Kindergarten Teacher
A kindergarten teacher is often a child’s first impression of formal instruction, although the child rarely understands that at the time. If you want an online education degree to teach these young children, your’s is an admirable goal. You will help form the foundation on which the child’s attitude toward learning is built.
Important Specialty
Because a kindergarten teacher introduces basic educational principals in ways far different from later years, your own education will be highly specialized.
You will need a bachelor’s degree and specialized training in how to teach young minds. You will use games, play and hands-on teaching techniques. Your career training will prepare you to interact with young students and present the important building blocks in fun and easy to understand ways.
As you attend a top online college and learn concepts of teaching and teaching ethics, to name a few areas, you will also learn specific teaching techniques a kindergarten teacher uses that are unique to that student age group.
During the later years of your online college path, you will undergo student training under the mentored guidance of an experienced teacher and put into practice the theory and techniques you learned in your courses.
Most students pursue a four-year degree directly in education, but you can still become a teacher so long as you have a baccalaureate degree. You simply must obtain the education courses and training of the latter two years of an education degree program.
Once you successfully complete that training course module and get your degree, you will be ready for your next step—accreditation for public schools or acceptance into a private school system.
Private vs Public Schools
Private school teachers of any grade or subject do not need state licenses. However, every state requires all public primary or secondary teachers, including kindergarten teachers, to take and pass the certification test designed by each state’s Board of Education.
Private schools require all their teachers to have at least a bachelor’s degree. Your degree does not have to be in education, although that special focus does help.
Because a kindergarten teacher does not change classes or students, teachers present all subjects to their ‘home room’ class and simply rotate subjects throughout the day. Teachers of older students teach certain courses to all students within that grade level or age group. Most school systems assign a class room to a teacher and have the students rotate locations.
However, in the public school arena, you must tailor your online courses toward this highly focused specialty. Your license will dictate what age group you will be allowed to teach. Your license exam will differ greatly from the test for a high school teacher, for example. The license that allows you to teach the very young includes a K and a maximum grade, such as ‘K through 5.’
Your license in one state is rarely accepted by another state, so if you move and still want to be a kindergarten teacher, you will have to pass the new state’s licensing test for your target age group.
