Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Path Of Difference: Preschool Teacher Certification

If an individual is considering various careers that they wish to pursue or possibly changing career paths they may wish to look at the teaching profession. The profession of teacher is often a career that is highly esteemed. This is because teachers interact with young impressionable minds on an average of 30 hours a week in the classroom setting.

This noble profession is one that gives that special person an opportunity to be a great influence in the life of the young person. This is accomplished as teachers challenge their students to be all that they can be through the stimulation of the mind and to develop and quench a thirst for learning.

In fact it is often said that the most impressionable ages of a child are those early years. It could be easily argued that those formative years could be in the range of two to five years on the age.

And, in fact, if a career as a teacher is a path that an individual wishes to follow what better ages to interact with are those young lives or the preschoolers. Therefore, if considering becoming a teacher and with a special calling as a preschool teacher it is important to know what the role of a preschool teacher is, the education required and the preschool teacher certification needed to work with these young lives.

Role Of The Preschool Teacher

Before considering the process that leads to preschool teacher certification it is important to know what the role entails. That is because there are educational requirements, but even more importantly the individual that considers this career must have the appropriate personality and commitment to meet the needs of the preschoolers.

First of all, the role of the preschool teacher is to help cultivate the two to five-year-old child’s entire person. The scope of that role includes the development of the child's social, physical, creative and intellectual aspects. Specifically the preschool teacher will work with the child individually and in a group setting to develop these qualities through a certified teaching plan.

The importance of this role cannot be underscored enough because of the basics that the child is learning. That importance is that the fundamentals being formed through these formative years will help to provide the basic foundation of educational opportunities to come.

The Education Required

In order for an individual to qualify as a preschool teacher they must obtain their preschool teacher certification. In addition, it is important to understand that preschool teacher certification requirements vary from state to state. However, there are basic requirements and milestones that need to be reached before certification can be attained. Specifically, there needs to be educational and experiential requirements that are achieved.

The educational requirements needed to obtain preschool teacher certification can vary anywhere from a simple high school diploma to a B.A. degree in early childhood education. However, is important to note that typically the more education that an individual receives the greater their worth to the child and family that they are interacting with. In addition, they will be a greater asset to the Child development Center. In addition, generally the size of one's paycheck is in direct proportion to one's education.

Also, an important aspect to a preschool teacher’s education is the experience that they bring to the Child Development Center. This is because in order to receive certification as a preschool teacher one needs to have a certain amount of hours clocked in a preschool setting.

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