What Education Do You Need to Be a Day Care Manager?
With an ever-increasing number of parents working, day cares continue to flourish. While the majority of individuals employed by the day care industry are tasked with caring for children directly, 4 percent took on the task of administering day care programs and managing the staff, the Occupational Outlook Handbook reported in the results of a 2008 survey. Because these managers have a different set of responsibilities than the staff members who work under them, they must often possess a different set of educational credentials.
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Owner's Standards
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The day care industry is not as regulated as the general education industry and, as a result, there are no set state standards that dictate what type of education managers in this industry must possess. Educational requirements are instead set by day care owners themselves. Many day care owners do not manage their own facilities but instead task another person with doing so and, when hiring this day-to-day manager, the owner sets the specific education standards.
Preferred Education
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It is generally preferable for day care managers to possess some training in business, as a large part of the job deals not with caring for the children but instead overseeing the business side of things. Many day care owners seek candidates who possess at least an associates degree in a business-related field. Some may allow individuals who lack this credential to substitute direct experience for this formal training.
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Child Care Training
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Even though a day care manager may have little or no direct contact with children, it is still preferable to have some child care training. Because the manager will likely be tasked with hiring new employees, it is vital that she know what quality child care looks like so she can seek employees who will be able to provide this quality care to children left in their charge.
Additional Training
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Some states mandate that anyone who works within a day care setting, including the manager, possess certain safety-related educational experiences. These requirements often include basic first aid training as well as child-abuse identification training. Because managers and child care workers deal with children daily, these trainings can prove useful as they may be called upon to administer first aid or they may need to spot a victim of abuse and report the case to child protective services.
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