The reason I chose to go into Childcare.

One question that people always seem to ask is "So, why did you choose to go into Childcare". Well the answer to this is, for me, quite complicated. Four years ago back in 2010, we lost a family member and then everyone started falling out. Therefore as my parents have been divorced now since I was four years old, I had to move in with my mother. When I previously lived with my grandfather.

So I had to make a choice. I had just done badly at my A-Levels in Geography, English Languge and Computing only achieveing C's and an E. However that wasn't enough to get me into University. Back then I wanted to go into teaching in secondary school. So I applied to do a CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Childcare And Education at the college in my mother's town.

Of course being a boy I was the minority in the class. To start off with there was two men including me, but the other male in my class had to quit due to personal problems. But I cracked on. Throughout the two years at College I made some amazing friends who I still talk with now. They have both moved on too, one is working in Austria caring for children at a Holiday resort and another is working hard with special needs children in a school back in the UK.

However, throughout College I was constantly asked if I was gay. I have no idea why anyone would assume this, because I am not gay in the slightest. I have nothing against people who are homosexual or bisexual, but I am a little annoyed that when a man works in childcare they are automatically assumed to be gay.

One of the reaons why I chose to enter into a female dominated career is because I want to make a difference. I chose childcare because it allowed me to gain the skills and qualifications I need to enter teaching. However back when I started I was only focused on getting into a school and teaching. Over the two years at College I got to see a different side and started to love working with the younger children. I have been in classrooms of year one students (Aged 5-6) and loved working with them. At that age the children look upto you (Physically and mentally...) and just want to know more about the world around them.

I've been through numerous placements and throughout college I was the only male member of staff int he entire school. Therefore I was well known across the entire school even by the year groups who I had no contact with. The children seemed to be fascinated with me, because they had never see a man working in their school before and especially working with the younger children in key stage one.

When I work with children and I teach them something new, there is a certain feeling that I can't describe. Its like a sense of pride mixed with a sense of enjoyment and accomplishment. When a child finally starts to learn from you and you know that you have taught them something they will remember for their entire life and pass it onto their future generations, it makes you feel kind of special.

For example, there was once a young girl in one of my year one classes and she was having trouble reading. Her mother and father wouldn't read with her at home and she was on the lowest level of the Oxford Reading Tree. Just for those that don't know, the lowest level is basically "The Cat sat on the mat". For a five year old half way through Year 1 she was really struggling and she was falling behind. The school thought she was Dyslexic, but then I started to work with her. Over the space of just under four months I helped her and supported her with her reading and her work in class and when I left she was reading independatly when only a few weeks ago she needed constant prompting and support.

The day that she opened her reading book and began to read the words outloud without my support, that was the day that I walked around with the biggest smile on my face. I had achieved something and its a wonderful feeling when you know that knowledge is going to make a difference to someones life.

The sense of achievement and accomplishment you get when working with young children is the best feeling anyone can ever have. Its like when your child says their first word, its remarkable. However most people often say "What were you smoking when you chose to work with young children?", well to answer that I wasn't smoking anything at all. I wanted to make a difference to the children that I teach and care for. 

So basically when it comes down to it, the reason I work with children is because I want to make a difference to all the children I care and teach. I want them to be in a better postion in their life than I was when growing up. Making a difference and creating the perfect world for all of our children is my goal in childcare!