Gender Female
Age 76
Experience 7 years nanny 6 years babysitting
Skills Swim
Can care for DisabilitiesBehavioral IssuesTwins/MultiplesElderly
Availability Start Date Is Flexible
Position duration long_term
Would prefer to Live-out
Preferred states IL
I’m a nanny because I am semi-retired and want to do childcare because it is the most fullfilling and interesting and meaningful of the various kinds of work I have done. I also know that I have a gift for working with children, especially infants and toddlers, and am adept at the custodial care aspects of working with them. I also have many attributes, both innate and developed during my experiences caring for children: creativity, flexibility, ability to observe and discern a child's needs and readiness. I have a knowledge of child development from taking courses, and more importantly, from observing children through the years of my childcare work/play. I am very familiar with children's literture for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, partly from being an English major, partly from my own explorations of children's literature as part of my childcare jobs, and partly from the 18 months when I worked in a small-town library and presented preschool story hours. I enjoy all of the above and feel I have a contribution to make in the lives of young children, and that's why I want to return to childcare now that I am semi-retired.
My past childcare experience On three separate occasions, I have been a full-time nanny for children from infancy to age 3. I have also been a babysitter when I was in high school and college for children ages infancy to age 13+. I have worked with children with ASD and sensory processing disorder and delayed speech, including following therapists' programs for these children. I have taught preschool for a total of two years, plus one year teaching kindergarten.
Additional comments I believe that young children should have fun while they are learning, and then they will want to continue to learn. I am firm but flexible in setting limits. I enjoy and am good at planning and supervising all kinds of activities, but art, stories, and cooking are my personal favorites. I am also a strong believer in as much outside actitity as the weather permits. In all activities, I like to provide both structured and semi-structured environments. My main concern is always with discerning the child's needs and wants and preferences and planning activities accordingly. Fostering a warm relationship with the child is very important to me, but the child must also be aware than the PARENTS ARE THE PARENTS and I am just an adjunct to them.
Level of education Other
Languages English
Nationality American