Teacher Assistant EHS at Orange County Head Start in Orange, CA

Responsible and accountable for assisting the EHS Teacher with a nurturing environment that promotes health and safety, and supports the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children from birth to three years of age. Assist Teachers to form close caring relationships and be responsive to the needs of infants and toddlers through individualized care.

Assist EHS Teachers to ensure and maintain continuity of care to promote bonding between Caregivers and the children. Includes assisting EHS teachers with preparation, instruction, evaluation, home visits and parent conferences, regarding children’s growth and development.

Essential Job Duties

Assist the EHS Teacher to effectively plan and implement learning experiences that advance the intellectual and physical development of infants and toddlers including improving the readiness of children for preschool based on individual patterns of development that address all domains and areas required by the Head Start Performance Standards.

Form partnerships with parents through ongoing communication and daily interaction at greeting and departure times.

Assist EHS Teachers to work with parents to develop individual lesson plans, goals and objectives for each child’s development in the domains required by the Head Start Performance Standards.

Assist EHS Teachers to document child’s progress through written observations, work samples, pictures and input from parents and other qualified staff in the required assessment tool.

Must be able to hear and see children at all time when under their supervision.

Instruct and interact with children utilizing age appropriate adult child interactions as approved by the agency including one-on-one, small group, and large group interactions.

Responsible for meeting the individual needs of all children (diapering, toileting, accommodating physical requirements), in a respectful, considerate and supportive manner. Provide care and supervision for children including maintaining safety, assisting with toileting and self-care routines.

Assist EHS Teachers to train parents and volunteers regarding classroom procedures, appropriate interactions with children and specific tasks.

Assist EHS Teachers in utilizing approved screening tools in partnership with parents to observe each child’s health and development.

Assist EHS Teacher to prepare daily paperwork including but not limited to daily attendance, meal count, daily milk count, fire and disaster drills, inside and outside safety checklist.

Assist EHS Teacher to communicate during home visit and parent conferences to communicate child progress with parents and set/update goals for each child.

Assist EHS Teacher to recruit parents to participate in Parent Engagement Program and notify parents of meetings, home visits, events and concerns.

Assist EHS Teacher in carrying out individual nutrition plan for infants and toddlers. Store formula and food in a properly maintained and refrigerated storage unit.

Prepare and set-up for meals and snacks as required.

Assist children and adults when injured or during other emergency situations within the classroom and related facilities.

Participate in the preparation, cleaning, and set up of classroom environment and materials for planned activities/lessons.

Non-Essential Job Duties

Perform similar and incidental duties as required.

Job Qualifications

Education: A Child Development Associate Teacher Permit and/or a Minimum of 12 units of Early Childhood Education/Child Development including core courses and a minimum of 3 Infant/Toddler Specialization units.

Experience: Some related experience.

Knowledge: Knowledge of early childhood development and Head Start Performance Standards.

Language Skills: Oral and written fluency in English. Oral and written fluency in Spanish, and or Vietnamese may be required per as a result of community and workforce composition.

Math Skills: Basic math skills required.

Other Requirements: Must have a valid California Driver License and proof of insurance. Must be able to drive to and from different family homes, centers, meetings and/or training venues. Successfully comply with the provisions of Senate Bill 933 and Orange County Head Start’s requirements relative to fingerprinting and criminal background checks.

Other Abilities: Ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing. Ability to work in a team environment. Ability to effectively teach and interact effectively with children, parents and others, and to be an effective member of a teaching team. Must be able to work in a high energy/high stress environment.

Reasoning Abilities: Ability to understand and interact with children, parents and various support personnel.

Reporting Relationships: Reports to Center Director. Works as a team member with other teaching staff.

Major Business/Professional Contacts: Routine contact with nurse regarding child’s health; with Inclusion Facilitator/Coordinator to assess child’s needs relative to special needs and with Center Director for the operation of the center.

Working and Environmental Conditions: Typically functions in a classroom or office environment, as well as daily outside exposure for playground monitoring.

Physical Demands: Requires extended periods of time standing, walking bending and lifting to help the children. Must be able to lift/carry/restrain a 40/50 pound child. Must be able to move freely and quickly within the center environment including sitting on the floor, kneeling, crawling to play with children and to meet their needs.