Extended Afternoon Care (EAC) Teacher
Overall role:
The Extended Afternoon Care (EAC) teacher at The Little School helps to facilitate a smooth and successful extended care program for our 2-4 year old children during the afternoons. S/he co-teaches with 2-3 other teachers on the floor, and leads the entirety of the planning and program preparation.
The EAC teachers arrive and prepare the room for lunch and the program. The EAC teachers collaborate as a team and spend most of the day with 20-25 children, first having a quiet time and/or naptime, and later utilizing other areas of the school for program and engagement. The Extended Afternoon Care teachers support other morning teams on the floor as necessary and have the support of the Floating Teacher for necessary on-the-floor support and break coverage.
Specific Responsibilities:
Relationship to Children
Being warm and sincere in her/his relations to children
Developing a relationship with each child
Helping children feel safe and secure
Facilitating the care of children’s basic needs
Accepting each child as an individual
Having growing awareness of each child’s social, emotional, language, cognitive, gross and fine motor development
Having individual goals for children that are implemented on a regular basis
Reading goal sheets and communicating with classroom teachers so that s/he has a sense of a child’s total school experience
Relationship with Parents
Making contact with each individual family on a fairly regular basis
Giving parents and caregivers specific information about their child’s day on a fairly regular basis, and occasionally expanding on or interpreting the specific information
Presenting a friendly and approachable demeanor
Acting professionally, and ensuring confidentiality
Giving necessary written information to parents
Social-Emotional Development
Creating an atmosphere that encourages socializing and allows for individual time/space
Facilitating social interactions, using a variety of techniques
Facilitating child-centered problem-solving, using a variety of techniques
Setting clear, firm, supportive limits, using a variety of techniques
Lunch
Planning for and handling successful transitions
Creating a relaxed, conversational atmosphere during lunch
Being aware of potential educational goals during the lunch program and actively seeking to implement these
Being aware of individual goals and seeking to implement them
Enacting Little School approach to problem solving
Making good on-the-spot assessment of group needs
Communicating with a.m. teachers to find out relevant information from morning
Communicating well with lunch co-teachers during lunch
Communicating well with lunch co-teachers in meetings or other non-lunch times if there is an issue to discuss
Transitions
Helping the children make an easy transition from lunch to EAC
Handling children’s caretaking tasks (toileting, washing up, etc.) in a relaxed way, looking toward health and safety issues, and encouraging self-help skills
Using techniques that make transitions smooth, understandable and enjoyable to the children
When possible and appropriate, moving at the children’s pace
Nap time
Creating a quality, relaxed nap time
Setting up conditions to encourage sleep or rest
Snack
Choosing appropriate times for snacking
Encouraging primarily nutritional, healthy food
Creating a relaxed snacking atmosphere
Outdoors
Supervising sufficiently
Providing planned or teacher-centered activities if necessary
Choosing appropriate times to go outdoors and staying outdoors for the appropriate amounts of time
Interacting and intervening in meaningful, educational ways
Activity Times
Planning a stimulating and balanced environment
Planning stimulating and varied activities
Taking cues from the children in planning
Planning with the needs of children in mind
End of the Day
Sensitively handling pick up time
General
Arriving on time and avoiding excessive absences
Gathering the necessary items before the children arrive
Maintaining the environment in a clean, organized and aesthetically appealing way
Using back-up teachers well, and asking for help when needed
Physical Requirements
Ability to lift from 25 lbs. (OFTEN) to 50 lbs. (OCCASIONALLY)
Ability to safely use appropriate utensils to prepare snack (especially a knife) (OFTEN)
Ability to transition from standing to kneeling to squatting to sitting, including on the floor, to set up napping equipment, activities for children, and to engage with children (OFTEN)
Ability to move through environments and change direction quickly (OFTEN)
Ability to move through and navigate indoor and outdoor environments, including uneven surfaces, resilient matting, stairs, and playground sand, with ease and agility to engage with and supervise children (OFTEN)