Preschool Teacher Resumes & Writing Guide

Preschool teachers have a passion for early childhood education and development; our passion is resume compilation. 

When you are seeking your next Preschool Teacher role, it is essential first review a top-notch Preschool Teacher resume sample. You want to make sure your resume immediately sparks interest from recruiters and hiring managers (within 6 seconds actually, which is the average time it takes for someone to skim a resume and make a decision to shortlist or decline).

The role of a Preschool Teacher is quite diverse, educating kids in topics such as social science, natural science, art, music, literature, and even personal hygiene. The purpose of Preschool Teacher is universal though: to promote social, physical and mental development in children at an early age and build a strong foundation for their future lives. 

Crafting a stellar resume document will seem much less of a challenging feat after working through our Preschool Teacher resume guideline below.

18 Preschool Teacher Resume Examples

(Free sample downloads are at the bottom of this page)

See also guides & samples for:

• Higher Education Teacher
• Substitute Teacher
• Kindergarten Teacher
• Preschool Teacher
• ESL Teacher
• All Education Resumes

Preschool Teacher Resume Guide

Resume Sections:

• 1. Contact information
• 2. Profile Summary
• 3. Work History
• 4. Achievements
• 5. Education
• 6. Skill Section
• 7. Certification & licensing
• 8. Extras: Languages/Awards/Publications/Volunteering/hobbies
• > Professional information

What to Highlight in a Preschool Teacher Resume

Preschool teachers both develop and instruct school children between the ages of three and seven. It may be hard to figure out just what to include in your Preschool Teacher resume, as the role of the Preschool Teacher is so diverse, ranging between dealing with tantrums and educating children on basic math. To provide school principals, recruiters, and school board members with adequate information, there are key features to highlight within a Preschool Teacher resume. 

Firstly, elaborate on what the main purpose of your role is within the work setting. For example, Preschool Teachers may specialize within a certain subject such as music or art. If you are specializing in a subject such as art, it is beneficial to list art related points that you will be teaching within your class. For instance, finger painting, working with clay, drawing with crayons, and paper Mache. 

Secondly, you need to describe your teaching methods. For example, will you be using group outings, props, or games as a part of your lesson plans. When describing your teaching methods, it is important to highlight the goals that you aim to achieve with your teaching methods, for instance, building self-confidence, improving memory, and improving motor skills. 

Lastly, you would need to explain the methods you will use to mentor, guide, as well as discipline the children. A Preschool Teacher needs to instill rules highlighting social skills, personal hygiene, and acceptable social behavior. A Preschool Teacher needs to be able to discipline a class as well as inspire and motivate trust and self-confidence.

Next is a list of the technical skills that you may need, these can be divided into the following categories:

• Education and Training: The skills needed would include different methods for curriculum design, competency in teaching both individuals and groups of children, and being able to measure development and progress.

• English Language: Various linguistic skills pertaining to both the content and structure of the English language are mandatory, as English is taught as a spoken and written language. Classes are taught syntax, semantics, pronunciation, grammar, and sentence construction.

• Psychology: Knowledge pertaining to early childhood behavior is crucial for a Pre-School Teacher. Knowledge allows Pre-School Teachers to identify any issues or disorders and apply the correct course of action, based on the personal ability, cognitive ability, learning scope, and motivation of the child. It would be important to highlight the type of assessment tools you are familiar with.  

• Mathematics: Preschool Teachers lay the mathematical foundation for the children they teach. Thus, Preschool Teachers need to understand mathematical principles, as well as being able to apply these principles in a way that young children will be able to understand allowing them to gain confidence in their problem-solving skills.

• Service and Guidance: A Preschool Teacher is constantly engaging with parents and guardians, providing progress reports, facilitating PTA meetings, and notifying parents of upcoming events or activities.

1. Contact information

• First Name and Last Name
• Email
• Physical Address
• LinkedIn Profile / Portfolio Link

2. Career Profile/ Summary & Examples

A career summary/objective is a snapshot of your credentials, passion for children, experience, and measurable achievements and can be used to grab the reader's attention. School board members, parent-teacher associations, and school principals are responsible for the hiring of Preschool teachers. Thus, your career summary/objective needs to capture their attention immediately.

Some tips and tricks to make your career summary/objective grab the attention of the reader include:

• Aiming to make the reader pay attention like a good student during circle time.
• Ensuring your career summary/objective is crafted around being a Preschool Teacher.
• Fill your summary/objective with your measurable achievements. An easy way to do this is by mimicking what the job advertisement asks for. For instance, if the job calls for passion, the ability to inspire learners, and empathy, using these phrases in your summary will grab the reader's attention.
• It is advisable to include one or two outstanding qualities, such as how you have a talent for connecting with disabled children or you have helped struggling learners improve their reading skills.
• The final sentence of your career summary should mention your licensing credentials and your highest qualification.

Examples

Preschool Teacher Summary 1

“NBC accredited Pre-School Teacher with seven years of experience and a proven record of improving both math and reading skills of remedial kids. Single-handedly raised parental satisfaction scores by 40% in the short time of five months and directed the yearly Christmas concert charity event raising 110k for the school. A registered Play Therapist and is also currently completing a master’s degree in childhood psychology.“

Preschool Teacher Summary 2

“Enthusiastic entry level Preschool teacher straight out of university achieving a summa cum laude result and awarded student of the semester by the Dean’s Golden Honors Society three years in a row. Reached 85% and above on all practical training attended at three different Pre-School schools. Has two years’ experience as an Elementary Teaching Aid and further tutors’ mathematics to elementary school children during weekends.“

Preschool Teacher Summary 3

“Dedicated, tenured Preschool Teacher of over 10 years’ tenure in developing academic knowledge and building characters of young minds. Acted as the spearheading force behind the sports and recreation development program for the school“

Preschool Teacher Summary 4

“Passionate preschool teacher with volunteering preschool teaching experience and daycare experience. Worked as student tutor in various colleges and completed multiple projects in lesson plan creation. Commended and received accolades by professors for strong work ethic and warm personality. Skilled in patience, communication, and classroom management.“

3. Employment History

An education board or school principal will expect certain job duties and foundational skills.

These individuals may have over 80 Pre-School Teacher resumes reading with very limited time to read them in. It is therefore very important to make your resume stand out. Due to the length constraints, it may seem complicated on deciding which duties you will want to include, but we will show you how to combat this.

Here are some tips to keep your resume short, concise, and attention-grabbing:

• Pick 4-7 specific duties that you do daily.
• Examine your lesson plans and highlight certain duties, for instance teaching children about shapes, colors, numbers, socializing skills and personal hygiene practices.
• Structure your day, for example, you may want to start the day off with a prayer, story, or song, followed by lessons in science or math, and ending off the day with some in class free play.
• Highlight your talents early on, a trick to do this is by using the reverse-chronological resume format as it shows your most recent accomplishments at the front of the line.
• Keep it eye-friendly by using big headings and strategic white spaces, as well as the best fonts.
• Save your resume as a PDF, as they are machine-readable and work well with hiring software. However, you need to first ensure that the job offer accepts PDFs.
• If you are switching to Preschool Teaching from another job, it is advisable to use the combination resume format, as it pulls in relevant highlights from your work experience.

Preschool Teacher at St James

(Jan 2014 – Dec 2017)

Lead preschool teacher, for a 3–4-year-old classroom.

• Commended three times by the board of directors for work ethic and dedication.
• Reduced hitting incidents 45% and biting incidents 45% through the adoption of an enhanced language-skills program. Parent satisfaction scores up 20%.
• Helped raise assessments 30% through CLASS program application.

Preschool Teacher at Gladstone Academy

(Jan 2010 – Feb 2012)

Responsible for engaging children in interactive activities that include organized arts and crafts, singing and games, and storytelling for a class of 13-16 learners.

• Facilitated classroom activities such as circle time and performed meal preparation.
• Used reflective practice to alter group curriculum implementation and presentation strategy, contributing to a 20% boost in assessment scores.
• Constructing a monthly or weekly lesson plan or equivalent while following our signature format
• Creating and implementing different activities relevant to program
• Playing educational games and cleaning up after each class
• Promote all Kids Activities programming

Job Description Examples

A Preschool Teacher may:

• Design and prepare lessons for mathematics, social education programs and reading.
• Compile and organize educational resources, props and learning materials.
• Apply various instructional methods for example outdoor activities, art, and music to stimulate learners, structured games, storytelling, and songs.
• Teach emotional, social, and interpersonal skills, as well as numeracy and alphabet literacy.
• Teach personal hygiene, routine tasks, and table manners.
• Conduct group activities like outdoor and indoor games as well as excursions.
• Strictly adhere to all health and safety regulations.

• Be responsible for the physical and mental development of learners.
• Maintaining accurate records regarding children’s tests, assessments, and behavior.
• Cultivate a positive, vibey atmosphere within the classroom.
• Nip any signs of bullying in the bud immediately and teach children how to be respectful to one another.
• Conduct weekly pop quizzes helps to determine the learners understanding of the work they covered during the week.
• Present extra-curricular math and reading classes to remedial learners.

• Organize charity events, functions, and concerts.
• Implement the tiny tennis league initiative.
• Introduce children to nature conservation by organizing monthly excursions to the nature reserve.
• Foster collaborative relationships between families, guardians, parents, and occupational therapists/psychologists to ensure a cohesive development effort for children with learning disabilities.

4. Accomplishments

A list of your accomplishments is essential within a Preschool Teachers resume. Your accomplishments showcase your ability to, teach, coach, shape young minds, support, and guide learners. Including numerical values, scores, numbers, frequencies, time frames, and percentages, within your list of accomplishments helps to quantify your accomplishments which elevate their impact.

Selecting between four and six accomplishments is advisable to set your application apart from the rest. Thinking back to your proudest career moments will be helpful when selecting which accomplishments to include and remember to add an action verb or two.

Here are examples without quantification:

1. Completely eradicated bullying incidents (biting, hitting).
2. Received recommendations from all six board members.
3. Improved parent satisfaction scores.
4. Instrumental in raising school readiness scores.
5. Revamped classroom layout according to Zen principles.
6. Raised money for the school's new recreation center by organizing monthly entrepreneurship events like sports fundraisers and market days.

Quantified Accomplishment Statement Examples:

1. Eradicated bullying incidents (hitting and biting) entirely within the space of five months after introducing the back a buddy program.
2. Received recommendations from all six board members during the bi-annual performance appraisal achieving a 90% rating.
3. Improved parent satisfaction scores by 30% for both the five-year-old and six-year-old classes.
4. Instrumental in raising school readiness scores, which resulted in each learner progressing to grade 2 in the following year.
5. Revamped classroom layout based on Zen principles which resulted in a 30% improvement in memory retention for learners with ADD.
6. Raised 150k for the school's new recreation center by organizing monthly entrepreneurship events like market days and sports fundraisers.

5. Education

The education section should be detailed including all diplomas, qualifications, certifications, and courses completed (in this case more is more).

Your post-school qualifications may be listed as follows:

Start with indicating the start date and completion date for diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees followed by the full name of the qualification and institutions attended.

You can also add the location and state name especially concerning licenses and accreditations which may be state-specific. If you have less than five years’ experience, add your High School details too and spice it up a bit by mentioning GPA scores, extracurricular activities, academic honors awards, and leadership roles.

A Preschool Teacher’s education section example:

2020 – Master’s Degree in Elementary Education and Children’s Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI

2018 – Teacher Prep Program, University of Arkasas, AK.
Course Curriculum: Child Development
Child Behavior, Educational Psychology Children's Literature
Practical Training: Four quarters of classroom teaching hours completed.

2017 – Praxis Parapro Assessment Certification, Capitol Region Education Council (CREC), Ashford, CO.
Score: 590 points

2016 – Early Learning Program Accreditation, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Hartford, CT.

2015 – Member, National Pre-School Alliance, Online.

2012-2014 – Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education, Columbia University, New York, NY.

6. Skills

It is a given that Preschool Teachers should have a passion for children, want to enhance their development and learning, and act as primary figures of authority to make them feel safe and nurtured. All of these require various technical capabilities and interpersonal skills. A savvy way to present your skills section is to ‘’personalize’’ the multiple roles you play during your teaching day.

• Instructor: Teaches class physical, mental, and social skills. Instruct learners in art, reading, music, and mathematics.
• Disciplinarian: Enforce conduct of acceptable behavior, reprimand and course-correct actions of learners where needed. Provide boundaries within a routine environment.
• Private Tutor: Support children with barriers to learning on an individual basis to develop comprehension and offer revision and reinforcement of work.
• Counselor: Develop emotional and social well-being in the children to assist their adjustment to school. Offer guidance to children in managing their emotions and developing self-esteem.
• Cheerleader: Motivate, inspire, and encourage children to participate in classroom activities with resilience and increasing confidence.
• Liaison: Maintain consistent open communication with parents and ensure the involvement of parents in the ongoing education of their child. The next part of the skills section is more focused on specific soft skills and technical adeptness. Do not forget to include tools and tech summary as well.

Using a long bullet list of skills will eat up precious white space in your resume. To counteract length constraints, but still provide a comprehensive picture of your skills set, you may want to use a Skills Matrix. See the examples below:

Interpersonal Traits

Technical Competencies

Tools & Tech Knowledge

7. Qualifications & Certifications associated

Optional Extras for Preschool Teacher Resumes

Imagine that you have a superpower where you can bring the center director six months into the future and you have the chance to show her that you have become a great employee within the organization.

This is impossible; however, you are able to do the next best thing by showing that you are a great person to work with. You can showcase this through your special resume.

• The classroom is a wonderfully creative place and by showing off pictures of your classroom with the bright colors, props, mentally stimulating tools, and vibrant atmosphere, it grants the prospective employer an insight into the teaching environment you create within your classroom (however, it is important not to include any pictures of the children).

• Recommendation letters from teachers, parents, and thank-you cards from learners are a great way to create a good first impression. A simple way to store these letters is by creating a class portfolio on Google Drive which includes the links within your resume. 

Professional information on Preschool Teachers

Sectors: Education, Training, Childcare
Career Type: Differentiated Instruction, Children-Centered Learning, Early Childhood Development, Peer-to-Peer Learning, Project-Based Learning
Person type:  Supervisor, Cheerleader, Disciplinarian, Liason, Helper, Tutor, Counsellor, Coordinator, Instructor, Guide
Education levels: Bachelor’s degree and upwards
Salary indication: $47,597 and $68,167 (Study.com)
Labor market: Estimated 8% from 2018 – 2028 (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Organizations: Private Schools, Public Schools, Charter Schools

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