VirtualTeaching.net – Dad holds little Mark by the hand. It’s the second week of boy’s preschool routine. There is a long way waiting for a future astronaut to go through before he makes the first steps in the first grade.
But despite the fact only 14 days past since he has met his preschool teacher, Mark is no more reluctant to studying, and he’s actually interested in the process. Plus, he cries no more each time he looks out of the window watching his daddy leaving the preschool building for work.
How did Mark adjust so well and so fast? The answer is Mrs. Nesmith, Mark’s preschool tutor. She revealed herself as a true professional instilling the feeling of comfort in boy’s heart and engraining the seeds of passion for knowledge in boy’s mind.
Who is a preschool teacher and what does she do?
As a matter of fact, tutors in preschool welcome three- to six-year-old kids to the fascinating world of education. They use games, storytelling and sometimes physical activities to prepare young minds and bodies to full-fledged schooling that waits for kids like Mark ahead.
Preschool teacher’s aim is to develop children’s language and social skills, improve intercommunication abilities, introduce to the basics of writing, reading, drawing and counting. The final goal is to help kids like Mark be 100% ready for the upcoming decade of school life that is waiting for them in a pretty much foreseeable future.
Excellent start for a young educator
After graduating, many teachers-to-become find it quite difficult to fit in the educational system. In the US, each state has it proper requirements, plus every school has certain demands as well. A Master’s degree, a teaching certificate and at least a year of experience here go without saying.
But where a young teacher can gain experience if no school hires teachers without experience?
To cut the Gordian knot like that a beginner teacher might consider landing as a preschool tutor for preschool kids. As a rule, a position like that implies being teacher’s assistant, which enables you to learn from a more experienced colleague and gain practical teaching experience in the process.
Requirements for a preschool educator
Having a brilliant command of knowledge in subjects isn’t necessary, which is a great thing for beginning teachers whose head is frequently spinning due to amounts of information which is inside and due to new a surrounding, new people and new working conditions.
Secondly, you must be aware of at least the basic cores of child psychology. You have to also love to dance, sing, draw, read out loud, do simple Math and, what is more important, keep children safe (as sometimes they do behave recklessly like little rascals).
Thirdly, you have to have solid communicational skills to get through to children and their parents alike. Patience is one of the arch virtues of a good educator, especially when it comes to working with problem kids.
P.S. Due to world’s expanding population and thus an increasing number of children coming from it, a preschool teacher will become one of the most demanding occupations in education by 2023 – 2035. And one of the most highly paid, especially in virtual teaching trends