I work in a daycare center. As I've stated before, we are NAEYC cert. and we do the Creative Curriculum. So I am super busy during the day.

I am 23 yrs old and I just became the lead of a toddler room in Sept. of 2010. My assistant has been in that classroom for 7 years. But she is LAZY. I am at my wits end. I dont think I should be so stressed out because I do double the work she does. I can't say anything to her, because frankly, I am afraid she is going to snap on me. She has quite and attitude and so far we get along pretty well and I do not want to get on her bad side. My boss has said to me several times that other leads have complained about her not pulling her weight. I have told my boss before that she has a tendency to be lazy and my boss told me to take charge. First I don't feel comfortable doing that because A) I am the one who has to work with her all day and if we don't get along, it won't be pretty and B) I have no say in her raises or her firing, so why is it my responsibility to reprimand her? and C) She has been in that room before I even started my career in daycare, so who am I to say anything?

We have a very tough room with lots of ROUGH boys and parents that don't know how to use the word "no".

I am looking for some suggestions here. I have tried leaving a list, but I'm the only who gets any of the tasks done. Please help.

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How many different rooms are in your daycare center? Has this girl ever worked in any of the other rooms? What is her motivation to be there 7 years? That is surprising because centers have high staff turnover rates as they tend to pay near minimum wage.

What is the perk to your new job title? Do you have new responsibilities? Even though you're young and feel that you don't want to rock the boat with this girl, chances are everyone just lets her slide on by and that is why she is still working there. I would tell her on Monday's she needs to do this and on Tuesday this, etc. If you need to create your own curriculum, ask her to prepare two days worth and you three days worth as your the lead in the room. If she doesn't like "working" for once, maybe she will quit and you'll find a wonderful worker.

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We have 12 rooms in our center. She has briefly worked in other rooms with most of those teachers claiming she is lazy. She is currently in school at nights (which is another excuse for her to be lazy) and when she graduated in a year, she plans to leave. IF she graduates.

I dont prep my own curriculum, but I do have to do A LOT of observations. The problem with her observations are they are not great. I kind of feel like if I want something done right, I have to do it myself. She will do the work if I ask, she just does it half-asked. For example, she usually does all the dishes and I do the diapers. I had her switch one day and it took her 45 mins to change 8 diapers! It was ridiculous. She is a very SLOW moving person.

We get along wonderfully, but inside I am just screaming. I feel myself becoming a crabby teacher always yelling at the kids and getting overly upset with them. We do have a rough classroom, but she needs to step up. She can be confrontational and gets very defensive.

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She is bullying you. As long as she is a warm body in the room to meet ratios and the work is getting done the director has no reason to intercede.

You need to stand up to her and don't worry about her snapping. Dealing with her snapping isn't any worse than dealing with her not working.

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It sounds to me like YOU are being bullied in a round-about-way.

Take charge and make sure she tackles that list. Look at it yourself and then tell her verbally step by step. If it gets ugly so what? You need an assistant that is going to help you, not stand around and get a pay check for it.

Why is it that she's been there for 7 years doing nothing? Is she related to the owners? If that's the way it is, then move on because it's not worth struggling on your own and resenting the loafer.

I work with older children - toddlers I would think are a lot more work. Maybe she's burned out?

I am an Assistant and I feel my job is to make things easier for the Teacher to Teach. I do the grunt work and I don't complain about it because that's the job. I do prep work, copies, cleaning, snack, cleaning, decorating, cleaning... did I say cleaning? When the teacher is out I take over. Sometimes she gives me choices of what I'd like to do with the kids and sometimes she doesn't. It's OK but she knows I prefer doing the art projects with them.

It doesn't hurt to ask your Assistant what she likes or prefers and go from there.

I have an aversion to glitter but the kids love it so it's sort of a running joke with us. We're usually quite glamorous when we leave work because the glitter follows you everywhere!

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She is not related to the owner. She has been nearly fired several times. According to my boss, working with me is the best performance she has ever showed.

I think she is burned out, but she is just biding her time until she graduates. Also, at our center we work four 10 hour days a week so we get one day off. She absolutely refuses to work on fridays so i think thats why she stays.

Would you like to come and be my assistant

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This is very true.

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Awww - gee - thanks but things are working out pretty darned nice where I'm at.

I did have a Teacher come in from California last year - I swear she had ADD and it was one messy craft to another messy hands on thing after another. She ran me ragged as I was about 20+ years her senior. But... she did say I was the best Assistant she had ever had. (Big Head Award!) I was TIRED at the end of the day though. Whew!

But... and this is big... I only work about 20 hours a week.

She had the same problems with Assistants not doing half the things on her list. She said that the others wanted to be Teachers or were Teachers and didn't want to be Assistants.

I'm perfectly happy Assisting. I don't have the Pre-planning ability to be a Teacher. I don't have that "I'm better than this" attitude. I'm just happy to have a job that works around the hours I can work.

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I agree the snapping would not be any worse than the half-asked help. You shouldn't HAVE to ask her to do things because she has been at the center long enough. I would step up and do whatever your lead position job entitles you to. As far as changing all those diapers, I don't miss changing 8! We have 5 in diapers now, but we do 2-3 at a time and then half hour later 2-3 more because it feels like a waste of 25 minutes of just standing in the bathroom and constantly washing hands. Maybe start making charts that you and her need to checkmark off in your own colors or initial for what you've done for the day. She may be a worker who enjoys being told "Good Job" and "Thanks" so maybe try that and be genuine about it. I totally step up above and beyond when someone says Thanks or Good Job to me because I simply don't hear it enough. Maybe try to have her plan a "fun day" and ask her what she'd like to have the kids do that day with her. Write down all the things you try to do to have her do a better job and the date the assignment/option was given and what the result was. Maybe something will work!

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OMG, are we the same person? Im 23 too...Im lead in the Preschool Rm....I actually supervise the Preschool "Complex"...two classrooms containing about 1/3 of the kids at the Center. We also use the Creative Curriculum...and at times we've had 15-17 kids in one class. I've had at least 12 assistants in the past two years!!! Most of them were lazy, the ones who weren't lazy had other problems. I also have to supervise the person in the other Preschool Room...who usually tries to keep those kids sitting at the table with coloring sheets as much as possible. I DEFINITELY know what you're going through

It's not enough for your director to just agree with you that she's lazy. You're working yourself to death. I would start keeping a diary on her....of situations that got out of hand because she did not help, activities that didn't go well or didn't get finished, how many minutes she sat in one spot and how long she took to do tasks excessive of what it should have been (45 mins to change diapers? Should have been 20, max). And show this to your director on a regular basis. Ask if you can switch her with assistant from another room...maybe a room with older kids and fewer roughnecks. You're right...it's NOT your job to discipline her...it's the director's. You don't need a tense environment with her being angry with you on top of everything else that's going on. Obviously, she is not responding to your requests, so it needs to go to the next level.

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In your post you said you were moved there as the LEAD teacher.

Then lead.

Your boss has put you in charge or not only the classroom, but her. Your boss has faith in you. Show her she made the right decision.

In a friendly way, ask her to do this or that. Move something, whatever you need. You are the lead. That means, even if you have no say on raises, etc, without getting a big head, lead.

She will continue to bully you until you refuse to bullied. Sounds like you know what you are doing, you just need to learn to not be bullied. Good luck.

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Thanks for all the replies. I am going to try a list again, but something a little different. Its going to be a short list that has all the daily tasks on it and its going to have to be initialed throughout the day. This way it will show what tasks I do and what she does and it will show on paper how much I actually do. I also will make a weekly list of tasks that need to be completed. I will write her name next to ones I would like her to do.

I have also emailed her previous lead teacher since I keep in touch with her. I asked her if she had any issues with this and what she did to solve them since she has worked with her personally for several years.

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I get what you are saying, but I used to be a great lead. I worked in an infant room with an assistant who had ZERO experience with children. I gave her a good chance to learn, but 3 months in she was still putting diapers on backwards. I had to get firm with her, and it got ugly. We argued constantly. My director did not help me at all even after several complaints from other teachers and parents. I worked with a woman who I HATED and it was not fun. I ended up quitting. And I don't want that to happen again.

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