Advice on retraining as a TA or early years educator

[Becksterboo]

Hi, I'm looking to retrain as either a TA or an Early years educator after taking some time out to look after the little ones. Now they're getting older I want to do something a lot more rewarding than I used to do (business analysis....yawn).

Do any of you have experience of the training involved in either? I favour the Early years educator as I enjoy working with under 5's (I did some volunteering at a reception class which was great) but are there less job opportunities in this area? I have the skills to go in at level 3 but should I go for an level 2 first?

I have approached my daughters school who can offer me voluntary work helping out with trips but they don't normally have parents helping in classes sad so I'm going to have to contact other schools to volunteer.

Any advice you can offer would be great.

Thanks

I retrained as a TA two years ago. I did a level 3 course - one day a week in college plus minimum 1 day a week on placement. I'd say do the level 3 - to do level 2 would be very repetitive.
I'd also suggest looking at getting some experience in different ages ranges during your training. I'd previously taught pre-school/ nursery and thought that I'd want to work in a primary school. I actually work in a 16+ college and love it far more than I did working in a school setting.

Just wanted to say thanks. I started my level 3 TA course in January and I love it. I'm in reception and year 1 at my daughters school and I'll be helping years 3 and 4 after Easter so I have experience of older classes. Passed one unit of my course just another 10 to go! :)