A Day in the Life of a Daycare Teacher Assistant

Have you ever wondered what it was like working in daycare? You might think that as a daycare provider, we play with the children all day and do fun arts and crafts. For me, life as a daycare teacher assistant is so much more than the easy stuff. The lead teacher and I expect to have a great day each day. If you want to learn more about my day in the life, then follow me as I go through my day as a daycare teacher assistant. 

6:30 - Wake up

To start the day off, I wake up at 6:30. I am not a morning person on most days and wish that I could stay in my warm and cozy bed with my stuffies. But alas, I pull myself from my cozy slumber and get ready for the day. 

6:40 - Get ready for work

After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I decide on what to wear. Lots of factors play into what I put on for the day, so it doesn’t take long for me to choose what to wear. The dress code for work is business casual. I lean towards the usual attire of wide pants or leggings with a short-sleeved t-shirt and a cozy sweater. I pair my outfits with a comfortable sneaker since I would be on my feet. My hair takes the longest time to finish so I leave it for last. Depending on how I am feeling, I’ll usually throw my curls up in a loose ponytail, or two buns, or leave it out in an afro. 

After I get myself ready I take care of other chores:

• Make up my bed

• Fold any clothes lying around

• Clean up any trash or dishes

• Shut down my computer

• Make and pack my lunch

• Fill up my water bottle

• Make breakfast (depending on how hungry I am)

All these chores are non-negotiables if I want to have a successful and productive start to my day.

7:40 - Leave for work

It is about a 15-minute walk from my house to make it to the bus stop a little before 8 o’clock. Once I board the bus, I pick a seat by the window in the middle of the bus. It is easier for me to see when I need to ring the bell to get to my stop. Even though my house is a 15-minute drive from the daycare, the bus ride is about 30 minutes. Of course, it is due to the constant stops to pick up passengers. When I get on the bus, I usually window watch or listen to some calming music as I head to work. 

8:30 - 5:45 Work

Photo by Gautam Arora on Unsplash

Once I get to work, I clock in, throw my things in my locker, and go to the front desk to see what room they need me in. Children have the time to free play with any centers with their friends, eat breakfast, and recover from rough drop-offs. The lead teacher and I would help some friends catch up with any potties and discuss some drop-off or pickup notes.

At about 9:15ish, we clean up and head straight into circle time. We learn about 

• The months, days, and years

• Weather 

• A small fact about the topic we are learning about that week

• A short story

After circle time, we dive into topic-based centers for the children. We center our activities around the topic of the week/day. For instance, our theme for last week was Earth. Each day we centered our activities around the Earth and how we take care of it. Our first activity was to reuse all the art materials to make something new from our last activity. For the second activity, we made small buildings with our wooden blocks and Lincoln logs. Lastly, we pulled out our earth balls so that the kids could make their own inspired planets. If the weather is nice, the lead teacher and I always do our best to take the kids outside around 10:30. We love to go outside! We choose to go outside every chance we can get to get out all our energy.

Between 11-11:30, we do a few stories on the rug and have the kids go potty one at a time. Once lunch is all set and they have gone potty, the children go to their seats and enjoy at least most of their lunch. We always hope that it’s chicken tenders day. We love chicken tenders. When lunchtime is over, our friends who are potty trained go to the bathroom one last time to put on a pullup. After lunch, all the kiddos go straight to their mats. We do our best to clean up from lunch as much as we can so that it isn’t too loud or distracting when they are on their mats. We make sure the kiddos who need pull-ups go to the potty once more before they sleep. (No accidents happening on our watch). Sometimes, I fight the urge to fall asleep with them as I rub their backs, haha. The kids who are not awake usually look at books or play with poppits. While they rest, we finish cleaning the classroom and prep the curriculum for the following week. We also take the time to chat about what is and is not working in the classroom, use the bathroom, and discuss what the next step is after nap time. 

Photo by Charlein Gracia on Unsplash

At 2:30 pm naptime is over and we open the blinds and slowly get the kids up from rest time. They head straight to the potty and get changed before snack time. After we have a delicious snack together, we clean up and go to centers until the children get picked up by their parents. Most of my kids usually leave around   4:45-5:30, so it’s a long day for me. Toward the end of my shift, I close down my room by cleaning the tables, putting away any lingering toys, taking the garbage out, and leaving notes for the head teacher, if need be. I head home afterward and prepare for the following day. 

The End of My Day

Although I am slowly tiring the childcare setting, I do enjoy the good days with the children that we have. Seeing them be silly and happy is all I can ask of them. And working alongside an amazing teacher makes it all worthwhile. Thanks for sticking around and reading about my day as a daycare provider. Have you ever worked with children? What age and how was your experience?

Thanks love, chat soon.