NATURE AND SCOPE OF POSITION
The Early Head Start (EHS) Teacher is responsible for working with infants or toddlers in a classroom setting. The Teacher will work collaboratively with his/her partner Teacher to ensure the successful operation of a classroom with capacity per the Head Start infant/toddler ratio standards. The Teacher, along with families and colleagues, works to achieve meaningful the progress of each child along his/her own unique developmental path and toward Prime Time Head Start’s school readiness goals.
JOB FUNCTIONS ESSENTIAL:
The EHS Teacher will ultimately be evaluated on a combination of skills, dispositions, and behaviors, some of which are related to the specific service area of this position and others that represent general expectations of all Prime Time Head Start employees.
Infant-toddler Growth & Development: Uses knowledge of the principles of child growth and development to work with children and communicate with families, internal and external stakeholders.
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Implements child-centered daily routine, curriculum and learning environment that encourages the development of age-appropriate positive social interactions, active exploration/ engagement in learning, and self-motivation (curiosity) to promote development in all domains for children of all abilities.
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Understands the development of self-regulation in infants-toddlers as well as age-appropriate expectations for pro-social behaviors. Creates a nurturing, responsive environment that promotes positive and development of social and emotional competencies. Observes closely and with understanding to determine possible causes of challenging behavior, implementing preventive measures, teaching children new social and communication skills in partnership with families.
- Uses observations of children and anecdotal notes to document children’s progress and individualize curriculum.
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Creates partnerships with families to establish positive interaction patterns in program, school, and home.
PLANNING
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Will assist in ensuring that the written curriculum includes:
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goals for children’s development and learning;
- the experiences through which children will achieve these goals;
- what staff and parents can do to help children achieve these goals;
- the materials needed to support the implementation of the curriculum towards achieving the stated goals.
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Support the social and emotional development of children.
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Responsible for collaborating with a partner Teacher in the preparation of daily lesson plans. Post them for parents, volunteers, and visitors in the classroom
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Will assist in the development of individual plans for each child including goal setting based on identified needs and prescriptions for objectives and activities to meet established child outcomes.
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Planning and implementing learning experiences that advance the cognitive and physical development of children, including progress toward school readiness goals by developing their language (understanding and increasingly complex use, expanding vocabulary) emergent literacy, print and numeracy awareness, their appreciation of books and their problem-solving abilities.
PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
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Follow program curriculum providing ample opportunities for natural play and hands on experiences that reflect the learning styles of individual children in the group.
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Implement developmentally and linguistically appropriate experiences appropriate to age, language and culture of children served.
- Establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment.
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Implement experiential learning activities advancing the intellectual and emotional competence of infants and toddlers.
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Provide positive guidance and discipline supporting children as they acquire readiness skills for kindergarten and beyond.
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Implement daily lesson plans in response to children’s needs and interests incorporating observations, anecdotal record keeping, knowledge of early childhood development and the key experiences.
- Implement Individual Family Services Plans (IFSPs) for children with disabilities.
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Provide children with a consistent classroom routine that is responsive to individual infants and toddlers’ needs.
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Always provide supervision and ensure the safety and security of children in accordance with Early Head Start and day care licensing requirements.
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Supervise and eat nutritionally prepared meals and/or snacks with the children as a curriculum activity (toddlers and 2’s) to model good nutrition and proper social skills for infants and toddlers.
- Feed all infants on demand.
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Hold all non-mobile infants during feeding.
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Supervise all classroom field trips and outdoor activities.
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Understand regulations associated with prevention of disease and injury, including proper diapering procedures, and the exercise of universal precautions, and the prevention of contamination.
FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS
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Invite parent involvement in the development of the program’s curriculum and approach to child development and education.
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Encourage the involvement of the families of the children in an Early/ Head Start program and support the development of relationships between children and their families.
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Provide opportunities for parents to increase their child observation skills and to share assessments with staff that help plan the learning experiences.
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Encourage parent participation in staff-parent conferences and home visits discussing their child’s development and education.
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Establish positive and productive relationships with families focusing on building trust and rapport.
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Work with a partner Teacher to schedule and complete two home visits per year and at least two parent-teacher conferences per year.
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Participate in parent orientation and ongoing parent trainings as required.
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Identify and refer parents wanting to volunteer in the classroom, work as substitutes or in other volunteer activities to their Family Service Advocate. Support parent volunteers in classroom as needed.
COMMUNICATION AND SERVICE COORDINATION
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Share pertinent information with Family Coordinator ensuring coordinated services to meet the needs of individual children and families. Participate in case conferences as appropriate.
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Maintain regular contact with parents and complete appropriate documentation (e.g. daily reporting on infant sleep, eating and elimination).
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Forward classroom updates to the Center Director to be included in monthly newsletter.
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Direct developmental concerns to the Health, Nutrition and Disabilities Coordinator.
RECORD KEEPING AND RECORDING
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Request supplies as needed and participate in classroom/program inventory as requested.
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Gather and maintain individual, family and classroom data for documentation, on-going assessment, evaluation, and recording keeping for successful individual and program planning.
ON GOING MONITORING AND SELF-ASSESSMENT
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Conduct daily health checks.
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Assess children on an on-going basis. Gather and organize anecdotal notes into the key goals and objectives and document in GOLD.
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Work with the teaching team to analyze child outcomes on a classroom basis twice yearly, consult with education leadership and adjust curriculum planning and implementation as needed.
MARGINAL-
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Provide courteous and prompt service to all internal and external clients. Prioritize and address requests and assignments in a professional manner to develop cooperative relationships and to ensure that client confidentiality is assured.
- Identify opportunities and recommend methods to improve service, work processes and financial performance, e.g. expense management. Assists in the implementation of quality improvement initiatives.
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Assist co-workers in the completion of tasks and assignments to ensure continuity of service. Orient new co-workers and actively support teamwork throughout the organization.
- Perform other duties as required.
PRIMARY QUALIFICATIONS
Education:
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Infant/Toddler CDA –OR- AA/BA in Early Childhood Education or related field with at least 120 training hours in Infant/Toddler content plus at least 480 hours of experience working with infant and toddlers.
Certifications:
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CPR and First Aid certification required or to be obtained.
Work Experience:
- At least 480 hours of experience working with infant and toddlers.
- Prior Early Head Start/Head Start experience preferred.
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Bilingual preferred.
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Ability to interact effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
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Ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing.
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Demonstrated computer literacy skills, using MS Office applications and other basic data systems including internet navigation.
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Must be honest, dependable, and able to meet deadlines.
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Self-motivated and able to work independently.
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Excellent decision-making and communications skills.
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High degree of tact and professionalism.
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Strong positive attitude.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY SPECIFICATIONS
Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, sit, use hands to finger motions, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, talk or hear, taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds, up to 20 times per day with or without assistance. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to focus.
Work Environment: Work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is exposed to weather and internal climate conditions prevalent at the time. The work environment is considered to be that of a normal primary educational institution. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Exposure to blood, saliva and bodily fluids is common. Proper training and protective equipment are required to avoid direct contact from blood, saliva and bodily fluids is required.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities/Prime Time Family, Inc is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, creed, ancestry, marital status or sexual orientation, gender identification, genetic information, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, marital status, citizenship status, victims of domestic violence, or any other protected category.
NOTE: This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of all duties and responsibilities. The organization reserves the right to change this description at its discretion.
