PARKDALE STAFF

Kathy Falkner (our fearless leader) has demonstrated great care and skills in finding outstanding child care workers. Job prospects in this area are excellent because of the many workers who leave and need to be replaced, as econmic studies indicate. Employment of child care workers is projected to increase by 18 percent over the next decade, which is faster than the average for all occupations.

Child care workers, particularly with infants and toddlers, will have a large number of new jobs arise, almost 248,000 over the projections decade. The proportion of children being cared for exclusively by parents or other relatives is likely to continue to decline, spurring demand for additional child care workers.

The growth in demand for child care workers will be moderated, however, by an increasing emphasis on early childhood education programs, which hire mostly preschool workers instead of child care workers. While only a few States currently provide targeted or universal preschool programs, many more are considering or starting such programs.

A rise in enrollment in private preschools is likely as the value of formal education before kindergarten becomes more widely accepted. Since the majority of workers in these programs are classified as preschool teachers, this growth in preschool enrollment will mean less growth among child care workers.

High replacement needs should create good job opportunities for child care workers. Qualified persons who are interested in this work should have little trouble finding and keeping a job. Many child care workers must be replaced each year as they leave the occupation to fulfill family responsibilities, to study, or increase higher education skills. Child care work requires patience; creativity; an ability to nurture, motivate, teach, and influence children; and leadership, organizational, and administrative skills.

Although care workers spend most of their day working with children, they do maintain contact with parents or guardians through informal meetings or scheduled conferences to discuss each child’s progress and needs. Many keep records of each child’s progress and suggest ways in which parents can stimulate their child’s learning and development at home; and participate in administrative decisions and program planning. Parkdale staffers have gone on to many opportunities; we appreciate our days at Parkdale for the time we have helped parents in building better prepared students.