Preschool Teacher

Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth.

O*NET reports this occupation under titles such as: Child Development Teacher; Early Childhood Teacher; Group Teacher; Infant Teacher; Montessori Preschool Teacher; Nursery Teacher; Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (Pre-K Teacher); Teacher; Toddler Teacher

Tasks

• Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
• Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.
• Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
• Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
• Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.
• Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.
• Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and needs, determine their priorities for their children, and suggest ways that they can promote learning and development.
• Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.
• Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
• Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
• Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them.
• Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
• Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
• Read books to entire classes or to small groups.
• Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to children.

Knowledge

• Education and Training
• English Language
• Public Safety and Security
• Customer and Personal Service
• Psychology

Skills

• Speaking
• Active Listening
• Learning Strategies
• Reading Comprehension
• Critical Thinking
• Monitoring
• Active Learning
• Writing

Abilities

• Oral Comprehension
• Oral Expression
• Speech Clarity
• Problem Sensitivity
• Originality
• Written Comprehension
• Fluency of Ideas
• Speech Recognition
• Deductive Reasoning
• Information Ordering
• Near Vision
• Written Expression
• Inductive Reasoning
• Far Vision