Male Childcare Providers: A profile of three great educators…

Friday, June 27, 2008
Male Childcare Providers: A profile of three great educators…
(names have been changed to protect the innocent and nawt hawt)
Guest Column by UMassSlytherin

I would like to take this opportunity to express my opinion on males in childcare. My opinions are based on values as well as extensive childcare experience. I think if there were more males in childcare it would not only benefit the children, the daycare centers, and the female workers, but would also benefit society at large. I have been fortunate enough to have worked with several males over the course of my childcare career, and I have to say that the males I worked with were excellent, superior teachers. Hopefully this article will shed some light on why I feel this way. I will profile three random males I have worked with, although there have been several. I will begin by listing their vital stats, including age, where I worked with them, any children they have, marital status, sexual orientation, level of education, and for those of you who are interested in this sort of thing, if they were hawt or nawt.


Greg
Preschool teacher
College educated
Straight
Age 40-45
High-end chain daycare
Parent of 7 year old girl
Divorced
Nawt that hawt

Greg I found interesting as well as quirky. He was, to be perfectly honest, not well-liked by many of the other teachers, who were all female. He did used to do some things that were quite odd, including coming to the center early to wash his laundry in the center laundry room, including his underwear which I suppose some of the ladies found offensive. But I liked him, and my late mother, who worked there as well in the Toddler room, liked him ok. Greg's daughter was a child actor, and being someone who has always been fascinated with celebrities, I found this extremely interesting. One time Greg even showed me her resume and photos.

Well, getting back to Greg, he was a pretty good preschool teacher from what I remember. He used to come up with all these cool obstacle-course games for the kids to play, and he was very patient with me as far as teaching me how to deal with the children regarding re-direction and discipline. The children really dug him, because he seemed sort of like a big kid himself. I think most of the teachers didn't like him maybe because they were sort of jealous of how much the kids dug him. I really think that's what it was. He wasn't any weirder than anybody else. He really wasn't. Men get a bad rap, they really do. Ok. Next.


Gerry
3 year old teacher
College educated
Sexual orientation unknown
Age 35-40
State-funded daycare
No children
Never married
Sort of hawt

Gerry was one no doubt one of the best childcare providers I have ever come in contact with, not to mention one of the nicest people I have ever met. He, like Greg, was a bit quirky as well, but was largely respected at the daycare we worked at for a few reasons. One, it was in a different part of the state, a part of the state which was way more liberal than the daycare in which Greg, the underwear-washer, worked at. It was a very earthy-crunchy area to be honest, and males in childcare were way more accepted there.

Gerry taught the children who were between the ages of 2 and 3, the older toddlers, which we all know are a challenge. Gerry was excellent at potty-training and no parents ever seemed to feel uncomfortable with him pottying their little girls or boys. Gerry was such a kind person, and so funny, too. He was such a skilled childcare provider, as well as super organized. I remember asking him why all the blocks had to be put back on the right shelves, and feeling frustrated about that, and he looked at me like I was dumb (which I was) and explained to me that the children could learn to organize the blocks and that they should do it because it was good for them and good for the classroom. And you know something? He was right. I wish I could be a more organized person. But I'm just not.

Gerry was always very caring and kind to me, and I appreciated that. He made the classroom a very nice place to be, and the kids responded well to a male voice. He was so great at reading to the children, He commanded respect from the children, but also loved them which was clear in the way he treated them. There was a lot of laughter in the room. He later became the Pre-school/Pre-K teacher and I took over his position as lead teacher in the older toddler room, but I wasn't nearly as good as he was. The room lost a lot when he moved over, it really did.


Tom
Pre-school teacher
College educated
Straight
Age 25-30
Private high-end daycare
No children
Single
Reasonably hawt

Tom was a pre-school teacher in one of the daycares that I worked at. He was a quiet sort of guy and did not have much to say. I don't think he liked me much since I am the opposite, and quite silly and all. He never seemed to think it was funny when I asked him questions regarding hawt B-list celebs and if he could help me come up with strategies to contact them. He was very much a "by the book" type of teacher if you want to know the truth, and didn't seem to think some of the things I did were amusing. For instance, once when he was in the mobile infant room covering for breaks, he happened to see the game I was playing with the children, which incidentally was "Pretend Communion." (That's just using cheerios to help the children practice for receiving their first communion.) Tom asked me what I was doing and when I explained to him that we were just practicing for one of the important sacraments, he patiently explained to me that not all the children were Catholic and we'd better play something else please. I thought he was right and all, and we stopped playing.

Regarding males changing diapers and stuff, Tom used to do this but at this daycare there was a big open bathroom and changing area, so he was never alone. I don't think anyone would have had a problem with that: Tom seemed very nice and not weird at all. He was just awfully quiet and stuff, but we are all different, and I think that's ok. I liked him, even if he didn't like me much. He was a nice guy. The children enjoyed being with him. They really did.

******
In closing, I would just like to say that I think more males should be in childcare and that while hiring a male nanny is obviously up to a parent, I think it's silly to not hire males for the profession. And yes, males as well as females have to be careful these days in how they treat children and not get too intimate and stuff, which is sad but true. Just like in public school, you have to tone it way down now as a teacher. I remember the teachers hugging me and stuff and you don't see that anymore really because of lawsuits and accusations. But just because someone is male doesn't mean they are a pedophile. There are tons of female teachers who we read about every day who are just as bad and stuff. But males in childcare are a good thing, in my humble opinion. They bring so much to the children and to the center. It is good for children to see that males can be skilled early childhood educators too.

Regarding whether or not these males are hawt: none of the males I have worked with have been that hawt, unfortunately. However, I think it's ok to hire hawt males because it's fun to have hawt guys around your work environment. It can only put you in a better mood, right? Right.

Peace out, and God Bless all early childhood educators, male and female, hawt and nawt hawt.