Kids From Birth to Five Years written by Dr. Harvey Karp
    • Baby Sign Language Made Easy: 101 Signs to Start Communicating With Your Child Now written by Lane Rebelo
    • Infancy Through Middle Childhood: Child Development: Custom Second Edition written by Lauren E. Levine and Joyce Munsch
    • Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family written by Ellyn Satter
    • Creative Thinking and Arts-Based Learning: Preschool Through Fourth Grade: Sixth Edition written by Joan Packer Isenberg and Mary Renck Jalongo
    • Home, School, and Community Collaboration: Culturally Responsive Engagement: Third Edition written by Kathy B. Grant and Julie A. Ray
    • Mastering CDA Competencies: Using Working with Young Children: Seventh Edition written by Judy Herr
    • Cirrus: PECT: PreK-4 Exam Study Guide: 2 Practice Tests and PECT Prep Book for the Pennsylvania Educator Certification by Eric Canizales


    To learn more about how to support the early learning and development of infants and toddlers, click on the below links to some resources:





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                                                                           Citations

    1. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Code. (30 Mar. 2024). Chapter 3270. CHILD CARE CENTERS. (30 Mar. 2024). https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/055/chapter3270/chap3270toc.html&d=

    2. Infant Toddler Teacher Salary in Pennsylvania. (2024). Zip Recruiter. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Infant-Toddler-Teacher-Salary--in-Pennsylvania#:~:text=As%20of%20Apr%201%2C%202024%2C%20the%20average%20hourly,Toddler%20Teacher%20in%20Pennsylvania%20is%20%2416.75%20an%20hour.

    3. Mader, J. (23 Aug. 2023). A wave of childcare center closures is coming. https://hechingerreport.org/newsletter/a-wave-of-child-care-center-closures-is-coming/

    4. Mader, J. (10 Aug. 2023). Infants and toddlers in high quality child care seem to reap the benefits longer, research says. https://hechingerreport.org/infants-and-toddlers-in-high-quality-child-care-seem-to-reap-the-benefits-longer-research-says/

    5. Preschool Teacher Salary in Pennsylvania. (2024). Zip Recruiter. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Preschool-Teacher-Salary--in-Pennsylvania#:~:text=How%20much%20does%20a%20Preschool%20Teacher%20make%20in,Preschool%20Teacher%20in%20Pennsylvania%20is%20%2415.62%20an%20hour.

    6. Public School Teacher Salary in Pennsylvania. (2024). Zip Recruiter. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Public-School-Teacher-Salary--in-Pennsylvania#:~:text=How%20much%20does%20a%20Public%20School%20Teacher%20make,School%20Teacher%20in%20Pennsylvania%20is%20%2419.82%20an%20hour.

    7. The CDA Council for Professional Recognition. (2021). https://www.cdacouncil.org/en/

    8. Toddler Approved. (2024). https://toddlerapproved.com/

    9. Zero to Three. (2024). https://www.zerotothree.org/

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