Teacher: Preschool & Early Childhood

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Human Geography
Secondary Topic: Environment and Society

Overview:  Preschool teachers educate and care for children younger than age 5 who have not yet entered kindergarten. They teach language, motor, and social skills to young children. Young children learn from playing, problem solving, and experimenting. Preschool teachers use play and other instructional techniques to teach children. For example, they use storytelling and rhyming games to teach language and vocabulary. They may help improve children’s social skills by having them work together to build a neighborhood in a sandbox or teach math by having children count when building with blocks.  Geography skills for young children include self-awareness, awareness of others and their space, directions (left, right, up, down), earth versus sky, appreciation for different foods and cultures, and exposure to natural landscapes.

Geographers at work:  Human geographers, cultural geographers

Recommended College Courses:  Human geography, physical geography, cultural geography, world regional geography, economic geography, environmental geography, political geography; geographic information systems

Skills:  Story maps; map reading and directional skills; geographic thinking

Occupation Group: Education

Learn more about Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor:  https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/preschool-teachers.htm#tab-2