Most child care facilities seek employees with certification or an associate's degree in early childhood development. Some courses that are helpful for developing child care skills are child development, nutrition, music, art, drama, writing and communications. Child care workers who are self employed must have at least a high school diploma or a GED and have a license stating the number of children that can be in their home. Since self employed workers are also running their own business it's to their advantage to have an associate's degree in business administration or business management.
Because they will be working with parents and children with varying temperaments, child care workers should have great communication skills to prevent problems. They can also help prevent potential problems by being understanding and having the ability to be alert at all times. Other good qualities include enthusiasm, creativity, maturity, organization and patience. Strong leadership, teaching and nurturing skills are vital in this field.
Each State has different training and licensing requirements, but every child care worker must be licensed. However, these requirements are generally minimal.
