Summary Report for:
39-9011.00 - Child Care Workers
Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and child care institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.
Sample of reported job titles:
Child Care Worker, Child Caregiver, Childcare Worker, Before and After School Daycare Worker, Child Care Provider, Child Care Assistant, Childcare Specialist, Daycare Aide, Playground Aide, Preschool Aide
Also see: Nannies
Tasks | Tools & Technology | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Related Occupations | Wages & Employment | Additional Information
Tasks
- Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts.
- Care for children in institutional setting, such as group homes, nursery schools, private businesses, or schools for the handicapped.
- Sanitize toys and play equipment.
- Discipline children and recommend or initiate other measures to control behavior, such as caring for own clothing and picking up toys and books.
- Identify signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring them to parents' or guardians' attention.
- Observe and monitor children's play activities.
- Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.
- Instruct children in health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet habits.
- Read to children and teach them simple painting, drawing, handicrafts, and songs.
- Organize and participate in recreational activities, such as games.
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Tools & Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
| Automobiles or cars — Passenger cars |
| Desktop computers |
| Emergency medical services first aid kits — Emergency first aid kits |
| Fire extinguishers — Fire extingushers |
| Oral liquid medication syringes — Medicine dosing syringes |
| Photocopiers — Photocopying equipment |
Technology used in this occupation:
| Calendar and scheduling software — Scheduling software |
| Computer based training software — Educational software |
| Internet browser software — Web browser software |
| Word processing software — Microsoft Word |
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Knowledge
| Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. |
| Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders. |
| English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. |
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Skills
| Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. |
| Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things. |
| Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. |
| Instructing — Teaching others how to do something. |
| Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
| Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. |
| Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. |
| Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. |
| Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences. |
| Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others. |
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Abilities
| Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem. |
| Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. |
| Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. |
| Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. |
| Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). |
| Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). |
| Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem. |
| Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. |
| Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. |
| Time Sharing — The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources). |
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Work Activities
| Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients. |
| Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. |
| Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others. |
| Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials. |
| Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others. |
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Work Context
| Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? |
| Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? |
| Work With Work Group or Team — How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? |
| Freedom to Make Decisions — How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? |
| Structured versus Unstructured Work — To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? |
| Physical Proximity — To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people? |
| Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — How much responsibility is there for the health and safety of others in this job? |
| Telephone — How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? |
| Coordinate or Lead Others — How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job? |
| Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? |
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Job Zone
| Title |
Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed |
| Education |
These occupations usually require a high school diploma. |
| Related Experience |
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public. |
| Job Training |
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations. |
| Job Zone Examples |
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include sheet metal workers, forest fire fighters, customer service representatives, physical therapist aides, salespersons (retail), and tellers. |
| SVP Range |
(4.0 to < 6.0) |
There is 1 recognized apprenticeable specialty associated with this occupation:
Child Care Development Specialist
To learn about specific apprenticeship opportunities, please consult the U.S. Department of Labor State Apprenticeship Information
website.
For general information about apprenticeships, training, and partnerships with
business, visit the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship
website.
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Interests
Interest code: SA
| Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others. |
| Artistic — Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules. |
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Work Styles
| Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. |
| Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. |
| Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. |
| Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical. |
| Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. |
| Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations. |
| Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job. |
| Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. |
| Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. |
| Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction. |
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Work Values
| Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service. |
| Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. |
| Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employs to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy. |
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Related Occupations
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Wages & Employment Trends
National
| Median wages (2008) |
$9.12 hourly, $18,970 annual |
| Employment (2008) |
1,302,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2008-2018) |
Average (7% to 13%)
|
| Projected job openings (2008-2018) |
523,100 |
| Top industries (2008) |
|
State & National
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 wage data
and 2008-2018 employment projections
.
"Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2008-2018). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.
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Sources of Additional Information
Disclaimer:
Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries.
Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.
- Childcare workers
. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition.
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Bright Outlook