Early Childhood Education?

I was shy, too, at your age, and Pre-School education has been the best field for me. I have to tell you that it’s a LOT of work though. It’s not all fun and games! The kids can be very challenging, and it’s very important to learn how to plan activities that will support their growth and development at this young age. You might want to volunteer some time in a preschool program to learn a little more about it. If you enjoy it, then go ahead! You’ll want to continue your education and get a degree in early childhood education, or elementary education with early childhood. This is a very rewarding age group to teach. It’s a wonderful feeling when you see a child’s eyes light up with that look of Aha! Now I get it!

Teaching is a wonderful job. You will need lots of patience and energy because children that age require you to have both. You, however, will still have to be around and deal with adults. Schools these days want teachers to work together and you will also need to have good communication skills to deal with parents of the children you teach.

As far as the teaching aspect goes, Prek-First is a big swing in what the children are doing. In PreK they are learning the basics such as colors, counting, ABC’s and mostly learning through play. Kindergarten is when they start to read words and may begin to read books with limited words, add, and put the basics to work. They are also in a more structured environment. In first grade, they start to read more advanced books with complete sentences and maybe even chapter books, they learn to add and subtract more complex problems, and generally learn to be a little more independent learners.

This is no way a complete list of the what children learn but I hope it gives you an idea of what children these ages are learning.

I think that the more you work with children the less shy you will become because children will bring out your more open side. Good Luck and I hope you find a career that you love!

Shyness around adults will be a problem because communication with parents/guardians is crutial in those grades in particular. Also, you’ll have problems with the other teachers if you can not build a good relationship with them because of your shyness.

As for what it’s like teaching in that age group, it is the best age group to teach.