by Jac Emma John

Created on: July 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 25, 2009

If we compare teaching to building a house, the job of the preschool teachers is laying the foundation, the job of the public school teachers is building the structure of the house and the university professors are in charge of the decoration of the house. Which of these is most important? Of course the laying of foundation!

It is believed that by the age of 6, human have attain 50% of the knowledge and intelligence of his entire life. If an average person only lives to 60 yrs, this implies that in that early 10% of our lives, we will gain half of what we will know for our whole lives, and another half will be gained through the later 90% of our lives.

The characteristics, personalities and habits are all formed in the first stage of development (0-6 yrs). The adults (parents and teachers especially) are entrusted with the sacred job in nurturing and guiding the child during these formative years. A child who does not have strong foundation will not be able to face and challenge the storm in later years.

Preschool teachers must be well trained, have a strong love and passion for children, and be able to ignite the learning flame within the child. An understanding of the child's psychology and the emotional as well as physical development are essential to help the child reach his fullest potential.

Whether you are a preschool teacher or a public school teacher, your have to give your 100% commitment. Teaching involves lots of preparation work and the job does not end when the school is over, teachers spend many weekends and after school hours researching, grading, & preparing lesson plans.

It is a misconception that preschool teachers need only to know the alphabet, numbers and sing a few nursery rhymes to do the job. As they are dealing with young children who are still in the stage of learning and acquiring language, the preschool teachers need to read the mind of the young child without them spelling it out. Through her daily interaction with the preschoolers, the teachers enrich the children's vocabulary, showing them many how to, when to and where to, imparting life skills which will be a tremendous purpose when they gradually mature into adulthood.

Looking at all these criteria, I think a preschool teacher needs to be a multi-tasker in order to do her job. So why shouldn't we pay and treat preschools teacher the as public school teachers if not more?

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