Infant Toddler Assistant Teacher - Full Year

Infant Assistant Teacher

Job Summary:

Under the supervision of the Center Education Coordinator or Assistant Center Education Coordinator, this position is responsible for providing comprehensive early childhood services in compliance with DHS regulations, Head Start Performance Standards, program guidelines, policies and procedures. The Infant Assistant Teacher is responsible for implementing the curriculum in the classroom by creating lesson plans and developing individual child goals to meet the needs of children, including observing, assessing, and documenting children's progress.

In addition, the Infant Assistant Teacher is responsible for maintaining active supervision of children and for providing ongoing communication with parents, including during home visits, at parent-teacher conferences, in written daily activities sheets, and at other program sponsored events.

Essential Functions:

Duties and Responsibilities:

Provide comprehensive services for children from birth to 3 years of age maintaining compliance with the program's guidelines and performance standards (including MN DHS licensing regulations Head Start Program Performance Standards, Child & Adult Care Food Program) Strictly adheres to the highest standards of confidentiality and ethics when working with children, parents and peers. Engage each child in the classroom with hands-on learning and assist the lead teacher as they execute their role.

Responsible for a primary care group of 2-4 children acting as the primary caregiver for this group of children, including caregiving activities (feeding and diapering), building secure and trusting relationships with children and families, documenting daily activities of children, developing child-level goals, and completing ongoing observations and assessment of children. Assists in the creation and implementation of detailed and comprehensive lesson plans appropriate for very young children using Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers and Twos (per Curricula and Intentional Planning Procedure), which includes activities that support goals to achieve measurable outcomes based on observations and results of the program's child assessment tool.

Actively engages in developmentally appropriate classroom activities, such as child-initiated free play, floor play, caregiving routines, limited adult-initiated activities, self-help and routine care such as formula preparation and diaper changing. Uses self-talk and other language support techniques continuously throughout the day to enhance language development in children. For each child in the assigned primary care group, observe each child on a regular basis in all developmental domains to establish individual child goals that are meaningful and measurable.

Responsible for recording authentic observations and accurate documentation to track and achieve measurable child outcomes and established programmatic school readiness goals. Documents, levels and finalizes development using the designated online assessment tool(per Assessment & Child Goals: Individualizing for Children Policy). Presents results of the program's assessment tool to parents in a manner that is easy to understand during parent-teacher conferences, home visits, and upon request.

Assists parents with developing individualized strategies in order to continue curriculum learning in the home. Communicate with parents regarding the child's overall development including the child's successes and areas of potential concern or needed improvement (per Family Teacher Conferences policy) Closely partners with families to build relationships and ensure smooth transitions between home and classroom. This includes daily written communication provided to families regarding the child's day, which must include successes, challenges, classroom routines, and self-care (e.g., diapering, napping, and meal consumption, etc.

(per DHS regulations and Parent/Family Engagement policy). Assists in designing a safe and developmentally appropriate learning environment (per Teaching and Learning Environment Policy). Ensures appropriate health and safety practices are implemented. Inspects the classroom, indoor and outdoor space daily ensuring that materials are safe. Remove or repair all unsafe equipment. Report any major concerns to management (per Daily Potential Hazard Checklist) Assist with the children's daily informal health checks.

Actively participates in emergency drills (per Emergency Safety Lockdown policy). Ensures active supervision is maintained at all times (per Active Supervision of Children policy). Continuously cleans and sanitizes classroom and toys. Monitors for the excretion of bodily fluids (e.g., toileting accidents, mouthing of toys, etc.) using universal precautions to clean and sanitize (per Safe Facilities policy). Assists in ensuring that children's classroom files, data within necessary program database (e.g., daily attendance, meal counts, home visits, parent-teacher conferences),…