Pre-School Teachers

Researched by 
Kaitlin M. and Tayler T.
2001-02
  • ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
      Kaitlin and Tayler
    • DEDICATION 
    • WHY WE CHOSE THIS TOPIC 
    • SELF EVALUATION 
    • THANK YOU

RESPONSIBILITIES
Some of the responsibilities for pre-school teachers are to prepare children for kindergarten. They do this by teaching them skills that will help them to read, write, and understand math. They work with children ages 3 through 5 to concentrate on learning social skills (like sharing), and communication skills. They also teach them manners. They help them get used to being away from home, deal with their bad moods and problems. Pre-school teachers also help their students keep track of their clothes. They talk to their parents a lot and tell them how their child is progressing. They also teach the children how to write and read their name.

SCHEDULE
A preschool teacher commonly works around 9:00 AM through 3:00 PM, Monday through Friday, September through June.
ENVIRONMENTS
Most preschool teachers work at nurseries, or elementary schools. Some people teach at churches or at community centers. 

TOOLS
 Some preschool teachers use art supplies, music supplies, books, and sometimes toys like puppets to help the children learn and have fun at the same time.

GOOD ASPECTS
According to preschool teachers some of the good things about their job is having both the morning and afternoon classes gives them lots of flexibility in case they have to change their schedule for any reason. Pre-school teachers love to hear their students’ laughter when they have just achieved a big step such as learning to read and/or write their name.

TRAINING
Some of the schooling and training that you need to take if you are planning to be a preschool teacher when you grow up are child care, home economics, theater, science, math, English, and other child related classes. 
License and Certificates 
Preschool teachers do not need to have a teaching certificate in most states. If you do not have a teaching certificate than you must have a C.D.A., Bachelors degree, or an Associates degree. 

PERSONAL SKILLS
Some of the personal skills that you need to become a preschool teacher is to be patient with both adults and children, you need to be kind and friendly, and you need to have a good sense of humor. The biggest thing that you need when you're a pre-school teacher is to be organized. 

GRADE SCHOOL CLASSES
In fifth through seventh grade some of the classes that you might want take are basic math, reading, writing, and English.

SALARY
 For pre-school teachers who work in a school district the most you will get paid is $50,000-$60,000 a year. But the starting salary is around $30,000. However if you work at a private pre-school the most you will get paid is around $33,000 a year.


 OUTLOOK
Many sources agree that the outlook for the future is faster growth of jobs than average.

HISTORY
Preschool came to the US in 1920. Pre-school became popular in the 1960’s through, thanks to the Head Start program. 
Ronald Reagan started a commission of excellence for education to make things different in teacher training in 1983.


JOBS
There are over 380,000 kindergarten and preschool teachers teaching in the United States. 
Some jobs that are related to preschool teachers are kindergarten, and other grade school teachers, Special Ed preschool teachers and daycare workers. Preschool teaching can lead to being a director, principal or other high-ranking jobs in schools.

Web sites
A few good web sites that you can go to are the outlookhandbook. www.nancystewart.com, www.bevbos.com and many, many others.

 DISCIPLINE
One thing that we noticed about the way preschool teachers teach is their discipline. Mrs. Fletcher says that you should just redirect the children when they do something wrong or disobey. Mrs. Henning says that you should tell the child, "No".
 Mrs.Hesselgesser says you should notice the children being good and just ignore the child or children who are misbehaving. 
 
 
Who We Interviewed And What We Learned
We interviewed Mrs. Fletcher who works at the Sunset building. We interviewed her Jan. 8th 2002. We chose her because we had talked to many teachers and said if we were interested they thought that she would be good. Mrs. Fletcher told us many things. One of the things she told us was the good thing about the job. She was a good choice. 

After that we observed Mrs. Henning’s special Ed class in mid January 2002. We also visited Mrs. Henning's class in the Sunset building. We chose her because we wanted to see how to teach a special Ed class. Her class was working on many skills especially their motor skills. 

Next we interviewed Mrs. Popp, also in mid January in the Sunset building. We thought that Mrs. Popp might be good after talking to her in the hallway, and finding out that she knows a lot of things about the history in preschool teaching. We learned many things such as people that are important to preschool teachers.

Then we interviewed Mrs. Hesselgesser on Jan.31st 2002 at Gym Kids in Selah. We chose her because we wanted to see a different organization and style of preschool teaching. We learned from Mrs. Hesselgesser a better way to discipline a preschool child. 

That same day we observed Mrs. Bullion’s class. We observed her at Lince Elementary. We chose her because everybody said "Why don't you go observe Mrs. Bullion's class she's absolutely wonderful." So we did. We learned that there are many types of skills pre-school children learn in pre-school.
 

Bibliography

Cutlip Glen W. Teaching. The Rosen Publishing Inc:2000, 31,75,76,77

Encarta Microsoft 2001 Disk.

From High School to work Chicago, Illinois Ferguson publishing
Company 1998 pages 467-470.

 New York Macmillan U.S.A. 1996 and 1999 pages 143-145. Unknown

 Reference Book Career information center

Career New Jersey Macmillan Reference U.S.A. 1999 63-67

Career Center New Jersey Macmillan reference U.S.A. 1996 page 143.

"Preschool teachers Encyclopedia. of careers and vocational guidance 2001 21, 214,215 ,216.William W. Britchman Teacher Training.
 

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