Where do I start as a consultant in a child Care This is the question every specialist who has just graduated from college asks. As a rule, they have a large baggage of theoretical knowledge obtained within the walls of the institute, but no understanding of where and how to use them.

I remember myself when I first came to work in childcare, then I was in my 4th year at the institute. I admit honestly, it was scary to start. I was afraid that I wouldn’t cope, that I wouldn’t be accepted by the staff. Then I did not understand how to work, where to start. Therefore the first thing I did was to go to the Methodist Center with my questions. I was very lucky at that time. The methodologist I talked to told me all about the features of work, what documents to make and what to start with first. She became my mentor in my first steps in the profession.

What to start with?

Recommendations to a young specialist.

• Start with a visit to the district methodological center (if there is one in your city).
• Get acquainted with colleagues working in other childcares.
• Study the regulatory and legal documentation. First of all, it is worth studying the professional standard for a teacher-consultant in an educational institution. It spells out all our job functions, that is, what a teacher-advisor should do.
• Start drawing up basic documentation. Draw up a work schedule and a cyclogram, write a work plan. What kind of documentation the consultant should have.
• Draw up a nomenclature of cases for the systematization of documentation.
• Get acquainted with the teachers with whom you will be working together. Tell them about your work and what you will be doing during the school year, what questions you can address.
• Start doing diagnostics. This will allow you to get to know the children and practice your diagnostic skills.
• Introduce yourself to parents. A great way to do this is to speak at parent-teacher conferences, where you can talk about yourself and your work.

Who is a consultant?

The childcare teacher-consultant is a very important specialist for the children, their parents and the staff of the institution. Parents shouldn’t be frightened if a guidance consultant works with their child – he isn’t a doctor and doesn’t give diagnoses to children. His tasks are different.

The consultant works in three directions:

• Working with a child. The specialist evaluates the child’s personal characteristics, his psycho-type, peculiarities of his psyche and behavior, his natural inclinations, fears. Knowing the characteristics of each child, the childcare consultancy helps your child adapt to new conditions, find a common language with peers and teachers, solve conflict situations and help if the baby has problems. The consultant’s work with children combines the functions of a guidance consultant and pedagogy.
• Work with a child’s parents. Preschool is probably more stressful for a child’s parents than it is for the child. The tasks of the consultant include working with moms and dads in several ways: helping them understand the new status of the child, explaining how to behave, how to work on the development of their child, and dealing with conflict situations. The specialist advises parents on the future path of upbringing. Also, the consultant’s tasks include identifying deviations in development and informing the parents that their child needs medical consultation.
• Working with the staff of the childcare center. There is an opinion that the work of the teacher is low-skilled, simple, requiring no special strengths and special skills. This is a huge mistake. childcare consultant just works with the teaching staff, helps with problem children and performs mentoring functions in terms of working with the guys. Each teacher must find a common language with the whole group of kids, find the key to the little heart, become a friend, patron and mentor.

The childcare consultant’s advice is aimed at helping the child adapt, develop and interact with the world around him or her. They are not explicitly therapeutic in nature. Also prohibited by law are any actions that may harm the mental or physical health of the child.

That is why the childcare consultant is a specialist who helps the children, their parents and the staff to live together, learn together and feel at ease and comfortable.