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.

Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

1. Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts.

2. Care for children in institutional setting, such as group homes, nursery schools, private businesses, or schools for the handicapped.

3. Sanitize toys and play equipment.

4. Discipline children and recommend or initiate other measures to control behavior, such as caring for own clothing and picking up toys and books.

5. Identify signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring them to parents' or guardians' attention.

6. Observe and monitor children's play activities.

7. Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.

8. Instruct children in health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet habits.

9. Read to children and teach them simple painting, drawing, handicrafts, and songs.

10. Organize and participate in recreational activities, such as games.

11. Assist in preparing food for children and serve meals and refreshments to children and regulate rest periods.

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.

Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

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.

Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Education: These occupations usually require a high school diploma and may require some vocational training or job-related course work. In some cases, an associate's or bachelor's degree could be needed.

Training: Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees.

The college search results are undergraduate programs associated with Child Care Workers. Further education may also be required to pursue this career.

The training search results include both short and long-term programs associated with Child Care Workers, and may be more appropriate for adult and non-traditional students. Further training may also be required to pursue this career.

In NY the average wage for this occupation was:

$17,040 (per year) for entry level workers, and $26,890 (per year) for experienced workers.

Create a Budget

Based on the total number of annual openings and its growth rate, the employment prospects for this occupation are described as Very Favorable.

During 2006, there were approximately 119,200 Child Care Workers employed in NY.

We estimate that in 2016 there will be 131,300  employed in NY. This represents an increase of 1,210 job(s) each year, and a total of 3,420 job openings each year.

Child care workers - Visit this link for additional information on this career from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; a publication produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.

Home Health Aides - Provide routine, personal healthcare, such as bathing, dressing, or grooming, to elderly, convalescent, or disabled persons in the home of patients or in a residential care facility.

Personal and Home Care Aides - Assist elderly or disabled adults with daily living activities at the person's home or in a daytime non-residential facility. Duties performed at a place of residence may include keeping house (making beds, doing laundry, washing dishes) and preparing meals. May provide meals and supervised activities at non-residential care facilities. May advise families, the elderly, and disabled on such things as nutrition, cleanliness, and household utilities.