Become An Early Childhood Educator

A rewarding field, where you can truly make a difference

Perhaps the top reason people choose to pursue early care and education is the personal reward and satisfaction that it brings.

You’ll have a real opportunity to:

• make a difference in young lives and influence future generations
• ensure that children get off to a necessary and dynamic start in their lives and their learning
• help children explore and succeed, and witness incredible achievements like, “I did it!” in the end

Children want to learn anything and everything. They want to be able to do things themselves—a big part of growing up. Early childhood educators get to watch these children grow and help them realize their potential along the way.

The younger years are some of the most critical in a human’s life. In fact, the most rapid period of brain development is from birth to age five. 

As an early childhood educator, you make an unparalleled impression and impact on the children you work with during this rapid developmental phase.  

A hands-on and creative profession

When you walk into an early childhood classroom, whether it’s a Head Start program, a private preschool setting, or a family childcare home, you can usually expect to see: 

• a room blossoming with creativity and inspiration
• explosive color, art displayed, and a multitude of materials that help students create and visualize their learning

As an early care and education professional, you may:

• be fully involved in the creative processes happening throughout the classroom 
  at times create the curriculum lessons as part of your role
• find yourself creating materials for a lesson or making bulletin boards for children and parents
• plan decorations for the classroom 
  find yourself building blocks, counting jellybeans, playing with nature, and/or painting with children

Early care and education professionals have the benefit of working right alongside children in a very stimulating environment, which they’ll often say helps to “bring out their inner child.”

Not everyone can say they work in a place filled with innovation and creativity!

A bright career outlook

There is always – and will always be – a need for early education.

If you are looking for an in-demand career, with opportunities now and in the future, early childhood education is a great choice.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, early childhood educators and workers can expect a bright job outlook: 

• Preschool teachers can expect 10% growth in employment nationwide (faster than the average for all other occupations)
• Kindergarten teachers can expect an 8% rise in job opportunities nationwide by 2026
• Over 84,000 jobs will become available nationwide for child care workers
• Preschool and child care center directors can expect employment to grow by 11% over the next several years

Job security, and the opportunity for advancement over the years, is a key reason why individuals pursue a certain career path. For early childhood educators, the demand, the security, and the room for growth are all there already and will continue to be there for many years to come.

Read all about these opportunities here. Be sure to review the tabs to learn more about duties and responsibilities, the work environment, education and training, salary, job outlook, similar occupations, and more.

Many job options within the field

Not only is the field of early care and education constantly growing and expanding, it also provides an array of opportunities for those just starting out.

When you choose to study early childhood education, you are not limited to a single career like a preschool or daycare teacher. 
Rather, the field stretches far beyond that.

Within early care and education, you can pursue careers such as: 

• School readiness teacher (or assistant teacher)
• Infant, toddler, or preschool teacher
• Paraprofessional
• Child specialist with the Florida Department of Children and Families
• Curriculum coordinator for young children 
• VPK, Kindergarten, First, Second, or Third Grade Teacher 
• Early childhood director 
• Speech-Language Pathologist 
• Mental Health Counselor 
• Special Education Teacher 
• School Counselor or Psychologist 
• Family Support Specialist 
• Professor/Researcher 
• Pediatric focused Therapist