Basic childcare curriculum or resources—please help

[Harriet Vane]

My teen wants to do childcare as a lifelong career. Teen loves children and loves playing with them. I have learned today she is utterly lost when it comes to being in charge of children. I will keep working with her, but I want to add in a curriculum as well.

Please suggest resources focused on how-to. Articles, videos, books, curriculum. Many thanks.

Edited May 31 by Harriet Vane

[SKL]

Not clear the age.  The Red Cross has an online babysitting course you might want to look at.  Some community center type places also offer in-person babysitting classes, usually geared at younger teens.

[prairiewindmomma]

Is the gap in understanding about early childhood development or are you wanting specific management techniques? 

I wonder if this would be helpful for a few topics on the basics: https://www.youtube.com/@ChildCareResourcesMT/videos

I'm also wondering if this is a foster kid if some of the videos could also shore up gaps from their own growing up experience.....nutrition, handling conflict, routines, active supervision, active listening, etc. I'd be picking resources with that duality in mind, iykwim.

[chocolate-chip chooky]

I have no idea what the rules and regulations are where you are, but could she start by doing some observations in a childcare centre?

 

[bookbard]

Here's the syllabus for child studies in our state in Australia: https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-areas/pdhpe/child-studies-7-10-2019

[wintermom]

In Canada we have Early Childhood Educator certifications at colleges. I think it's a 2-year program, but it allows ECEs to work in public schools for both junior and senior kindergarden classes (in provinces that have junior K, which is 4-year olds), as well as other childcare centres.

Edited May 31 by wintermom

[athena1277]

My dd took a Safe Sitter course at our local hospital.  It was really good.  It even covered CPR for babies/children.  You might see if there’s a similar class where you are.

[City Mouse]

I agree that Red Cross babysitter classes is a good place to start. Then she needs to get experience in caring for children. Most states require child care workers to be at least 18ys old, but she can volunteer. Day camps/scout camps/VBS are all good places to start getting that experience. 
 

 

Edited May 31 by City Mouse

[Harriet Vane]

6 hours ago, SKL said:

Not clear the age.  The Red Cross has an online babysitting course you might want to look at.  Some community center type places also offer in-person babysitting classes, usually geared at younger teens.

17yo but super immature 

[Harriet Vane]

4 hours ago, wintermom said:

In Canada we have Early Childhood Educator certifications at colleges. I think it's a 2-year program, but it allows ECEs to work in public schools for both junior and senior kindergarden classes (in provinces that have junior K, which is 4-year olds), as well as other childcare centres.

Teen has an opportunity to do a similar program through the local public high school but may or may not still be living with us.  (Foster teen) In the meantime teen is babysitting a friend’s kids once a week but is really lost. 

[Harriet Vane]

4 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Is the gap in understanding about early childhood development or are you wanting specific management techniques? 

I wonder if this would be helpful for a few topics on the basics: https://www.youtube.com/@ChildCareResourcesMT/videos

I'm also wondering if this is a foster kid if some of the videos could also shore up gaps from their own growing up experience.....nutrition, handling conflict, routines, active supervision, active listening, etc. I'd be picking resources with that duality in mind, iykwim.

Teen needs specific management techniques.

For example, when the 4yo didn’t obey teen’s instructions, I kept coaching her to stop endlessly repeating the order but instead to sweetly “help” the little guy by taking his hand or alternately putting her face eye-level with his to repeat the order. 

You’re spot on about the duality. 
 

 

[Lecka]

It was very unnatural for me to learn this when I had kids.  I definitely think my default was a permissive parenting style that needed to move over to authoritative.  
 

A lot of the issue for me was just feeling like it was “okay” to be “in charge.”  It was a very difficult, unnatural role for me.  
 

It felt deeply mean, also.  It felt scary.  
 

I can remember crying one time because I had to take a knife away from my oldest son when he was a toddler, and somehow had gotten a knife, and he was upset with me…. It really felt like the end of the world.  
 

Things are good now, but I have been really upset by some things with my sister who never particularly figured out how to tell her younger daughter “no.”  My Mom will say “oh she’s just so stubborn, there is nothing to be done.”  I finally asked her if she thought my niece was more stubborn than my oldest son — and she had to say “no.”  Because my oldest son is much more stubborn.  He has always been more stubborn.  It just seems like they throw up their hands and say “there’s nothing anyone can do,” and I feel like “have you tried basic parenting?”  
 

My sister is a kind and loving person, too.  It goes a long way, but she went straight from “my kids are naturally well-behaved” to “oh no, a teenager who wants to do whatever she wants,” and immediately was saying she couldn’t do “anything” related to saying no in any way, because she thought it would ruin their relationship.  
 

I hope it is not this hard for the OP’s daughter, it was so hard for me.  
 

I also really did not want to “not be liked,” that was scary to me.  I didn’t have a sense that I could not be liked and it would be okay, or even that it would be appropriate for me to not be liked all the time.  

[SKL]

2 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

17yo but super immature 

I took a look at the Red Cross training site, because I had a vague recollection that there was more than just basic babysitting on there.  I think there's a fairly broad range of training on there, and there are "certificates" to be earned, though these do not equate to licenses.  I suggest you check it out and see if there's anything useful for your teen on there.

https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/babysitting-child-care

 

[Clarita]

3 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Teen needs specific management techniques.

For example, when the 4yo didn’t obey teen’s instructions, I kept coaching her to stop endlessly repeating the order but instead to sweetly “help” the little guy by taking his hand or alternately putting her face eye-level with his to repeat the order. 

You’re spot on about the duality. 

I think volunteering/helping out where there would be a supervising adult could be helpful. 

Some ideas are mentioned above day camps/VBS/Sunday School others might be being a mom's helper (instead of a babysitter), volunteering at library activities, I know play museums near me use teens (volunteer or paid) to help manage the children. These will let her see what it looks like in the moment and since she is looking to have a career in this it'll get her experience either in one-on-one setting and multitude of children setting.  Mom's helper can turn into nanny gigs in the future also.

[TechWife]

UCLA Extension has several online early childhood courses. 
https://www.uclaextension.edu/education/early-childhood-educators/courses

[KungFuPanda]

Check your local community college. The one where I work as lots of workforce programs with classes that earn certifications. She may need them to work in your state anyway. 
 

When she was in college my daughter worked for a daycare one summer at home, then on campus during school. She was always good with children, but I’m sure she learned a lot from the more experienced employees. Summer camp work is also a good place for a teen to get work experience with children. Check with your local parks and rec department for employment opportunities. She might as well earn something while she learns and some employers will pay for her to get more education. 

[Drama Llama]

My guess is that she needs modeling more than she needs instruction.  People either intuitively parent the way they have been parented, or they make a conscious decision to do the opposite.  Given that she’s a foster child she might be doing the latter but not really knows how an adult-young child relationship that is safe and respectful feels or looks.  Getting to experience that by pulling up alongside a talented loving caregiver would probably be the best way to give her an idea of what she does want, not just what she doesn’t.

I wonder if you could find a mother with young kids who you think parents beautifully, and ask if they would like some free help in exchange for mentoring.  

 

 

[TechWife]

I have not watched these and am not vouching for them, but I just found this YouTube channel. I suggest you preview it first.

https://www.youtube.com/@BabysitterBoss

[TechWife]

12 minutes ago, Drama Llama said:

My guess is that she needs modeling more than she needs instruction.  People either intuitively parent the way they have been parented, or they make a conscious decision to do the opposite.  Given that she’s a foster child she might be doing the latter but not really knows how an adult-young child relationship that is safe and respectful feels or looks.  Getting to experience that by pulling up alongside a talented loving caregiver would probably be the best way to give her an idea of what she does want, not just what she doesn’t.

I wonder if you could find a mother with young kids who you think parents beautifully, and ask if they would like some free help in exchange for mentoring.  

 

 

Though I'll point out that working in child related professions is very different than parenting. We do transfer what we learned of interacting with children as we grew up to a variety of situations, but people need to be aware that there is a significant difference between working with children and parenting them.

[Drama Llama]

53 minutes ago, TechWife said:

Though I'll point out that working in child related professions is very different than parenting. We do transfer what we learned of interacting with children as we grew up to a variety of situations, but people need to be aware that there is a significant difference between working with children and parenting them.

Yes absolutely.  But I think that the very first lessons are the same.  

[Harriet Vane]

6 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Check your local community college. The one where I work as lots of workforce programs with classes that earn certifications. She may need them to work in your state anyway. 
 

When she was in college my daughter worked for a daycare one summer at home, then on campus during school. She was always good with children, but I’m sure she learned a lot from the more experienced employees. Summer camp work is also a good place for a teen to get work experience with children. Check with your local parks and rec department for employment opportunities. She might as well earn something while she learns and some employers will pay for her to get more education. 

Teen is absolutely opposed to college of any sort, but teen has the option of a 2-semester program at our local public high school. Teen is waffling because if she doesn’t do the program she will be done with high school a semester earlier. I’m praying she chooses to do the program.

The thing is, teen needs instruction before the program. She’s really that lost, and she is also someone who needs a lot of repetition in learning. It would be best for her to integrate some ideas about childcare before the fall.

My hope and prayer is for teen to work next summer as a camp children’s counselor and then integrate into a preschool or daycare setting. 

But we don’t know how long teen will be with us so we’re trying to do what we can with the time we have.

[Harriet Vane]

4 hours ago, Drama Llama said:

My guess is that she needs modeling more than she needs instruction.  People either intuitively parent the way they have been parented, or they make a conscious decision to do the opposite.  Given that she’s a foster child she might be doing the latter but not really knows how an adult-young child relationship that is safe and respectful feels or looks.  Getting to experience that by pulling up alongside a talented loving caregiver would probably be the best way to give her an idea of what she does want, not just what she doesn’t.

I wonder if you could find a mother with young kids who you think parents beautifully, and ask if they would like some free help in exchange for mentoring.  

 

 

I think your instincts here are spot on.

[Harriet Vane]

4 hours ago, TechWife said:

Though I'll point out that working in child related professions is very different than parenting. We do transfer what we learned of interacting with children as we grew up to a variety of situations, but people need to be aware that there is a significant difference between working with children and parenting them.

Good point. Approaching from both angles would be wise.

[PeterPan]

It doesn't sound like her social/awareness skills are a good fit for what she's trying to do. It's true you could do the Red Cross babysitting course, etc. to make some things more explicit. I'd just be concerned about what happens as the situations become more dynamic and require problem solving or stress. It just doesn't seem like a good fit. 

Has she thought about something with food service? It involves caring for people (which it sounds like is something that appeals to her) and is universally useful on many levels. She could *serve food* in a setting, maybe institutional. She might like delivering meals at a nursing home, for instance. It's less complex socially, involves caring for people (which she seems to want to do), and lowers the problem solving.

 

 

Edited June 2 by PeterPan

[KungFuPanda]

24 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Teen is absolutely opposed to college of any sort, but teen has the option of a 2-semester program at our local public high school. Teen is waffling because if she doesn’t do the program she will be done with high school a semester earlier. I’m praying she chooses to do the program.

The thing is, teen needs instruction before the program. She’s really that lost, and she is also someone who needs a lot of repetition in learning. It would be best for her to integrate some ideas about childcare before the fall.

My hope and prayer is for teen to work next summer as a camp children’s counselor and then integrate into a preschool or daycare setting. 

But we don’t know how long teen will be with us so we’re trying to do what we can with the time we have.

What if she starts with CPR and first aid? She’ll need that to legally work with children in any setting. (Or maybe not depending upon the state?) 

Has this teen ever taken a career survey? That might be the best starting point. She may not even know what options are out there. 

[SKL]

3 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Teen is absolutely opposed to college of any sort, but teen has the option of a 2-semester program at our local public high school. Teen is waffling because if she doesn’t do the program she will be done with high school a semester earlier. I’m praying she chooses to do the program.

The thing is, teen needs instruction before the program. She’s really that lost, and she is also someone who needs a lot of repetition in learning. It would be best for her to integrate some ideas about childcare before the fall.

My hope and prayer is for teen to work next summer as a camp children’s counselor and then integrate into a preschool or daycare setting. 

But we don’t know how long teen will be with us so we’re trying to do what we can with the time we have.

A VBS volunteer gig may be easy to get for this summer.  Another possible option is to see if the local school or community has a "safety town" or similar summer program for kids heading to kindergarten, as they may use untrained teen volunteers.  Also, see if your library system has teen volunteer opportunities, and ask if your teen can help with a program such as preschool story hour.

Edited June 2 by SKL

[Harriet Vane]

On 6/1/2024 at 8:38 PM, PeterPan said:

It doesn't sound like her social/awareness skills are a good fit for what she's trying to do. It's true you could do the Red Cross babysitting course, etc. to make some things more explicit. I'd just be concerned about what happens as the situations become more dynamic and require problem solving or stress. It just doesn't seem like a good fit. 

Has she thought about something with food service? It involves caring for people (which it sounds like is something that appeals to her) and is universally useful on many levels. She could *serve food* in a setting, maybe institutional. She might like delivering meals at a nursing home, for instance. It's less complex socially, involves caring for people (which she seems to want to do), and lowers the problem solving.

 

 

Problem solving is an issue as is social awareness. However the jury is still out on what the reasons are for those struggles—it’s never easy to tease out all the layers when dealing with foster care. 

Childcare is literally the only thing that makes teen’s face light up. Teen is fabulous at playing WITH children—but not fabulous at guiding and directing and leading children. Given teen’s passion for this, it’s worth making a valiant attempt at teaching and training to see what comes of it.

[TechWife]

30 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Problem solving is an issue as is social awareness. However the jury is still out on what the reasons are for those struggles—it’s never easy to tease out all the layers when dealing with foster care. 

Childcare is literally the only thing that makes teen’s face light up. Teen is fabulous at playing WITH children—but not fabulous at guiding and directing and leading children. Given teen’s passion for this, it’s worth making a valiant attempt at teaching and training to see what comes of it.

Is it possible for her to work part time with a childcare facility or after school program as a helper? That way she might have a teacher she can watch & emulate.

FWIW, a lot of people have to learn how to guide & direct children, especially when there are more than one there - siblings or a small class. I think it’s great she has realized this is something she can work on.

[PeterPan]

4 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Childcare is literally the only thing that makes teen’s face light up.

The good part is that anything she learns will be useful her whole life, as we're always around kids whether we're working or in a family or shopping or whatever. 🙂 She's probably too young for it just yet, but school bus driver could be a good fit.

[Dmmetler]

Does your community have any Summer youth employment programs? These are paid for under the JTPA or local initiatives or both, and place teens, particularly those who are deemed at risk, with non-profits for the summer. They get paid minimum wage for 30 hours/week  to essentially be a volunteer (never to replace a paid employee-usually they shadow a specific employee and assist them) and do job training. Child care is absolutely a field that there are usually opportunities available in. It may be too late for this year, but it may not. We have quite a few in my building this summer, and I know they were adding as late as last week, for a program that starts today (school ended here in Early May). Especially for a kid in foster care, it's worth asking about. 

 

For at home:

 

Sesame workshop has both parent resources, which would be a good place to start, and teacher training resources and even some free classes

Homepage - Sesame Workshop

 

SO does PBS learningmedia. Some of the longer classes will have fees involved and actual sessions, but some are recorded. 

Professional Development | PBS LearningMedia

 

You can do a lot with videos.  Here's a playlist that includes both good and not so good examples. 

 

 

 

 

 

NAEYC is the national professional association for early childhood education and has online training courses that are reasonably priced. It may be worth it for her to get a membership, too, especially if there's a local affiliate that would do live workshops and trainings-and provide a way to connect with places she might be able to shadow and eventually work. In most states, she won't be able to be a teacher of record until she turns 18, but she may be able to do job training, including paid, before that.  I'd suggest doing a "standard" membership and then adding you as a "family" member so you can accompany her. 

Online Learning | NAEYC

 

 

I would also suggest doing some financial planning.  Not right away, but as part of high school. Because the simple matter is-child care doesn't pay well. like at all.  Yes, you can get a job very easily with a high school diploma and a small amount of experience. Which pays minimum wage, and is usually just enough under full time to not qualify for benefits. 

In order to get to a job that actually might pay enough to live on, and even then, it's not great, you really need 2 years of college. The CDA program exists to provide a route to the associates for those working in child care settings, but that requires getting the job in the first place, and as mentioned above, it's hard to live on a child care worker's salary. An AS in child development, with some business courses, is a good way to go for those who want to be home child care providers, and also usually allows being a paraprofessional in a school setting. And honestly, once you've decided to get the AS, you might as well get the BS/B. Ed and have the option of teaching in a school setting-it's honestly the best paid you're ever going to get paid to teach young children.  Even if you do private care (like being a Nanny), normally parents want the Bachelor's.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Harriet Vane]

1 hour ago, Dmmetler said:

Does your community have any Summer youth employment programs? These are paid for under the JTPA or local initiatives or both, and place teens, particularly those who are deemed at risk, with non-profits for the summer. They get paid minimum wage for 30 hours/week  to essentially be a volunteer (never to replace a paid employee-usually they shadow a specific employee and assist them) and do job training. Child care is absolutely a field that there are usually opportunities available in. It may be too late for this year, but it may not. We have quite a few in my building this summer, and I know they were adding as late as last week, for a program that starts today (school ended here in Early May). Especially for a kid in foster care, it's worth asking about. 

 

For at home:

 

Sesame workshop has both parent resources, which would be a good place to start, and teacher training resources and even some free classes

Homepage - Sesame Workshop

 

SO does PBS learningmedia. Some of the longer classes will have fees involved and actual sessions, but some are recorded. 

Professional Development | PBS LearningMedia

 

You can do a lot with videos.  Here's a playlist that includes both good and not so good examples. 

 

 

 

 

 

NAEYC is the national professional association for early childhood education and has online training courses that are reasonably priced. It may be worth it for her to get a membership, too, especially if there's a local affiliate that would do live workshops and trainings-and provide a way to connect with places she might be able to shadow and eventually work. In most states, she won't be able to be a teacher of record until she turns 18, but she may be able to do job training, including paid, before that.  I'd suggest doing a "standard" membership and then adding you as a "family" member so you can accompany her. 

Online Learning | NAEYC

 

 

I would also suggest doing some financial planning.  Not right away, but as part of high school. Because the simple matter is-child care doesn't pay well. like at all.  Yes, you can get a job very easily with a high school diploma and a small amount of experience. Which pays minimum wage, and is usually just enough under full time to not qualify for benefits. 

In order to get to a job that actually might pay enough to live on, and even then, it's not great, you really need 2 years of college. The CDA program exists to provide a route to the associates for those working in child care settings, but that requires getting the job in the first place, and as mentioned above, it's hard to live on a child care worker's salary. An AS in child development, with some business courses, is a good way to go for those who want to be home child care providers, and also usually allows being a paraprofessional in a school setting. And honestly, once you've decided to get the AS, you might as well get the BS/B. Ed and have the option of teaching in a school setting-it's honestly the best paid you're ever going to get paid to teach young children.  Even if you do private care (like being a Nanny), normally parents want the Bachelor's.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for this wealth of resources. 

I know teen will have a hard time making ends meet. I know it but she doesn’t and she is not willing to be persuaded otherwise. It’s childcare or retail or a combination. 

Teen is adamant she will not go to college. We believe her—she’s really not going to go. Probably ever. At this point teen is not sure if she is even willing to commit to both semesters of high school next year—her basic grad requirements will be done after first semester. She has the opportunity for a 2-semester childcare course that will provide some handy certifications and help with job placement and she is resisting based on doing “extra” school. I pray she will choose better but not sure she will do so.

[wintermom]

6 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Thank you for this wealth of resources. 

I know teen will have a hard time making ends meet. I know it but she doesn’t and she is not willing to be persuaded otherwise. It’s childcare or retail or a combination. 

Teen is adamant she will not go to college. We believe her—she’s really not going to go. Probably ever. At this point teen is not sure if she is even willing to commit to both semesters of high school next year—her basic grad requirements will be done after first semester. She has the opportunity for a 2-semester childcare course that will provide some handy certifications and help with job placement and she is resisting based on doing “extra” school. I pray she will choose better but not sure she will do so.

I hope she does, too. However, if her maturity level is such that she does not recognize the need to be an educted child care provider, then it may be a good thing she not get opportunities to do this very important job. Just because the pay is low doesn't mean the need to be appropriately educated is low. If she doesn't understand that, then she may need to look at other career choices. Sorry to be so blunt, but I'd prefer people looking after children who really see the need to be educated and are willing to do it. 

[SKL]

Will she lose some benefits if she stops going to school early?  If so, does she understand that?

It's hard trying to advise a teen who doesn't understand what's good for her.

[PeterPan]

I'm pondering the oddities of life: people with phds and MS and engineering degrees pushing brooms BUT oh mustn't have an undertrained 19 yo childcare worker.

Whatever. HV knows it's a hard situation. The system doesn't make it easier, being slow to offer the labels that open the doors to help people with challenges. Some people function just well enough that they scrape through and are caught in these difficult situations. My ds has stronger labels, so my ds gets TONS of doors opened for him. Ironically, he's able to work right now provided he has enough support. And this dc whom HV is trying to help doesn't get those labels and is struggling to figure it out.

Some things take time. I think sometimes, whether it's degrees or jobs, our kids just have this issue of SMALL EXPERIENCE. That should have been in small letters, haha. But think about it, they don't have the experience to realize demographics they'd enjoy or how their gifts they have to give to humanity will come together. 

I don't know if I said this above or deleted it, but for me I got pegged with the whole child care/teach thing early on even though it was non-intuitive for me. I had some occasional experiences with the elderly as I went but never dreamed that in reality they would be an excellent niche for me. They have the social skills to overlook my flaws and they appreciate my vibrancy. So HV's person is noticing things about herself and will grow. I'd encourage wider experiences with more demographics if possible. I think she can't realize *why* the childcare thing is a problem until she understands herself. Can she get a training with Play Project or something similar? That would be the ultimate. Like maybe do an observation or shadow or something? 

[Dmmetler]

2 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Thank you for this wealth of resources. 

I know teen will have a hard time making ends meet. I know it but she doesn’t and she is not willing to be persuaded otherwise. It’s childcare or retail or a combination. 

Teen is adamant she will not go to college. We believe her—she’s really not going to go. Probably ever. At this point teen is not sure if she is even willing to commit to both semesters of high school next year—her basic grad requirements will be done after first semester. She has the opportunity for a 2-semester childcare course that will provide some handy certifications and help with job placement and she is resisting based on doing “extra” school. I pray she will choose better but not sure she will do so.

I understand.  It's honestly a really awesome and rewarding career path. And the skills can be learned.  But unfortunately, the "rewarding" part doesn't include financially. 

 

Since she's a rising senior, I'd really suggest trying to get her some hands on experience this summer as a volunteer. You might want to check with your social services agency and see if they have any connections that would help (and they might be able to get her into a paid SYP program even if it's technically too late. She's 100% the kid those programs are made for).  They may also have training/parenting classes and modules that she could do, too. But honestly, the best way to learn is via working with someone else. Even if she spends most of the summer cutting out paper pieces for kids to glue and patting backs at rest time, she'll learn SO much by being in the classroom. And, honestly, they may have the best chance of convincing her that getting some additional education would be good-or at least planting a seed.

 

[Harriet Vane]

3 hours ago, wintermom said:

I hope she does, too. However, if her maturity level is such that she does not recognize the need to be an educted child care provider, then it may be a good thing she not get opportunities to do this very important job. Just because the pay is low doesn't mean the need to be appropriately educated is low. If she doesn't understand that, then she may need to look at other career choices. Sorry to be so blunt, but I'd prefer people looking after children who really see the need to be educated and are willing to do it. 

Speaking gently--

This is a foster teen. Any time you know someone from foster care, you know there has been trauma. Her lack of maturity and her tunnel vision are emphatically not her fault. Her lack of options for paying her bills are also not her fault. The state of mental health care in this country is also not her fault. 

The good things--she's not on drugs. She's not sleeping around. She is trying hard.

As for other career choices, I'm all ears. Any suggestions? Because the options for someone like her are extremely limited, and her strength is limited too. And that's not her fault.

[SKL]

2 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

As for other career choices, I'm all ears. Any suggestions? Because the options for someone like her are extremely limited, and her strength is limited too. And that's not her fault.

I told my kid that once she turns 18, manufacturing jobs are a good idea.  They tend to pay more and are usually not super hard to learn.

I didn't mention this earlier, because I think the thread is focused on how Teen can get into child care, since she really really wants that career path.  And manufacturing is about as different from childcare as it gets.  😛  But if childcare doesn't work out, it's something to consider.

[Harriet Vane]

5 minutes ago, SKL said:

I told my kid that once she turns 18, manufacturing jobs are a good idea.  They tend to pay more and are usually not super hard to learn.

I didn't mention this earlier, because I think the thread is focused on how Teen can get into child care, since she really really wants that career path.  And manufacturing is about as different from childcare as it gets.  😛  But if childcare doesn't work out, it's something to consider.

Yup to all of this. Thanks.

Thanks for keeping the thread focused on childcare. That's what teen is motivated to do. She loves children, and children tend to genuinely love playing with her. There may be a happy path for her here. 

[fairfarmhand]

It’s terrible that she probably has some delays in maturity and she’s in foster care so she doesn’t get extra time to grow and mature before she has to figure things out for herself. But she wouldnt no be the first young person to work in a field for a bit before learning that she needs extra schooling. It may just take a few years of working to learn that.

Edited June 3 by fairfarmhand

[prairiewindmomma]

2 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

 

As for other career choices, I'm all ears. Any suggestions? Because the options for someone like her are extremely limited, and her strength is limited too. And that's not her fault.

Honestly, no drugs, wants to succeed? That's completely awesome!!!  As you likely know, over 50% of homeless kids end up homeless in their adult lives, and if she is on a positive trend, that's to be celebrated even if the progress isn't as much as you would want. 

If she has an IEP, if she is already 16, she can start having the Transitions Services discussions. In our state, if there is a documentation trail (and it sounds like she has had testing, so she has one), we can reach out to Vocational Rehab to start pre-transition services game planning.  Our state is super awesome with Rehab services.  They have inclusive career programs certificate programs (<1 year of additional training usually, sometimes just a few months), supported placements, disability service connections, etc. That said, I do know I live in an awesome state for this (we moved here in part because of this) and not every state is as supportive. (We also have Youth Employment Program, some BOLI sponsored stuff, etc. but that's more trade focused.)

In my state, she might get a CDA--child development associate credential paid for by the state. The program is 120 hours, and it's self paced, so you can go as fast or as slowly as you want. Here assistant positions pay $18-22/hour, but HCOL.  She's in a need three roommates situation.

----

Additional jobs I'd consider in her shoes:

phlebotomy is $28/hour

fork lift driver (in a highly repetitive, low stress environment)--pay here is also around $26-28/hr. 

medical records---$32-35/hour here.  The program is under a year for the certificate to get the job. If you want to get a related associate's degree, + 2 more years.  There are jobs here in my community that are GED/high school diploma only that pay $20-23. Usually they do the release of information records (sending records from one office to another), scan records, and forward on prescription refill requests. Not every position will be a good fit for her, but I think something highly repetitive or limited in scope could be a great fit for her.  The best thing about these jobs is that they come with full benefits. 

 

 

[TechWife]

Is she doing some babysitting? It might be helpful for her to have an activity plan, especially for the younger kids. Something like a Theme Bag - a large ziplock with a picture book and a couple of related activities & supplies, simple crafts, coloring pages & crayons, a game (written out on an index card), etc.

She could probably get some ideas from looking at unit studies (I’m thinking Five in a Row type things). Another ideas would be for her to check Pinterest for busy bags, toddler activities, etc. by age group.

If she wants to, when she schedules a job, she can ask some basic questions that can help her start conversations, plan activities, offer distractions based on what she see in the room, (Can you show me your stuffed animals? Do you think they would want to play hide & seek with us?) :

What is child’s name favorite activity?

Any favorite shows, characters, princesses, superheroes, etc., 

I’m working on a project and came across this website today. & it made me think of your daughter. They have a podcast she might enjoy listening to & activity stuff too. 

https://lovelycommotion.com/

[wintermom]

8 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Speaking gently--

This is a foster teen. Any time you know someone from foster care, you know there has been trauma. Her lack of maturity and her tunnel vision are emphatically not her fault. Her lack of options for paying her bills are also not her fault. The state of mental health care in this country is also not her fault. 

The good things--she's not on drugs. She's not sleeping around. She is trying hard.

As for other career choices, I'm all ears. Any suggestions? Because the options for someone like her are extremely limited, and her strength is limited too. And that's not her fault.

Thanks for this very important piece of info. I had no idea. It's very hard to provide feedback and ideas when there are some major details missing. 

If you know that she is very keen on this career, she has a real heart of helping other kids, then I'd probably want to keep supporting her in this journey. There is no rush, though. If she would rather focus on her academics first and then look into additional education or courses in the area of early childhood care, that is completely legitamate for some individuals.