Licensing requirements for child care providers in California?

Question

i wana work at a child day care cented legally...

i am starting colllege this coming fall semester and taking

intro to childhood ed.

what else do i need???

anyone know?

Answer 1

most child care centers you only need your HS Diploma and 2500 hours working with children. you can substitute education/college credits for experience.

but i highly suggest you go to college. having a degree in education makes you much more marketable. the average day care teacher in the us makes 9.33/hour, child care/day care worker makes 8.25/hour.  http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Indu...

"Median annual earnings of kindergarten elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers ranged from $41,000 to $45,290 for May of 2004. Pre-school teacher earnings was $20,980. The American Federation of Teachers said that teacher's with Bachelor's degree earned an average of $31,704 in 2003-2004, and $45,597 for public elementary and secondary school teachers."   http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/Eric...

so stay in school! you can even work at a day care center while you go to school for experience, too.

Answer 2

Simply call our local licensing agency and they will have all of this for you.  I taught in northern CA for years and licensing always had updated information.  I would go to a center in your area and simply ask what they require.  You should visit centers of different ages and observe as you might have more of an affinity for a particular age.  here are the main ages/categories in ECE (early childhood education) infants/toddlers, pre-school, school age and adolescents.  You could easily call different centers or go to your schools ece department for quality programs to observe.  As for classes, I would recommend you take a basic child development class first.  Specific classes in the area of ece are various but core classes in CA have headings such as

Principles and Practices

Child Family and Community

Guidance, Behavior in the classroom

Piaget, Vygotsky , Montessori  etc

Go to some schools, check them out and find what you like.  A great resource is the NAEYC for almost anything in the area of ECE.  To begin with you can be what is called an "aide" with very little but a background check, first aid/cpr, shots, and other small facility requirements.  I recommend you do this first to see how you enjoy this in a natural setting.