A Little Life Update

Hey everyone, it’s time for a quick life update! I just wanted to jump on here and share with you a bit about what I have been up to. And that is–I’ve finally taken the plunge and enrolled in further studies. Yep, it’s happening! I am in the process of working towards a Diploma in Early Childhood Education.

So let’s backtrack a little. After finishing school I had my sights set on being a child psychologist and while I was at uni I sort of fell into working in early childhood education. You can read all about that journey here. Now fast forward 27 years (that’s how long I have been at my current job) and things have changed a lot!

When I first started, my role as a teacher’s assistant was primarily focused on prepping crafts and handling the messy tasks that come with working with young children. But as time went on, expectations began to shift big time. Nowadays my role is not just about the paint and the glue. Now there’s also a greater emphasis on the educational aspect of childcare.

So in addition to the hands-on activities, my role now includes observing children’s development, recording progress and setting educational goals. Recently, I have also taken on grown-up responsibilities like parent-teacher meetings and that sure has pushed me right out of my comfort zone! I’ve also stepped up to teach when the classroom teacher, who also happens to be the director is called away, which happens quite often given her dual roles.

Switching up my routine although daunting at first, feels great and stepping into the teacher’s shoes has opened my eyes to a whole new side of things. I have really loved the challenge and the opportunity to learn new skills. It’s fun leading the class and doing group times. I’m learning what works and what falls flat – little kids can be a tough audience!

What’s even more inspiring is our new director’s approach. She views us as a team of teachers and has redefined traditional teacher-assistant roles at our preschool. She is constantly encouraging the whole team and her faith in me is so motivating.

So here I am doing all of these new tasks but my pay doesn’t reflect this. Why? because I don’t have my Diploma in Early Childhood Education….sigh! My amazing friend and work colleague, she’s such a gem. She has been encouraging me to study for my diploma for a while now. My answer was always the same ” I can’t, I have no time!”. And it was true that between working full time and caring for my mum, I was barely keeping my head above water. Then I started blogging and loved it so much ( I still do) and I just didn’t want to spend a second of my life worrying about assignments and studying. No way!

I also didn’t want to pay thousands of dollars to enrol in the Diploma course. But then life changed dramatically and suddenly I had no more excuses. To top it off there is such a shortage of diploma-trained educators that the government made the course free! Can you believe it?

So while this has been me on most days ever since I started.

I know that it will be worth it when I’m done, and any opportunity for further learning is always a good thing, right? Plus a pay increase would be a welcome bonus,  especially since early childhood education doesn’t pay big bucks! I’m feeling better about things lately and less overwhelmed. It’s been a huge relief to be able to tackle the assignments over the last few days while I am on school holidays. Instead of squeezing in study time before or after work. I even think that the cobwebs in my brain are starting to clear! Yay!!

For now, the downside is that I have less time to devote to blogging. While I am still managing to post articles and join in the link-ups. I’m finding it tricky to find time to read and comment on my favourite blogs right away. I really love this community and I want to keep up the connections. So these days I’m mainly catching up on my blog reading on the weekends. I also keep reminding myself that this isn’t forever (it just feels like it sometimes). And I’m determined to finish this self-paced online Diploma in Early Childhood Education done and dusted pronto!

 So that’s a little life update today. What’s new in your world and keeping you busy? I’d love to know.

Thanks so much for stopping by.