Finding Your Smile Again

P/B • 178mm x 153mm • 144 pages
ISBN 9781929610938

A Child Care Professional’s Guide to Reducing Stress and Avoiding Burnout

An estimated 30 to 40 percent of all child care providers leave their profession – often due to burnout. Jeff Johnson, a former centre director and currently a family child care provider, has written the first book of its kind: a practical book by and for early childhood professionals that addresses the unique factors and causes of stress and burnout, whether you?re a preschool teacher or a family child care provider.

Finding Your Smile Again offers tips for coping with stressful situations; tools for reducing burnout; and more long-term help in finding one’s true purpose in life. The valuable information and insights apply specifically to the special challenges that people in care giving roles with young children face.

According to Johnson, caregivers are victims of burnout so often because they are, by nature, compelled to take care of others – friends, family, strangers, or even stray dogs. As a result, most caregivers have a hard time saying ‘no’ – whether it’s a parent asking to let a child stay an extra hour or a family member asking to move in for a few months.

Finding Your Smile Again covers the many stress-producing issues that lead to the high burnout rate among child care providers, including overwork, low pay, isolation, caretaking, repetitiveness, and lack of respect (from self and others). Addressing these issues from the perspective of both psychological insight and practical stress reducing techniques, this book is filled with anecdotes from providers and reflects the author’s long experience and expertise both as a centre and a family child care provider. The final chapter helps readers remember why they became providers and motivates them to find the rewards, both internally and in the field, that can keep them growing.

Contents

Forward by Sue Baldwin
Acknowledgements
Introduction

Chapter 1: ‘I Didn’t Like You Anymore;’ – What Burnout Is and How It changes Your Life

Chapter 2: Who Burnout Hurts and what the Hurt Looks Like

Chapter 3: ‘I Can’t Smile at the Kids Anymore’ – Signs of Burnout

Chapter 4: Change Your Mind (Literally) and Taking Action

Chapter 5: Working with Whatever the Day Brings

Chapter 6: Seeking Your Ultimate Purpose

Appendix: Tips for Directors and Supervisors