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Advice for a career change to child development/education?



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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Tue, Jul 26 2016, 8:38 pm
I have a lot of "back of the cuff" experience in child development/education (homeschooling, parent coaching relating to one of my children's health issues, curriculum design, etc.) and am now looking to pursue this a career. I don't know yet what I want to focus on, since my interests and experiences are pretty varied.

I plan on taking some child development classes at a local community college, where I can earn an A.A. in Child Development if I think that it will be useful, or use the courses as a foundation for later pursuing a Master's in a relevant field. I am also signing up for the American Red Cross's CPR and First Aid certification classes, since they seem like a good "hashgacha" on my ability to handle a medical situation.

Can those who are already established in child development/education think of anything else that I can do to "establish myself" (I.e. think about putting together a resume) while taking coursework and considering my options?

Thank you for your advice!
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Kugglegirl




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 26 2016, 11:19 pm
What Is your objective in perusing this career?

    To make a good salary (ie more than 50k/yr)?
    To work in a setting with hours and days conducive to being home after school & summers?
    To self actualize and gain knowledge that is of interest to you?


Are you comfortable working with diverse clients/students, or are you only comfortable working with "frum people" or "di hemeishse velt?"

Also, where are you located (country or state if in the USA)

What specific skills or knowledge do you already have?
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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Wed, Jul 27 2016, 12:08 am
Kugglegirl wrote:
What Is your objective in perusing this career?

    To make a good salary (ie more than 50k/yr)?
    To work in a setting with hours and days conducive to being home after school & summers?
    To self actualize and gain knowledge that is of interest to you?


Are you comfortable working with diverse clients/students, or are you only comfortable working with "frum people" or "di hemeishse velt?"

Also, where are you located (country or state if in the USA)

What specific skills or knowledge do you already have?


Kugglegirl, thank you for responding so quickly!

My objectives are:
- want to have options for entering the workforce in a position I'll enjoy, should I need to/choose to work in the future
- want the option of an in-office work schedule that (more or less) coincides with my childrens' school schedule (yes, I realize that teachers/therapists/etc. don't end their work day when the kids go home)
- I have enjoyed my past work in child-related/educational/parent coaching fields, and positively contributed to children/parents/the educational process in those roles

I'll consider working in any environment, however, my own life experience has shown me many places where frum schools can stand to improve (primarily in special education, helping parents to navigate therapist, integrating limudei kodesh with secular studies, and offering parent coaching for special needs/learning differences from a frum perspective) and I'd prefer to work in that space if possible. Frankly, I think people's reluctance to go beyond the "velt" for their children's educational needs often causes more harm than good, and I'd like to help correct that in some capacity.

My knowledge is more based on life experience than anything professional. I'd rather not elaborate more than I did in my original post, since it can make me easily identifiable.

I live in California.
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Kugglegirl




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 27 2016, 1:28 pm
My suggestions for career tracks to look into:

School Psychologist
LISW/LCSW Social worker

Art Therapist
Nutritionist

If you want to consolidate your medical knowledge, consider training as an EMT or LPN.

As an LPN you could check for lice, which is something pretty useful.

It is a good idea for anyone to take Red Cross CPR/First Aid, but no one is going to "respect" you for that. It is a very basic level of knowledge & in many settings, like Head Start day cares, and most public schools, this training is offered as part of in service training. So very entry level workers and the lay population, including older high school students can get these certs pretty easily.

If you wanted to, you could take the red cross classes, and then train as a red cross instructor of those classes. Offerning these classes in your community would be a great service.
http://www.redcross.org/take-a.....ining


Hope these give you some ideas to start with. It is smart to start your training now so you will be ready when you want to work.

I am not familiar with the schools and credentialing on the west coast, so best to investigate locally.
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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Wed, Jul 27 2016, 3:31 pm
Kugglegirl wrote:
My suggestions for career tracks to look into:

School Psychologist
LISW/LCSW Social worker

Art Therapist
Nutritionist

If you want to consolidate your medical knowledge, consider training as an EMT or LPN.

As an LPN you could check for lice, which is something pretty useful.

It is a good idea for anyone to take Red Cross CPR/First Aid, but no one is going to "respect" you for that. It is a very basic level of knowledge & in many settings, like Head Start day cares, and most public schools, this training is offered as part of in service training. So very entry level workers and the lay population, including older high school students can get these certs pretty easily.

If you wanted to, you could take the red cross classes, and then train as a red cross instructor of those classes. Offerning these classes in your community would be a great service.
http://www.redcross.org/take-a.....ining


Hope these give you some ideas to start with. It is smart to start your training now so you will be ready when you want to work.

I am not familiar with the schools and credentialing on the west coast, so best to investigate locally.


Thanks for the ideas!
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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Wed, Jul 27 2016, 7:16 pm
Bumping in case anyone else has ideas!

Thank you for your help!
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amother
Linen


 

Post Wed, Jul 27 2016, 8:40 pm
Is an art therapist a real job? Someone recently recommended I become one but I'm wondering if it's a floofy non-job. Anyone have any info or insight?
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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Wed, Jul 27 2016, 8:45 pm
I'm the original Amother.

Linen, how do you define "real job" and "floofy non-job"?
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