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Date: 03/28/2026

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
    • Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.
    • Teach proper eating habits and personal hygiene.
    • Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guests, or other experiential activities and guide students in learning from those activities.
    • Supervise, evaluate, and plan assignments for teacher assistants and volunteers.
    • Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.
    • Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.
    • Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.
    • Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
    • Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them.
    • Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
    • Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence.
    • Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.
    • Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
    • Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to children.
    • Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
    • Enforce all administration policies and rules governing students.
    • Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.
    • Prepare reports on students and activities as required by administration.
    • Supervise, evaluate, and plan assignments for teacher assistants and volunteers.
    • Demonstrate activities to children.
    • Arrange indoor and outdoor space to facilitate creative play, motor-skill activities, and safety.
    • Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
    • Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.
    • Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
    • Read books to entire classes or to small groups.
    • Perform administrative duties, such as hall and cafeteria monitoring and bus loading and unloading.
    • Administer tests to help determine children's developmental levels, needs, and potential.
    • Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
    • Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
    • Arrange indoor and outdoor space to facilitate creative play, motor-skill activities, and safety.
    • Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula.
    • Attend staff meetings and serve on committees as required.
    • Organize and label materials and display students' work in a manner appropriate for their ages and perceptual skills.
    • Collaborate with other teachers and administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of preschool programs.
    • Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.
    • Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
    • Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
    • Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and needs, determine their priorities for their children, and suggest ways that they can promote learning and development.
    • Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
    • Prepare and implement remedial programs for students requiring extra help.
    • Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.

    Skills

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    4
    Workplace Documents
    5
    Graphic Literacy
    5

    Abilities

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    Knowledge

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 32760/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 15.75/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 15,920
    • Yearly Projected Openings 1710

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Optimism
    • Sincerity
    • Empathy
    • Self-Control
    • Social Orientation
    • Cooperation

    Tools

    • Balance or gross motor equipment
    • Board games
    • Building blocks
    • Cognitive toys
    • Compact disk players or recorders
    • Desktop computers
    • Digital cameras
    • Mobile medical services first aid kits
    • Personal computers
    • Photocopiers
    • Puzzles
    • Sand or water tables or activity centers
    • Tactile toys

    Technology

    • Computer based training software
    • Desktop communications software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Mobile messaging service software
    • Multi-media educational software
    • Office suite software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Video conferencing software
    • Video creation and editing software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

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