We came across a recent article titled “Nanny Positions Requiring College Degrees” which focused on this growing trend and argued against why an education is necessary when caring for children.

Said the mom who wrote the article: “While earning a college degree is a major accomplishment it doesn’t mean you know squat about parenting or caring for kids. As a working single mom, I relied heavily on nannies and babysitters when my daughter was much younger. The nanny my daughter loved the most was a high school dropout with three grown kids. She cared for my daughter for two straight years until it was time for her to start pre-school. She was loving, playful and creative. But she was also stern, disciplined, and organized. She knew my daughter so well she called my attention to things her pediatrician missed. When I panicked about certain behavior, she was able to tell me from her own parenting experience, not to worry, it was a phase. And she was flexible, which was a big plus in my line of work.”

When we asked our blog readers what their most important caregiving quality was, education never even came up.

You guys cited work ethic, flexibility, communication, patience — never “a college degree.”

Does that mean it’s unimportant? Or that it’s simply not as important as some of these other qualities? Sittercity parents, would you ever consider hiring a caregiver who didn’t have a college degree? Why or why not?

Sitters, what do you think? Is a degree important? Do you think you’ve even been turned down for a job because you don’t have a degree?

Photo Credit: Google Images

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under Child Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.