Those programs allow teachers to take the subject matter classes they missed in college and also complete their teacher preparation program, including the student teaching internship. Prospective kindergarten teachers who already have another bachelor's degree in a subject other than ECE can still become a kindergarten teacher if they take a master's program in ECE. A secondary program prepares the student to teach high school rather than elementary school or kindergarten. It is essential that prospective kindergarten teachers choose a teaching preparation program that is licensed in the state in which they have chosen to teach and that they enter an elementary education teacher preparation program, as opposed to a secondary teacher preparation program. The teaching internship is also a graded portion of one's teacher preparation program and is supervised by an experienced teacher who conducts regular observations of the teaching candidate in the classroom. Most private schools also require a bachelor's degree.Īfter one's bachelor's program, teaching candidates will need to enter a licensed teacher preparation program that will include classwork as well as a student teaching internship in which the teaching candidate will be given greater and greater responsibility until they are the teacher in charge of the classroom for several weeks. The suggested major is Early Childhood Education (ECE). In every state, kindergarten teaching candidates need a bachelor's degree. Teachers must attend on-going training and meetings with administration and colleagues. They are responsible to keeping parents apprised of their child's progress in class and helping parents become partners in their child's learning. Teachers are responsible for maintaining order and safety in the classroom.
This is also where students begin to learn about mathematics and how to interact with one another in a responsible and caring manner, as a part of a community of learners. In kindergarten, you’ll teach basic skills, such as color concepts, telling time, and concepts of money.
Kindergarten teachers are responsible for creating lessons that teach the students hands-on, applied, real world science and create a space for inquiry as well as learning through the use of engaging informational texts. They will read to their students daily and help students learn to read and write on their own as well.
They will work to advance children in their care to full knowledge of letter and word concepts and knowledge of the alphabet in terms of reading and writing. Kindergarten teachers need to be patient but exuberant. What Will You Do as a Kindergarten Teacher? Learning in a kindergarten classroom today is serious business that is made to feel like play and is hands-on. Teachers also need to provide lessons about history and science topics. Instead, kindergarten teachers need to be able to provide vibrant and exuberant lessons that turn emergent readers into readers who excel and move students from scribbles on a page to writing with the alphabet and whole words. Thus, kindergarten has far less emphasis on nap time and finger painting than was true in the past. In the past, the emphasis in primary education was on fictional texts almost to the exclusion of informational materials.įor these reasons, there is an increased emphasis upon the skill level of kindergarten teachers in preparing their students for the rigors of the primary curriculum. Other important educational research has shown that primary school classes need to expose their students to much more informational text than in the past in order to expand children's knowledge base in their early formative years.