Return to Relief Childcare Work.

Well, so I went to work this week.

It was for two assignments this week, one being a four-hour assignment in Ashfield, and another for a 7.45 hour assignment in Leichhardt.

I found out that apparently these days, lunch breaks are no longer paid for even as a permanent staff. But two to three years ago, that was possibly still possible before the economic crises, I guess?

So how did the work go?

For both assignments, I was working with children in the two to three years age group. It was a surprise for me as I expected either pre-school age, or nursery age group for both, but it came down to be of the same age group for both assignments. 

I was informed by my agent that my performance was marvellous in the first centre. In the second centre, the centre's permanent staff also informed that she was really happy that I was able to follow her "hints" and "directions", hence management of the class was though tiring, we were able to co-operate and work well together as a team. 

REFLECTION
I really have to state that after being away from the childcare work for almost 18 months, I am quite happy to see that my skills have not deteriorated that much.

PREPARATION  FOR TEACHING RELIEF WORK
Of course, the fact that I kept notes during my one year as a casual relief staff helped a lot. Re-reading my written notes (which I kept in an notebook) helped me to refresh my mind on

• classroom management skills. 
• the ability to work well with other centre support staff in managing the children's behaviour.
• appropriate age related skills 
• preparing in my mind to prepare the activities relevant to each age group
• spacing my strength and energy to work with children
• taking care of my voice when working with children.

Before going out to work this time, I headed over to Basement Books (in Sydney CENTRAL area) to purchase story books. The books in Basement Books were quite cheap, as compared to some of the upper priced shops around town. I would believe that perhaps TAFE may have some resources, but I have yet to visit it.

Maintaining My Voice
At the end of my second assignment with the preschool children, (2-3 year olds), I realised that I almost had no voice left. So indeed, drinking a lot of water, my larynx moisturised, and especially in the winter, was of utmost importance to any teacher. Also, I had to continually reapply lip gloss, as it just became terribly dry and cracked.