Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth.
Also known as: After School Teacher, Child Care Assistant Teacher, Child Development Teacher, Childcare Teacher, Childhood Development Teacher, Day Care Teacher, Daycare Teacher, Early Childhood Educator, ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Projected growth, 2024–2034 (Faster than average)
What You'd Do
- Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
- Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.
- 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.
- Read books to entire classes or to small groups.
- Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.
- Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
- 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.
- Enforce all administration policies and rules governing students.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Teach proper eating habits and personal hygiene.
- Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.
- Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them.
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to children.
- Demonstrate activities to children.
- Arrange indoor and outdoor space to facilitate creative play, motor-skill activities, and safety.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Prepare reports on students and activities as required by administration.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
Software and tools commonly used in this role
In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work
Related Careers
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.