An attitude commonly attached to the field of childcare services is all it takes is being a woman.
Teresa Little, the early childhood services director for the Faulkner County Day School, said although the career is open to both men and women, it takes more than just a willingness to work with kids.
"Group care is completely different than caring for your own children," Little said. "Knowledge is power and information is power and the more you know, the better you'll be."
A group of four classroom instructors and teacher assistants from the school were celebrated Wednesday for earning child development associate credentials and empowering themselves with even more knowledge. The group includes Treva Scallion, Gwendolyn King, Amber Vaughn and Keitha Johnson.
"They completed the program in June and it was a pretty rigorous thing, but I saw improvement all year long in all four of them and they actually rubbed off on other people," Little said.
Little said after the graduates started implementing lessons into the classroom, other instructors began to take notice.
"There is one teacher who has worked for me for 10 years and I've always encouraged her to do it, but she never would, until now," Little said. "She has seen her friends do it and gained that confidence."
Although the four newly certified teachers are the grand total for the Faulkner County Day School at this time, Little said she knows the number will grow next June.
The certification is a common goal among day care and childcare workers throughout the country; however, Little said it is even more necessary to be well-versed in your craft while caring for children with developmental disabilities.
"The program is very good at giving teachers the ability to not only help kids learn, but better their social and developmental skills and keep them happy and safe," Little said.
Little said caring for kids with special needs is a topic covered within the program, but the majority of that knowledge is refined at the school. However, she added teachers must be aware that even the students in the school still need the basic care provided to all kids.
"All children are children first, so even a child with a disability needs those everyday skills before special techniques are going to help," Little said. "There are still programs that treat it very medically, but when children are in a group, you will still have to meet their needs in a warm, safe environment."
According to Little, the teachers who have worked with the students at the day school are usually able to reach the children more successfully when they have been classically trained in both early childhood education and special education, rather than simply the latter.
Now the four instructors certified with CDAs have the ability to not only help their students with different therapies, but connect with them to provide both necessary skills and a quality education.
Little said during Wednesday's party in honor of the instructors, each one was presented with a white lab coat, embroidered with her name, followed by the letters CDA.
"We want them to know this was an important accomplishment and we want them to feel special," Little said.
(Staff writer Jessica Bauer can be reached by e-mail at jessica.bauer@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
