How to be a better Preschool Teacher

Sometimes a parent will come in and say, "I want to know everything you are teaching my child." The problem is, sometimes we are teaching them things that they might not want their parents to know. Like how to use the toilet or how to tie shoes. I've had kids who were 4 years old and still couldn't tie their shoes. So I would teach them how to do that. And then the parents would ask me, "How did you teach him?" And I would say, "I showed him how to make a knot with his shoe laces." But what I didn't tell them was that it took about three weeks for the kid to get it down and we practiced every single day during Preschool time. So if a parent comes in and asks me what your child is learning every day, don't be afraid to tell them some of the hard truths. Like that tying shoes takes practice over time and doesn't happen overnight. Or that using the toilet is an ongoing process and some kids take longer than others. It's not because they are bad kids or lazy kids but just because it's difficult for little humans who have never done this before in their lives (and even adults sometimes have problems with these things).

Sometimes a kid will cry at Preschool because he or she doesn't want to participate in whatever activity we are doing at the moment (like going on a field trip). My feeling is always, let the kid cry for two reasons: A) Kids need limits and crying means they need help getting those limits set up so when they grow up they can function in society; B) letting them cry now means they won't cry later when something important happens in life (like losing a job or getting divorced). Crying is an important part of growing up so don't shy away from letting it happen at preschool.

Kids eat food all day long at Preschool so there's lots of opportunities for germs being passed around. Our policy was very strict: no eating until lunchtime (11am), after everyone had gone home for the day (so germs could die off). If a kid came into class with food on his face from breakfast we made him wash his face first thing before anything else happened. Germs can live on faces for 24 hours so you can't afford any extra germs during Preschool activities which often involve children playing together closely (crayons on faces, etc).

Preschoolers are learning many skills every day but one skill they aren't learning yet is sitting still quietly all day long while an adult entertains them with stories or games or songs or whatever else we do each day in class. They need more time outside running around than inside listening to stories being read by adults (who might be tired after working all week). The idea of Preschool is that children learn through play, not through listening to adults talk constantly about stuff that isn't relevant yet anyway (like ABCs or colors or numbers). So don't feel bad if you aren't entertaining all the time in class but rather just creating opportunities where children can explore on their own while you supervise quietly nearby making sure everyone stays safe as needed..

I think this was advice I got from my father when I worked as a stockbroker back in 1999-2000 during the dot com bubble/burst. He told me then that stockbrokers had high suicide rates because 1) they made money if stocks went up so there was always pressure on them;