Work with Kids as an Early Childhood Teacher

Everybody likes kids, and if you particularly like children between three and five years old and intend to educate them professionally, you need to get formal training. This, and preferably a diploma of early childhood education and care from a recognised college.

Your major responsibility is, aside from teaching them rudimentary knowledge, is to develop them in a congenial social environment. This moulds their minds and bodies to be stronger and more resilient. A diploma of early childhood education and care is proof that you have the training necessary to do this crucial job expertly.

Kirana outlines several things to know about this career path:

Certification

To obtain the requisite diploma, you need to be either a high school graduate or an ECE certificate holder depending on the law of the state you belong. Other countries have different status for early childhood educators; in the US, for example, federal law stipulates that most head start educators should also possess a bachelor’s degree.

Duties and Responsibilities

As a trained early childhood assistant, you need to supervise student activities during any school day, and to plan and execute a well-balanced program of learning, play and rest activities. You must teach your wards basic life skills, like getting along with others, following instructions, and completing given tasks.

Apart from these, you should teach basic academic concepts like vocabulary, alphabets, numbers, colours and shapes. The curriculum also includes small and large motor abilities like using crayons or throwing a toy such as a ball. You will also have to take the help of games, music, stories, art, dance and toys to enhance your teaching.

Performance and Safety

It is also an integral part of an early childhood assistant’s part to maintain safety and the highest hygiene standards for their students. You need to maintain steady student performance records and coordinate simultaneously with students, other teachers, the school administration, and especially the parents.

Career Options

Your specialized education enables you to work in day-care services, religious, civic, or professional organisations. You may also get employment with preschools associated with public or private institutions.

Early childhood assistants who work in public schools usually abide by the district calendar that includes a summer vacation spanning two months. In day-care centres though, teachers often work longer hours, even throughout the year, to accommodate the work schedules of parents.

Early childhood instructors have the task to care for children as they begin to learn about the world around them. Your task is indispensable, as the values you would teach in this stage will inevitably stay with them as they grow into adulthood, and even to the succeeding generations and beyond.