Anyone a preschool teacher?

NatalieBier · July 2014

Thinking about making a career change to do something more fun and happy than more corporate job and have more time with my kiddos. If you are one, what do you love about it? What is most challenging? How do you become one with no previous experience besides teaching Sunday school? Are you eligible for benefits if part time?

MamaFantastic · July 2014

@allyandmike24‌ is!

Mamamonzo · July 2014

The best part is walking into the classroom every day with 20 people that think you are an absolute rockstar! There are so many fun sensory activities to do at that age, everything is new to them! Seeing them start the school year hardly able to dress themselves, and at the end they can zip their own jackets!

Worst, sometimes you feel like a babysitter and all you do all day is wipe noses. Lots of whiney kids and behavioral challanges.

Generally part time will not get any air of benefits.

You can get your CDA online it's a series of books and tests followed by creating a portfolio and the. An interview and classroom observations. In MI it costs about $600 to do that and it's all self paced.

edoliesmom · July 2014

(I'm not sure if this is what you're asking about... I worked at a preschool with ages 6 weeks to 4 years. It didn't require a CDA [not even sure what that is] or any kind of special education/degree, and I work in Texas.)

Best part: I'd have to agree with @Mamamonzo‌ about getting love and excitement from the kids, and that you get to show them the same in return. It's also very rewarding when you get to see then grow. If you love kids, it's such a fun job most of the time. Challenging, but fun.

Worst part: sometimes there are parents who expect you to do the hard stuff for them, and it's one of the most frustrating things. Working with a child to potty train? Awesome, but it has to be done at home too. Trying to make behavioral changes? Yep, gotta be done at home too. But some parents expect it to be fixed at school and let it slide at home. Makes our job a lot harder when you mix all the other children into the equation. You're often asked to do a lot for very little pay. One time I had a parent tell me, "Whatever you're getting paid right now, it's not enough."

I didn't have any experience when I first started. I knew the administrator at my first job, so that helped me get my foot in the door. But I mean, if you have kids of your own, have been around other kids, express a great interest of working with kids and bring great, creative ideas to the table, your chances of starting out somewhere are pretty good.

ksulli · July 2014

I did it in college, and my mom did it for a career (wound up as a director). If you have a 2 or 4 year degree including a course on child development in certain states that's enough to be a lead teacher. It can be so fun- they are adorable me and loving little tiny people. But much like parenting, it can be exhausting, demanding and thankless. Some kids are pure joy, some are 75% challenge. And then there are the parents.

Pay is usually pretty low, and anything short of full time, or at a facility with few employees, will usually mean no benefits.

NatalieBier · July 2014

Thanks all! I really appreciate the feedback. I keep on thinking it would be exhausting, but nice to not sit in front of a computer all day wasting away! The pay cut would be hard, but I would do it knowing I am herein to be with my kids more. Maybe I will check into some online child development courses just to have some education around that topic.

allyandmike24 · July 2014

Thanks mamaF! Yes I have preschool teacher in MA and have a Bachelors. I'll be starting my Masters with the intention of eventually working in EEC policy on the state level.

I seriously love being a preschool teacher. The pros are definitely being able to be creative every day, being physically active, and figuring out how to engage children who are really diverse learners.

The cons are, like everybody else said, it's really exhausting work. It can be frustrating dealing with behavioral challenges, but I take that as a learning experience. Our parents are actually really terrific, my preschool is a co-op so parents have to volunteer a certain amount per month so we really get a great chance you get to know them all individually. I get paid really well, although I am only going back to work very very part-time. If you're in it to make money, you should probably not been preschool teacher

Feel free to pm questions!!!

mallyandryan · July 2014

I teach third grade, but I use to teach Pre-k. It was more similar to kindergarten though. It was a state funded Pre-k in an elementary school. The age level is so loving, but you have to have an incredible amount of patience. The downfall for me was the paperwork, but again it was Pre-k not preschool.

horae4me · July 2014

My advice to anyone thinking about going into teaching (at any level) is that you have to really want to do it. A lot of people think they might want to try it because it seems like it would be a fun job to have. It is one of the hardest jobs that is greatly under appreciated. But it can be so rewarding at the same time. I love love love teaching (3rd right now) but it is also so hard at the same time. See if you can shadow for a week in a classroom to get a feel for it to see if it is something you want to pursue. I have friends that have left corporate jobs for teaching, thinking they would be happier. That's not always the case. Depending where you are, there may also be different certification you'll need to pursue.

Smores730 · July 2014

I taught pre-school and pre-k before and after I had kids.
Most challenging is the behavior problems, wacky requests by parents, and depending on the place you work at some will have lesson plans and constant assessments to do on the children which become stressful to keep up with.

It was harder for me to do the job after I was a parent (and particularly once I had a child of that age) I wanted to fix the behavior problems by utilizing my methods as a mom but had to follow the procedures of the workplace which always meant putting a bandaid on the problem.

Even working full time I received no benefits. I became their office manager and still didn't have any benefits. We would hire almost anyone that had a college degree because not many degreed people would apply. Sunday school experience and being a mom would have been enough to send you on a working interview at the place I worked at.

In regards to what I loved about the job after I had my own kids: almost nothing! I didn't love the kids like I once did because I had my own kids to love.

BabyBsMommy · July 2014

I worked for a head start preschool program for 6 years. Once DS got to be a toddler, I found it hard to be with kids all day and come home and have enough left for DS. The pay at head start was good with decent benefits for me, not family. There is also a social service aspect of head start that I found very rewarding as well (working help families). The one thing about head start was the rules and regulations (couldn't do anything geared towards holidays, this many minutes a day spent doing this, etc). It burnt me out...I couldn't enjoy the fun arts and crafts and sensory stuff anymore.

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