Preschool Teacher: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a preschool teacher?

A great preschool teacher hire can help your business by offering great education to students. They can make a huge difference in a school’s reputation and ensure children are content and interested.

• Increase the number of students you can have
• Provide better care for each preschooler
• Alleviate the burden for other teachers

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance preschool teacher

Freelance preschool teachers can help schools for a number of reasons. For one, they can act as substitute teachers when others call in sick. They can also work part-time in multiple schools to fill in as a second teacher in preschool classes. 

Almost all preschools, however, should have enough full-time teachers to be able to support the amount of students the school has. Many schools hire at least one teacher for every 20 students in the school. Hiring full-time teachers to fill this role is much more reliable than hiring freelancers daily. 

What are the ranks of preschool teachers?

In any school, there’s a clearly defined hierarchy in the teaching staff. Some positions in this industry include:

• Teaching assistant: A teaching assistant is there to help the teacher manage the classroom and work one-on-one with struggling students. The assistant may be responsible for preparing class plans, tracking attendance and helping keep the class under control. 
• Preschool teacher: Preschool teachers are often responsible for developing programs to help young students learn how to read, write and count. They also ensure the children are fed and monitored, and preschool teachers provide behavioral reports for the children’s parents. 
• Head teacher: Head teachers rarely teach classes. They’re responsible for developing goals for other teachers and creating policies for the school.
• Principal: Principals are considered to be the faces of their schools. They meet and talk with the children’s parents, assess the teaching methods and administer the school’s budget. 

Where to find preschool teachers

To find the right preschool teacher for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Maintain contact with local colleges and universities. Ask colleges and universities in the area for a list of recent graduates looking for work in the field of early education.
• Look online. Experienced preschool teachers may be searching for work online. 
• Network. A good place to network is at childcare job fairs. By building and maintaining a network of members of the teaching community, you may be able to get early leads about preschool teachers who are looking for jobs. 
• Post help wanted flyers. Notifying the community about the job in the form of posters is often an effective way of encouraging candidates to apply. 
• Post your job online. Try posting your preschool teacher job on Indeed to find and attract quality preschool teacher candidates.

Skills to look for in a great Preschool Teacher

A great preschool teacher candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• State Certified
• Great listening ability
• Lesson Plans
• Motivated by the desire to help children
• Empathetic for their students
• Enthusiastic for learning

Writing a preschool teacher job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding qualified preschool teacher candidates. A preschool teacher job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your preschool teacher job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on preschool teacher jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Preschool teacher
• Daycare
• Child care
• Teacher
• Preschool
• Teacher assistant
• Education
• Daycare assistant
• Childcare
• Early childhood education

Interviewing preschool teacher candidates

Strong candidates for preschool teacher positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Lesson plans for the year
• How to spot disorders
• How to educate equally

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of preschool teacher interview questions for examples (with sample answers).