All About Early Childcare Assistants
(ECA)
What Is An Early Childcare
Assistant (ECA) Job?
For children between the ages of birth and twelve years old, early childhood educators
design, coordinate, and carry out programs. Under the supervision of early childhood
educators, early childhood educator assistants look after infants and children from
preschool through grade school. Children are led in activities by early childhood
educators and assistants to foster and develop their intellectual, physical, and emotional
growth as well as to assure their safety and well-being. They work at kindergartens,
daycare facilities, agencies for children with special needs, and other places that offer
assistance in early childhood education. This unit group consists of early childhood
educators and assistant supervisors.
What Is A Early Childcare
Assistant, (ECA) Responsible
For?
Early childhood educators are normally responsible for:
Develop and operate childcare programs that support and encourage children's physical,
mental, emotional, and social growth.
Lead activities by telling or reading stories, teaching songs, taking children to local
places of interest, and giving them chances to express their creativity through art,
dramatic play, music, and physical activity.
Plan and keep up an environment that keeps children safe, healthy, and happy.
Assess children's skills, interests, and needs, and talk to parents and other staff about
their progress or problems.
Watch children for signs of possible learning or behaviour problems and write reports for
parents, guardians, or supervisors.
Guide and help children learn how to eat, dress, and use the toilet properly.
Set up and keep working relationships with coworkers and community service providers
who help children.
May plan and organize activities for school-aged children in childcare programs before
and after regular school hours.
May oversee and coordinate the activities of other early childhood educators and early
childhood educator assistants.
Assistants to early childhood educators are in charge of:
Help early childhood educators run programs that help children develop physically,
intellectually, emotionally, and socially.
Tell stories, teach songs, and make crafts with the kids to keep them busy.
Establish rooms or furniture and make snacks for lunch and breaks.
Help with eating, dressing, and going to the bathroom.
Send written comments about the kids to early childhood educators or supervisors.
Keep daycare equipment in good shape and help with cleaning and cooking.
Go to staff meetings to talk about the kids' progress and problems.
May help teachers or supervisors of young children keep records.
ECA, Early Childcare Assistant
Job Skills
Early childhood educators and assistants must have skills in Service and Care Help,
like cleaning and keeping a house or shop, taking care of daily needs, cooking,
preparing, serving, protecting and enforcing, treating people and animals, counselling
and nurturing.
In addition to being able to provide excellent service and care, you must also
have strong communication skills. The ECA can assist in a variety of communication-
related tasks, including interviewing, promoting and selling, advising and consulting,
highly qualified communicating, teaching and training, dealing directly and collaborating,
and finally, negotiating and assessing.
When it comes to information handling, other important abilities include processing
information and managing information.
Inspecting and testing, analyzing information, examining and diagnosing, planning,
researching and investigating, and managing projected outcomes are all part of the
ECA skills for analysis.
The management skills section places a primary emphasis on the following areas:
supervising, recruiting and hiring, coordinating and organizing, evaluating, distributing
and regulating resources, guiding and encouraging, and planning and implementing.
Education And Experience
Necessary To Become A ECA
The following is essential information for those interested in becoming assistants to
early childhood educators.
The successful completion of an early childhood assistant college program that lasts
between two and four years or a bachelor's degree program in child development is
necessary.
There is a possibility that successful completion of an early childhood education
assistant certificate program or early childhood education post-secondary courses is
necessary.
Before you are allowed to begin working, an authority may require you to first obtain a
professional license from them. Depending on the field of work, obtaining a license may
either be required or entirely optional.
Before you are allowed to use a professional designation or practice a profession for
which a license is required, you must first become certified in that profession.
If obtaining a license is optional, then you do not need to be certified in order to engage
in this line of work.
Early Childcare Assistant (ECA)
Salaries In Canada
The national average income for an ECA in Canada is around $33,150 per year, which
equates to an hourly wage of around $18. The starting salary for entry-level
employment is $29,000 per year, but professionals with more experience can make up
to $40,000 per year.
On the other hand, given below are some of the regions in Canada along with their
respective average salaries for early childhood assistants.
Source: Government of Canada Job Bank. Note: Last updated on November 16, 2022.
The Future Of ECA Jobs
Childcare facilities, preschools, community centres, and parks and recreation
departments are common places for recently graduated individuals to find employment.
They could be employed as early childhood educators (ECEs), early childhood
education assistants (ECEAs), support workers for children who require additional
assistance, or people who run before- and after-school programs.
ECAs have the opportunity to become ECEs if they pursue further education. ECEs with
experience have the ability to oversee programs within agencies or become the
executive director of an organization. Some operate private child-care facilities. Those
with a higher level of education have the opportunity to pursue careers as child care
directors, infant development consultants, supported child development coordinators,
administrators for early childhood education centres, or early childhood education
instructors at colleges and universities. Some people may decide to get the training
necessary to work as educational assistants with children of school age.
Where Can I Work As An Early
Childcare Assistant (ECA)?
Listed below are some of the companies where you can work as an early childhood
assistant and their locations:
1. Little Galaxy Childcare Inc.- Brampton
2. KIDZ CAVE ACADEMY INC - Langdon
3. Learning Jungle - Markham
4. TRTFN - Atlin
5. Toor's Childcare Inc. - Abbotsford
6. Elder Tree Montessori - Orangeville
7. Maple Child Care Centre Inc. - Maple
8. Freedom Childcare Centre - Victoria
9. Newstead Child Care Center - Richmond Hill
10. Osoyoos Child Care Centre Society - Osoyoos
11. Kamloops Kidz Early Learning Center - Kamloops
12. Little Owl Academy Ltd. - Kelowna
13. Brainiax Inc - Edmonton
14. Elrose ABC Family Centre Inc. - Elrose
15. Junior Einstein's Academy Ltd. - Surrey
16. K M School - Brampton
17. Wee Care Educational Services Inc. - Burlington
18. Golden Child Daycare - Golden
19. EduKids Child Care Centres - St. Thomas - Whitby
20. Red Apple Day Care Centre Inc - Abbotsford
Also, apart from working as an early childhood educator assistant, you can also be one
of the following:
1. Consultant in educational matters
2. Practitioner of educational programs in mental health
3. Family support worker
4. Primary school teacher
5. Special educational needs coordinator (SENCO)
6. Special educational needs teacher
7. Teaching assistant
8. Social and youth worker
9. Children’s counsellor
10. Community development worker
Early Childcare Assistant (ECA) In
Canada For Immigrants
Did you know that teaching and helping young children is one of the most popular jobs
in Canada? Early childhood assistants are in high demand in all 11 of Canada's
provinces and territories. If you're thinking about making Canada your new home,
you can choose from a lot of ways to move there, as well as a lot of jobs.
As we've already talked about, if you are an experienced early childhood assistant, you
can migrate to Canada and have a good chance of getting a job in any of the country's
11 provinces. You can find these job openings in:
1. Alberta
2. British Columbia
3. Manitoba
4. New Brunswick
5. Newfoundland and Labrador
6. Nova Scotia
7. Ontario
8. Prince Edward Island
9. Quebec
10. Saskatchewan
Over the next few years, it is expected that 21,000 new jobs will be made because of
growth and the need to replace workers. Another 28,000 new jobs will be made for
graduates and newcomers who want to live and work in Canada.
How To Write An Ideal Resume
For Early Childcare Assistant
(ECA)?
Your resume is one of the most important parts of your job application. This document
shows your most important skills, experiences, and qualifications when applying for jobs
in early childhood education.
1. Choose the format for your resume
There are a few common ways to format a resume, and the one you choose will often
depend on how much experience you have. A chronological resume puts the most
important information about your work experience at the top and lists your roles and
responsibilities from most recent to least recent.
2. Read the job description thoroughly
Before you write your resume, read the job description to make sure you know what the
employer wants. Highlight words and phrases from the job description and use them in
your resume to show that you are a good fit for the role.
3. List your contact information
When you put contact information at the top of your resume, hiring managers will find it
easy to get in touch with you.
4. Highlight your qualifications
This part of your resume near the top is meant to get the attention of hiring managers
and make them want to learn more about you. A resume summary is a statement,
usually made up of two to three sentences, that shows off your level of experience and
your best early childhood assistant skills, traits, or accomplishments.
5. Provide your work experience
When you talk about your past jobs, list them from most recent to least recent. Give the
job title, the place where you worked, and the dates you worked there.
6. Think of your relevant skills and have them listed
Use the job description to figure out which hard and soft skills to list in the skills section
of your resume.
7. List all your education qualifications
Your education section shows that you meet the needs of possible employers. For
example, people who work with young children usually need to finish an Early
Childhood Assistant program or have a bachelor's degree in a related field, like child
development. List your degrees and the names and locations of the schools that gave
them to you. You can also list any licenses or certifications that are important.
Even though all of these seem like they would take a lot of time, you don't have to worry
because Caring Support has a free resume builder that makes everything else easy and
quick. You can pick and choose because it can also be made accessible and
customizable for you!
SOURCE: https://www.caringsupport.com/blog/all-about-early-childcare-assistants-eca