Child care was labeled essential during the coronavirus pandemic, but preschool teachers, family child care providers, relatives and nannies have long been doing the critical work of helping young kids grow and thrive.

Last summer, Southern California Public Radio, home to 89.3 KPCC FM and LAist.com, gave cameras to 12 early learning and care providers and asked them to document their lives.

Collectively, if you add up all their experience, they’ve been caring for children for close to 150 years. These images are a window into child care providers’ vast and varied roles — as educators, nurses, social workers, cooks and even janitors — and how they’ve adapted to the pandemic.

“We’re human, too,” Lancaster family child care provider Yvonne Cottage says. “We go through burnout, we go through stress, we go through all of that, right? But every morning, we still wake up, we grab our coffee, and we go in and we smile, and we’re ready for the kids.”

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