Kindergarten Teacher Education Requirements and Career Info

Kindergarten teachers help young children begin to learn both academics and the basics of social interaction. Typically, kindergarten teachers must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited teaching program to earn licensure.

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Career Overview for Kindergarten Teachers

Kindergarten teachers, often the first teachers to have contact with children, use play and hands-on teaching methods to introduce basic academics to children. Letter recognition, phonics, numbers, counting and awareness of nature and science are generally the focus in kindergarten. Teachers might use exercises, such as matching games, simple scavenger hunts, recognition games and drawing or coloring, to teach students these concepts.

Kindergarten teachers also might teach children to function socially. Sharing, standing in line and interacting with a group of peers are all basic skills that are often learned in kindergarten.

Outside the classroom, kindergarten teachers develop lesson plans, evaluate student performance and communicate with parents and guardians. Because kindergarten is often the first regular contact a child has outside of home, kindergarten teachers are sometimes called upon to help both children and parents adjust.

Education Requirements for Kindergarten Teachers

All states require that kindergarten teachers be licensed to teach. Normally, applicants for licensure must have a bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education, from an approved teacher training program. Most states also require a certain amount of supervised practice teaching, commonly called student teaching. In school, prospective teachers study both general areas, such as mathematics, science, art, reading, writing and literature, and subjects specifically designed to help them teach, like philosophy of education and teaching methods.

Students may enroll in a program at a professional development school. Students actually teach for a year, supervised by professional or licensed teachers. This is an alternative to more traditional student teaching programs, which involve prospective teachers acting as assistants to professional teachers in a classroom setting. Students may teach in a professional development school after earning a bachelor's degree.

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