How to Become a Family Day Care Educator
Looking after Australia’s youngest residents can be hugely rewarding. It’s why thousands of people are choosing to pursue a career in childcare; in WA alone, the government has reported that jobs in this sector increased by over 9% state-wide during 2023.
With this growth projected to continue, it’s a great time to train for work in this key industry – and if you want all the benefits of working from home as well as supporting children, you might want to consider becoming a Family Day Care Educator.
In this article, you will learn how to become a Family Day Care Educator, as we explore the benefits, responsibilities and requirements involved in this richly rewarding role supporting children.
What is a Family Day Care Educator?
Benefits of Becoming a Family Day Care Educator
Family Day Care Educator Responsibilities
Family Day Care Educator Requirements
- Family Day Care Formal Qualification
- Other Qualifications or Requirements of a Family Day Care Provider
- Family Day Care Educator Personal Skills
What is a Family Day Care Educator?
A Family Day Care Educator provides care and learning opportunities for young people within their home. Usually, these are pre-school children, and an educator looks after a maximum of 4 children at a time (with the ability to support an additional 3 children aged 6 and above).
Like all childcare services in Australia, family day care follows the same regulations and standards as set out by the National Quality Framework. This ensures educators adhere to an approved learning framework, strict safety rules and educator-to-child ratios.
To become a Family Day Care Educator, you must first register with a Family Day Care Service Provider who will assess your credentials in terms of skills, experience, and ability to provide a safe space for children to learn.
Many people choose to send their children to a family day care rather than a childcare centre due to the environment – that being, smaller groups of children learning together in a natural home setting.
Benefits of Becoming a Family Day Care Educator
If you want to make a difference to the lives of young children, then working as a Family Day Care Educator is your ideal job. As well as personal fulfilment, you can enjoy many other benefits from this type of role, including:
- Flexible working – set the days and hours you want to work
- Small group setting, allowing a more personalised relationship with each child
- A competitive salary with minimum overhead costs
- A highly rewarding role helping children learn and develop core life skills
- A sense of purpose from offering a valuable service to the local community
- Strong potential for career growth elsewhere in the sector
- Entrepreneurial skills developed by managing your own business
Learn more about becoming a Family Day Care Educator
Family Day Care Educator Responsibilities
Being a Family Day Care Educator is much more than a childminding service.
The very purpose of this role is to help shape the minds of young people while teaching them essential physical, cognitive and social skills during their early years. As such, you must be able to create a safe, nurturing environment where children feel happy and encouraged to learn.
During a typical day, your responsibilities might include:
- Reading to the children
- Encouraging learning through play
- Providing educational and age-appropriate activities
- Crafting activities
- Helping the children to settle down for sleep or rest
- Preparing and cooking meals
- Supporting with meals if necessary
- Helping with toilet training or changing nappies
Family Day Care Educator Requirements
There are several skills and requirements to become a family day care educator in Australia, starting with a formal qualification*.
Family Day Care Formal Qualification
CHC30121 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
This nationally recognised course is a minimum requirement to work as a Family Day Care Educator. It includes 17 units of study – 15 core and 2 electives – and teaches you all the practical skills required to work in childcare. On average, the course takes 6-12 months to complete, after which, you will be equipped to:
- Support children’s health and wellbeing
- Provide first aid where required
- Nurture toddlers and babies
- Develop positive and respectful relationships with children
- Provide experiences to support children’s play and learning
If you have a higher qualification to the Certificate III in Early Childhood, such as a diploma or degree, you can use this as evidence of your industry knowledge and skills.
Did you know that the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care is currently available at no cost as part of the WA Government’s ‘Free in 23’ initiative (continuing in 2024)?
Contact our team about Free Courses
Other Qualifications or Requirements of a Family Day Care Provider
- Aged 18 or above
- In charge of your own home (which is first approved by a health and safety assessor)
- First Aid certificate
- Asthma and Anaphylaxis certificates
- Working with Children Check
- Public Liability Insurance
- Practical tools to support learning – play equipment, toys, books, art/crafts
Family Day Care Educator Personal Skills
- Experience caring for young children
- An effective communicator across all ages and ethnicities
- A positive demeanour and life outlook
- Lots of patience and the ability to listen
- Basic administrative skills for running your own business successfully
Learn more about becoming a Family Day Care Educator
A rewarding career as a Family Day Care Educator awaits you at Insight Training!
Study Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and fast-track towards running your own business in one of Australia’s fastest growing sectors. Flexible and affordable study are just two reasons why people choose the leading RTO in Western Australia, Insight Training.
To learn more or enrol in a course, talk to our team today.
*Note that this became a rule in July 2023; prior to this date, an educator could show they were working towards this qualification, but it must now be passed before you can offer any day care services from home.
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