3 Common Misconceptions about Preschool Teachers

Verse of the Day: Mark 9:23 "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

Let's skip the intro and dive right in, shall we?

But first, a disclaimer: This blog does not reflect the personal thoughts, words, opinions or actions of the employees/ Lead staff of my place of work or any coworkers I am in contact with (aside from myself). (for all my strongly overly opinionated "opposition". )

Trigger warning: It will get personal.

1. We don't have a "real"core curriculum to follow and everything is done in a state of whimsy.

• It goes without saying that preschool is the foundation of most everyone's education. In order to ensure each child a fair opportunity at grasping the very basics of early learning requirements in: math, reading,writing, science, art, and fine/gross motor skills, I can assure you, a plan must be put into action. Preschool teachers have just as many learning/teaching policies and academic benchmarks (or objectives) for their students as any other grade school teacher and it should not be assumed otherwise just because our children are the youngest.

2. All we do is "play", (practically an all day amusement park with supervisors)

• "Learning at play" is the developmentally appropriate way to introduce children to learning. No infant or toddler is going to learn from lectures and paperwork filled with lines and words they don't understand, in a blank room with only a clock, desks and a teacher who's daydreaming about being somewhere else. At this age, it is with an objective in mind that children need to be interested through various things that intrigue their senses through: what they see, smell, taste, feel and hear. This makes up how they will grow to understand the world around them. Their environment (while structured) is SUPPOSED to be lively, fun and interactive, thus encouraging them to desire learning. Just because our methods involve toys, gadgets and finger paint doesn't mean it is done without purpose. Don't believe me? how did YOU come to realize the color red and connect it with stop signs, traffic lights, and other objects of urgency, hazardous and/or emergency?

3. We are paid to "babysit"

• (try not to throw the monitor), There is so much I can say about this one, however, for the sake of my sanity and yours, I'll just get to the point: If we teach for any reason at all, I can ASSURE you with the upmost confidence that our salary is not the reason. If that were the case, your education department would be in serious need of hiring with little to no takers. Teaching preschool, as with anything involving human to human interaction, takes a heightened sense of emotional intelligence, social graces, patience, endurance and overall drive. You HAVE to have a heart for children, and you HAVE to truly love them in order to be the teacher they deserve. Anyone can watch a child play on the carpet for an hour, watch TV, fix a TV dinner and read a bed time story for about $50.00. It takes someone who loves them unconditionally to direct, comfort, encourage, mentor, reprimand, and educate for less in that same hour.

Although there were way more belittling comments that I have personally encountered when it comes to teaching in the preschool arena, I settled with the three I feel most preschool teachers like myself encounter regularly and can relate to the most. Teachers, as I have only discovered by becoming one, are among some of the most disrespected and undervalued of individuals that I have ever known, all because we CHOOSE everyday to get out of our warm beds before the crack of dawn and present ourselves as pillars of wisdom and intellect in the eyes of our students and parents, because we KNOW we have a choice to not be there and we continue to choose to serve our community by feeding the minds of our tomorrow, because OUR hearts are truly in our future leaders.

I tell my students that every teacher, doctor, construction worker, police man, fire fighter and other important community helper that they dream of being one day have one thing in common: they had a teacher or mentor of some kind. One day, some of them may choose this path and I want them to see the value of it because it is a job of the heart, mind and spirit, they'll need every bit of positive reinforcement they can get when facing a world that admires the educated but turns up their nose a the educator.

Now I want to hear from you. What are some preconceived notions that have been pushed onto you about your profession/ job/ career/ passion? How do you deal with it? comment below! and always:

"For the love of life and literature, stay prayerful, stay positive and write on."