What It Takes To Be A Preschool Teacher At A Sparks Daycare 

Children are full of energy, ideas, creativity and the knack for adventure. Their little minds are bursting with new information on a daily basis. How can we as teachers and caregivers enhance their learning even further?

Teachers need to provide a learning structure that is geared towards the child’s development by using appropriate practices. This means having learning centers set up in the classroom with materials the children are interested in. A child’s development incorporates many factors when learning. A child is learning about gross motor skills by crawling, jumping or running. Their fine motor skills are teaching how to write and draw using pencils or markers. A big development children work on is learning to use their social and emotional skills. These skills help children play with their classmates and teach them appropriate ways to say how they feel without hurting another person by the use of their hands or other objects.

Before we dive into the aspects of a child directed classroom and how it incorporates a child’s development, that start of a child’s learning begins with caring and supportive caregiver from a great preschool in the Reno-Sparks area. Teachers are the children’s guide in learning how to communicate with their friends, having patience in difficult situations and the joy of having fun with one another.

What qualities make up a successful preschool teacher? There are many qualities that make up a person, but for a preschool teacher these qualities go a bit deeper.

Patience

Imagine a classroom filled with three and four-year-olds. It’s loud, kids are playing and different scenarios are happening all at the same time. A preschool teacher needs to be calm and provide positive redirection to the children. This means getting on the child’s level offering a different activity and allowing the child to focus on something else. Being calm and collective as a caregiver allows you to provide the appropriate alternatives to stressful situations. 

Communication

Children at a young age do not have the language skills to say how they feel, what they are thinking and how to change their behavior. Teachers are the children’s guide to learn language that is appropriate to their development and age. Using phrases such as “I don’t like that,” “please and thank you” and “use our walking feet” gives the children the appropriate tools to use with their friends. Children soak up language like a sponge soaks up water. When teachers model positive language children reciprocate by using appropriate language with each other.

Positive Attitude 

Children feed off of how adults feel around them. When adults are upset or mad, the tone is set for the day to one of struggle. There is behavior from children that will be hard to turn around in a positive way. Teachers at Sparks preschools need to feel confident and have compassion for the children. One way to counteract the negative behavior is by positive guidance. Allowing the children to make a choice is a strong way to allow them to use their problem solving skills. 

For example, a child is seen running up a slide during outside time. To make it easy we could tell the child they have lost the slide for the rest of outside play. This only makes the child more upset and enables the behavior to continue. Instead, we give the child two choices. You can go down the slide feet first or you can go ride a bike. The child gets a choice but also is explained in a positive way to change the behavior that is going on. When teachers turn a hard situation around by offering positive alternatives, the child is learning how to use their problem solving skills that will continue with them into adulthood. 

Join our Daycare Reno Team!

Interested in working at a child-centered preschool? Our staff is passionate about working with and teaching children. We want to be considered the best preschool in Reno and Sparks, so it’s only natural that we’d also want the best people for the job. If you’re looking at Sparks preschools for employment opportunities, please submit your application here.