I work with K-2nd graders, mostly first graders, in an after-school program at an elementary school. I plan hands-on activities such as creating arts and crafts, monitoring them during homework time, and do activities that help them with their fine motor skills. The activities that we do are ideas that are bounced off from the children.

EDUCATION | I received my BS in Child and Adolescent Development at San Jose State University.

HOW TO GET STARTED | I would say definitely you must have a lot of patience. Since there are young children, they'll act like young children who will have tons of energy, running around, and sometimes fighting over toys and other things. Also, don't be afraid to play and be a fool around the kids; you'll enjoy your work more if you can just hang out with them and do what they do. Even though you're playing with them, don't be afraid to show them who is the authoritative figure because you don't want them to walk all over you. Lastly, also be flexible, because things don't always go according to plan.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Good with children, patience, organizational skills, leadership skills, flexibility, creative

how I got started | I find that it is very interesting to work with children, especially with seeing them go through their developmental stages. I feel that this line of work can never get boring and it only furthers my interest in children even more because I can learn more from children than they can learn from me. The classes to learn about Child and Adolescent Development weren't too hard. I just had to keep up with the readings and assignments that were given. Everything was intertwined and related to one another. Although you can learn the materials and understand what they mean, you can see the theories and understand more of it when you are actually working with the kids. There isn't really an internship that is needed, but experience is recommended in some places, but not required. At SJSU, there is a practicum lab that is required and counts as experience. It is a class that is held on campus which is set in a daycare center that we have. The students are considered as “teachers” and we plan activities that are developmentally appropriate for preschoolers. We then observe them and at the end of the semester, we hold a teacher/parents conference. With the practicum lab and taking about 15 units per semester, one can obtain their degree in Child and Adolescent Development within four years of schooling.

why this job?| I like working with school-aged kids because you can really see them grow and develop over the years. They just seem to be amazed by everything at this age range. I would love to actually formally teach in a real classroom setting, but right now with politics, education is not like how it was ten years ago. Now it is mostly all about testing and it's not fun anymore. What they do at the after-school programs is not critical for them to make their work nice or do things in a certain way. What the after-school program does is that it is more of a process that the children go through while they are doing the activities. It is kind of like practice to better themselves. I give them instructions on how to do something and just have them do it. If they are doing it differently or add extra things to it, it's okay, because we want to encourage creativity.

why I love this job!| What I love about my job is that I am able to interact with the kids in an informal way. I love playing with the kids and having the kids wanting to play with me; they help bring out my inner child. This lets me build authentic relationships with them by being at their level and having them trust me. It feels good to have the children trust me because not only do they see me as an authoritative figure, but also someone they can comfortably turn to if they need anything. It also feels good seeing them grow more and more everyday and that I have some sort of part in that.

my typical day| I usually work a 11:30-6PM shift. At noon, I pick up the kindergartners at a designated meet up spot and they come back to the center for lunch. We socialize for a bit, do an activity, and then they get picked up by their parents to go home at around 2:20PM. Soon after, the afternoon session of kindergarteners and first and second graders come to the center. They have snacks, socialize for a bit, go outside for recess, and then come back inside to do activities. During the day, I try to squeeze in somewhere a bit of time to do paper work since it gets hectic sometimes because I have to constantly be on the look out for their safety or if any problems occur and especially try to keep them entertained. The afternoon session children do the activities and then they get picked up by their parents at the end of the day.

what they are | One challenge is to come up with a variety of activities for the children to enjoy. It is hard to get them to do things that they don't want to do and you would have to always try to keep them stimulated and entertained. Another challenge is supervision-wise, because we have about 64 kids total; the older kids, third to fifth graders, are in a different room whereas the younger kids are in the main room. The ratio is 1:14 so you can't watch every child at every single second.

all about growth | I am currently an Associate Teacher and I can be promoted to Master Teacher or Site Supervisor. For both higher positions, one would need to go back to school and take three to four extra classes and obtain more experience working with children in this setting. For Site Supervisor, you also need a permit on top of everything else, which is pretty easy to apply for.

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