Overall, I enjoyed my job working with the two's. This age is soooo fun, yet we all know it can be overwhelming at the same time. Which is why it is imperative to abide by state ratio guidelines. If you've worked at a center like mine, you know that they finesse on paper to pretend they are in compliance (having 30 two year olds in one room with two teachers and on paper making it seem like there is a third teacher when those who work there know that person is NOT in the classroom with you and is actually in another classroom or floating the halls and not consistently in a classroom at all). My extreme love for my kids is what kept me at the job for so long. Our classroom was always neglected because no one wanted to deal with "the zoo" of 30 two year olds. I noticed management had noooo problem "helping" the infant room. Because who doesn't want to grab a baby and take a load off in the rocking chair? Anytime someone would come in our room, they'd stay RIGHT BY THE DOOR and be clearly ready to leave as soon as they enter.
There was a series of events that lead to me having to just leave. It was when I noticed "wow, management really does not care, they just need warm bodies to "teach" so they can stuff the room over capacity. It became apparent to me that everything they did revolved around money: accepting new children with NOT enough teachers to stay in ratio. Giving us increasingly less food just so they could save money by ordering less... there is no reason the parent
ProsBeing in children's life at such a fun and pivotal age, great co-teacher.
ConsTerrible management, lies about state compliance
During the interviewing process KinderCare was made out to be a place that I could see myself sending my child to. I put my two weeks notice and adviced the Center Director of my last at the job I held before starting at KinderCare, which was 10/19. I was advised that I would start, 10/22. Before my start date on 10/22 I contactee the CD on 10/19, inquiring about what time I should come. I was then adviced by the CD that there had been a break-in and that she had an out of town family emergency and wouldn't be back at the site until the week of 10/29. No big deal, I understand things come up. Fast forward 10/26. I contact the CD to see when she would like for me to start. I was told I could start on 10/30. I show up for training on 10/30 and was greeted by the Co-Director.
I felt a bit uneasy after sometime because the co-director even admitted that she was not comfortable training me as she didn't know how to train new employees and seemed to be very stressed out about. Keep in mind I was at this facility for about 3.5 hours and spend 2 of those hours "shadowing" in the infants and toddler 1 classroom before doing any actual training on the computer and even then I did only completed one training module. Once I was finished, I was asked to leave since they didn't have anything else for me to do. After about and hour after I left, I recieved a phone call from the Co-Director saying that although I was employed by KinderCare that I wasn't in the system because they had
ProsThe children
ConsStressful, poor managment, lack of follow through.
I worked at this facility for a little over twenty-five years. I was treated terribly bad on the day that I retired. I had not been treated as I should over the years but I endured this due to the schedule that I needed. I was shown a cake that the director had purchased before the cake was cut by the other staff. I did not know that the cake had been cut until other employees were talking about eating cake and ice cream. I was offered some cake for the first time as I was leaving out of the door. A co-worker saw the gestures of kindness from other employees and families that were wonderful and she purchased a card for everyone to sign and a gift from her. The director gave me a flowering plant and she signed the card that the employee had purchased in the middle of the day. I was told by other employees that she had said that the company was buying cake and ice cream. Now I was not that needy for the cake that made me so furious. But the principle about the way that I was treated. Yes that hurt and will last forever. The only time that this director would show any gratitude is when she would use my tenure for advertisement when taking potential families around on a tour. The rocking chair in the infant room is so badly broken until the nuts and bolts are falling out on a daily basis.The changing table has cracks and holes in it. There is one employee that does everything against center policy that goes from not having to comply with dress code to child neglect. She is rude
ProsEducational Assistance Program, 401(k), and the medical insurance that is so bad that it beats not having any
ConsNot enough security about hours allowed to work each week
I will say, working with the children is amazing and for the year I've been with the company. Those kids are what keep me coming to work with a smile on my face. Childcare is a hard but rewarding line of work.
Let's start with the ugly side of the company. Kindercare is a dumping ground for DHS children and children who have been kicked out of other centers. Kindercare has a collections department where it takes forever for children to be kicked out of the center. Children will scratch, kick, bite, choke staff and peers with little consequences for their actions. The company really as no appreciation for the safety of their staff and that alone is a reason one shouldn't work for them. There were many days I left at the end of the day with bruises and scratch marks on my body. I also saw students rushed to the emergency room with a cracked open skull due to a repeating offender hitting another child with a toy, hand, or so forth. The center always runs out of incident reports making it hard for parents to trust their children are safe.
Management refuses to be consistent with who get's overtime (and hours in general). Favoritism is very obvious among management and the mental load of dealing with the staff is hardest part of the job. I used to feel that I had support from my director and assistant director but that is no longer the case as the new director hired her friends to replace the current staff. The adults act worse then the children and will hide keys, office suppl
I only worked here a few months and it was the most terrible experience I've had thus far. At first I thought it would be fun and different from other jobs I've had. It sure was different, but in a bad way.
I have over 12+ years of experience working with children, yet this egotistical, selfish director constantly made me feel like I was mentally incompetent. There are so many ridiculous rules as to what you can and cannot do, and none of them make any sense. Basically the children can act however they want and you can't do much about it. If you do try to separate them from others for doing something wrong or let them know what they are doing is wrong, you'll be told you can't do that. They expect you to be able to have an organized, structured classroom, but at the same time they'll shove 10 unruly kids in a room with 1 teacher, then complain that you didn't get 100 activities done that day.
The management is completely horrible. I could give examples of this for days. Director picks favorite employees, treats those ones like gold and treats the others badly. She was constantly on my case about my classroom, always complained about the tiniest things, yet I would look at other people's classrooms that were filthy and had artwork up from months ago and they weren't being reprimanded. You're expected to work ridiculous shifts with long hours, yet if you get close to overtime all of a sudden they'll give you a long break or cut hours so you don't get that extra pay. Man
Good Place to work if you need a jumpstart in teaching
I know this is lengthy, but PLEASE read in its entirety.
Pros: KinderCare has great parents & children & great benefits (you can get your CDA for FREE & they have good scholarships, incentives & rewards. They have good dental, medical, and vision benefits but they are EXPENSIVE & can take a huge chunk out of your check every two weeks; medical can be $100+ & can change every year usually never in a cheaper route). They support teachers going back to school financially & even do tuition reimbursement. My co workers are like family and we are very close & have to have each other’s backs because management won’t sometimes. Free training such as Professional Development Day & CPR, one hour lunches depending on your shift, and free food.
Cons: You are stuck in a classroom with no restroom breaks. Someone has to “relieve” you in order to go & that can be hectic because they forget, are caught up in another classroom or on a tour. Management can be no help sometimes because they love to sit in the office all day behind the computer. They will not let you leave to go home on time even if you always come to work on time. You may be stuck in the classroom with over 10 kids & it is time for your shift to end & you leave 5-10 minutes late because management is trying to figure out how to let you go & where to place kids because you’re over. No supplies (construction paper, art supplies, paper, laptops to print out work needed for the classroom, etc.) are ever in the classrooms. Y
ProsFree food, benefits, children, parents, college funding, flexibility
ConsManagement, lack of time, supplies, teach to child ratios, roaches/bugs, old building
Coworkers are great but management and corporate are a nightmare. Every year they will give you a 1.5% unless the director has a personal relationship with you and likes you. No matter how hard you work or how punctual you are with attendance you will get a 1.5% raise every year making it difficult to be motivated. Even if you ask for a raise they will say you make too much.
Teachers are responsible for not only watching and teaching the kids. There are no janitors or nurses at the branch I worked at so teachers were responsible for dealing with injuries, illnesses, and bathroom/classroom sanitation maintenance. Ratios are often ignored, I've been left alone with 20 3-5 year olds with the director and AD being fully aware of this. Classrooms are stuffed with children, we didn't even have enough lockers for all children enrolled. If a child soiled their pants you have to change the child in a bathroom and leave the rest of your class unattended which was extremely dangerous.
Tablets. With the introduction of KinderCare tablets, morning lessons are basically staged photo shoots were you are tasked with taking a picture and writing an observation sentence or two for each child in your classroom DURING the lesson making it impossible to teach anything. If you did not have picture of each child by 12pm you would be reprimanded.
Portfolios. Portfolios for children were very thorough which is a good thing but they did not give teachers enough time to complete them. Each chi
management wasn't the best. I was hired as full time but only received part time hours after being told my hours would eventually go up. I was extremely punctual and would always cover or come in earlier or later as needed. I noticed that I was always one of 3 teachers who would constantly sit on the floor with the children and no one else would. I was CONSTANTLY moved from classroom to classroom as a floater when that wasn't in my contract (though I'm happy to help but this was every single day) and my boss would then get frustrated that I didn't know every routine for each classroom. I worked maybe 3 and a half hours a day 5 days a week (I live with my parents so the salary didnt need to support me) But i wouldn't have a problem with knowing routine if I was just in one classroom daily. There were a couple of times where my boss completely forgot to write my name on the schedule for the next day. (She did daily schedules, not weekly ones) I would then get 10pm texts to come in early the following day if I could, and I was always okay with making extra money and coming in if someone else was out. My boss then told me that other teachers have issues with me not knowing anything and asking too many questions about routine when each classroom is a different age group and they all run things a certain way. i explained to my boss the times when I've psychically had a child on my lap while I read to them and I'm pulled out of that class and put into another to cover ratios. At th
Strength of a corporation. Management of a seasonal retail job.
My experience with KinderCare has personal gripes intertwined with professional issues. I enjoy the culture. I enjoy my class. I enjoy how efficiently the day is run. It truly is like a school. Unfortunately, the job suffers from a serious problem.
I was given the position of assistant preschool teacher.
I made $13.50/hour. I don't have a degree, and my coworkers and I were surprised to learn even those with Master's Degrees were making the same as me.
What's the biggest problem?
Management. On every level.
There's a lot of lip service. Alot. So many fake promises. I was promised paid classes to continue my education. That never happened. I was promised a promotion to lead teacher. That never happened. Your complaints are swept under the rug and diverted with more false promises to keep you distracted.
Now, this kind of shady bait-and-switch business practice bleeds into every aspect.
We interviewed internally for weeks for a new assistant director. 2 candidates were both perfect for the position. Unfortunately, our former director had been suing the company after being promised a travel position and then fired. They claimed there were no travel positions. When my former directors lawyer saw another center still had travel positions, they placed that person in as our new assistant director, effectively pulling the rug out for the hopeful candidates in my center (people I had become pretty close to and knew were perfect for the job.)
This new assistan
ProsAutonomy in classroom, Family-style dining, Extensive open curriculum
I was only at KinderCare for 2.5 weeks because my experience was so horrible. I was never welcomed or trained, just thrown in to the center not knowing what was expected of me. I was hired as a preschool teacher but actually placed on center support duty never knowing what room or even age of children I would be working with each day. Of course I was offended at my placement when I had been promised something else. I had also been promised a raise 8 weeks after starting because I would be taking lessons to become fully qualified. It turned out that the school didn't start for two months afterward, meaning my raise would be 4 months out. The classrooms are constantly out of ratio, and I was sometimes left alone or told to bring children places even while I was non-FQ (I know I'm a good person and trustworthy, but that doesn't change the fact I was not fully qualified and neither are some other teachers). I met several teachers who made me ashamed to be at this center because I believed they were either uninterested in their job or plain unsafe for the kids to be around. I brought this to the attention of the admin team twice in my first week and upon seeing no action (and speaking with other teachers who said they had also complained months ago with no action) I decided to leave the facility. I will not learn from and stoop to the bad behaviors shown to me in only the first week of being at KinderCare in Redwood City - bad language, rough handling of children, general disinter
ProsKids are amazing, 2 ten minute breaks plus hour lunch
ConsManagement, low morale
Questions And Answers about Kindercare Learning Centers
How often does KinderCare Learning Center give their employees raises?
Asked May 16, 2017
I worked there 3 years and i get 2 times a raises the first time ¢18, and the Second time ¢14! It’s a good place to earn nothing
Answered Dec 4, 2021
Once a year. Everyone I know says their's was under $0.20
Answered Aug 4, 2021
If you were to leave KinderCare Learning Centers, what would be the reason?
Asked Mar 20, 2017
Unfair pay. One teacher makes more than other equally qualified. Favoritism, low pay, double standards.
Answered Oct 6, 2020
They allow sick children in the building-even during the COVID pandemic. You could tell a manager that a child has a fever and they act like you're lying and then when they verify that they do in fact have a fever, they allow them to come back the next day. Or the child will have multiple loose bowel movements multiple times throughout the day, even leaking out of their diaper or clothing in the classroom and they will just continue to allow the child to attend.
They also do not care about what is best for the children, only about how they will make money. They will shove multiple age groups together, even if that means putting 2s, 32, 4s, and school age children together.
They put stress on the teachers to get so much done but then do not give them the support or resources to do so. They give measly raises on top of their already atrocious pay. KinderCare teachers are responsible for the well being AND education of large groups of children and most are paid so poorly that they could make more if they worked at the local gas station or grocery stores. They do NOT appreciate their teachers at all.
Answered Sep 26, 2020
What would you suggest KinderCare Learning Centers management do to prevent others from leaving?
Asked Mar 20, 2017
Pay all of the employees especially the ones that have been there the longest the money that they deserve!
Answered Mar 21, 2021
Pay the employees what they want especially if they did college courses.
Answered Mar 19, 2020
How are the working hours at KinderCare Learning Centers?
Asked Jun 20, 2016
You wont get 40 hours. Full time is considered at least 32 hours. Average is 37-38 hours a week
Answered Sep 14, 2019
Unpredictable schedules. You may arrivw at your designated time but you may not leave until "they can figure out something". The scheduling is a serious issue. Often times schedules fluctuate due to call ins and other obstacles. You may work 5 hrs one day and 12 the next with a 2hr break or maybe an hr.
Answered Aug 11, 2019
As an employee, how much is the discount to enroll your children?
Asked Sep 10, 2016
It went up. Current 2019 price is $105/week for your child to attend as an employee. Tuition is waived. And you get cheaper package options on picture day for your kid. Like half of what other people pay.
Answered Sep 14, 2019
The most you will pay is $100. I believe it's 50% before that. But if 50% is over 100 then you will just pay $100 That was a good benefit!
