What does a child care director do?
Child care directors manage the staff at a child care center. Their responsibilities include guiding and supporting their teaching staff and creating an environment where parents and children will feel secured and well taught. They provide their staff with constructive criticisms and suggest action plans on how they can improve. Directors continuously research new techniques to be used in educating, communicating, and rearing a child. To be an effective leader to the staff, parents, and children, they should have good communication skills and exceptional interpersonal skills.
Child care director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real child care director resumes:
- Manage care for k-5 kids before and after school.
- Establish cooperative relationship with state/regional USDA CACFP office.
- Require to acquire CPR, first aid, a training.
- Develop compliance and audit program for Medicare.
- Certify medication & CPR, maintain portfolio for each student
- Charge clients for daycare payments and merchandise using POS system.
- teach them they Abc an much more.i take them out on playground.
- Compile and set department budget, monitor and audit ongoing Medicaid and other clients.
- Care for children, fed and nap the kids, take them outside and play and supervise them.
- Teach them numbers ABC's sanitize the whole room change diapers make breakfast lunch and snack nap time reading time
- Provide case management to clients, review files, and ensure Medicaid, licensing, and best practice requirements are meet.
- Supervise kids with learning disabilities.
- Maintain accurate scheduling and payroll obligations.
- Confer with numerous DHS units and community agencies
- Plan and implement age appropriate curriculum leading to kindergarten readiness.
Child care director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Child Care Directors are proficient in Customer Service, Childhood, and Critical Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Organizational skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Child Care Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 19%
Developed and improved parent customer service and community public relations resulting in full capacity child care enrollment with waiting list.
- Childhood, 10%
Read management and leadership materials and program-related materials to keep abreast of developments in comprehensive early childhood programs.
- Critical Care, 9%
Developed and implemented critical care orientation preceptor and mentoring program.
- Child Development, 8%
Designed and implemented child developmental checklists to identify early signs of developmental delays or disabilities.
- Quality Care, 7%
Schedule, train and supervise child care staff in providing quality care.
- CPR, 6%
Teach AHA Pediatric First Aid and CPR regularly to YMCA staff and the community.
Common skills that a child care director uses to do their job include "customer service," "childhood," and "critical care." You can find details on the most important child care director responsibilities below.
Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a child care director to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what child care directors do because "preschool and childcare center directors manage childcare centers and need to be able to operate the business effectively." Additionally, a child care director resume shows how child care directors use business skills: "established my own child care business in 1997. "
Organizational skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling child care director duties is organizational skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "directors need to maintain clear records about children and staff." According to a child care director resume, here's how child care directors can utilize organizational skills in their job responsibilities: "coordinated and maintained organizational and staff development according to program and individual goals and needs. "
Leadership skills. child care directors are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to child care director responsibilities, because "preschool and childcare center directors need leadership skills to supervise staff and inspire diligence." A child care director resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "engaged member of branch leadership team, association professional development committee and quality/operations committee (co-chair. "
Communication skills. child care director responsibilities often require "communication skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "directors inform parents and staff about the children’s progress." This resume example shows what child care directors do with communication skills on a typical day: "provided excellent customer service and parent communication. "
Interpersonal skills. Another common skill required for child care director responsibilities is "interpersonal skills." This skill comes up in the duties of child care directors all the time, as "preschool and childcare center directors must be able to develop relationships with parents, children, and staff." An excerpt from a real child care director resume shows how this skill is central to what a child care director does: "ensured clean environments handled camera systems taught kids basics in math/reading practiced patience/interpersonal skills"
The three companies that hire the most child care directors are:
- Childcare Network68 child care directors jobs
- CARE53 child care directors jobs
- Bright Horizons15 child care directors jobs
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Compare different child care directors
Child care director vs. Education site manager
A test center administrator is responsible for overseeing the daily operations at test centers, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. They typically set goals, establish guidelines and timelines, liaise with external partners such as vendors at suppliers, coordinate staff, monitor the progress of all operations, and address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, as a test center administrator, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a child care director are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "childhood," "critical care," and "child development." On the other hand, a job as an education site manager requires skills like "coordinators," "social services," "course content," and "professional development programs." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that education site managers earn slightly differ from child care directors. In particular, education site managers are 12.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a child care director. Additionally, they're 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Child care director vs. Test center administrator
Each career also uses different skills, according to real child care director resumes. While child care director responsibilities can utilize skills like "childhood," "critical care," "child development," and "quality care," test center administrators use skills like "computer software," "corporate management," "strong customer service," and "candidate identification."
In general, test center administrators achieve lower levels of education than child care directors. They're 7.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Child care director vs. Daycare manager
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a child care director is likely to be skilled in "childhood," "critical care," "child development," and "quality care," while a typical daycare manager is skilled in "front desk," "allergies," "safety regulations," and "pos."
Daycare managers typically earn lower educational levels compared to child care directors. Specifically, they're 11.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Child care director vs. Early childhood development manager
Types of child care director
Updated January 8, 2025
