Lead Montessori Preschool Teacher

Life Change Church

Life Change Montessori Preschool Teacher

Position Description:

Full Time Lead Teacher/ Multi-Aged Classroom Ages 3-6 yrs

Reporting Relationship

Report to Preschool Director

 Expectations:

• Walking out a personal relationship with Jesus as a way of life.
• Has a church home and personal Christian community and/or be a part of Life Change Church community (preferred).
• Has a working knowledge of the Bible and it’s stories to convey to children.
• Is willing to get to know and work with the Life Change Church staff and community.
• Is willing to portray a model of Christ-like love and grace to children, parents, staff.
• Be willing to work through any conflicts that may arise on the job in a Godly manner.
• Has a love for children and interacts with them patiently and respectfully.
• Is teachable.
• Able to move around physically on and off of the floor, go outside in most weather, move furniture, help children in difficult situations.
• Values/Facilitates Montessori philosophy and a loving Christian environment.
• Values learning and growing personally and professionally.
• Participates in continuing education in Montessori method and child development.

Roles:

• Support the growth of the class by active observation and note taking.
• Make decisions about circle time lesson plans and new work based on child/classroom observations.
• Consistently incorporate God’s stories and Scripture memory into lessons and circle time.
• Record children’s progress, keep data.
• Discuss any concerns or events of the class with the assistance teacher and director as is appropriate and most helpful for all.
• Facilitate/assist children with conflict.
• Help children with problem solving.
• Guide wandering children.
• Build nurturing relationships with the children and their families.
• Pray with and for the children consistently throughout the day.
• Model praying scripture and truth into children’s lives.
• Consistently incorporate God’s truths into daily conversation.
• Facilitate the love, grace, forgiveness and truths of God in the classroom towards students and co-workers.

Responsibilities:

• Open the building in the mornings scheduled to be there early and prepare the environment for the day.
• Responsible for the classroom environment to be orderly, clean, developmentally appropriate for the children enrolled.
• Guide, delegate and communicate classroom responsibilities to/with teacher assistant. Communicate ways she can best assist.
• Create and communicate clearly a routine with the teacher assistant.
• Greet children and parents individually at the door in the mornings.
• Responsible for a healthy snack to be set out for am and pm (our school has nutritional values for snacks to refer to).
• Responsible for the preparation of works for the children.
• Responsible to lead lessons at circle time, facilitate a minimum of a two hour work time and outdoor play time.
• Responsible to plan themes based on children’s interests, developmental needs as well as around Biblical themes and stories.
• Create action plans and give lessons based on classroom observations and note taking.
• Responsible to see that children are monitored at nap time.
• Responsible to see that the children are picked up by parents or people on their authorized pick up list. 
• Responsible to see that the classroom is clean and prepared for the following day..
• Responsible to communicate with parents at the door and in a monthly classroom newsletter. (This could be a part of a school newsletter written by the Director or might be separate from the Director’s newsletters).
• Hold parent/teacher conferences 1-2 times/year as appropriate.

Education and Experience  

• Classes/degrees in child development or related field is desired.
• Montessori Certification or working on certification is desired.
• Experience with children required.

Work Schedule:

40 hours/week: A set schedule is determined by need each semester.

We are a Montessori style preschool and kindergarten housed inside of Life Change Church. This style of education was created by Dr. Maria Montessori over a century ago. Instead of simply teaching a list of facts to all students at the same time, a Montessori education sees the teacher act as a guide to help each student find work that is challenging for them individually. The child is then allowed to work at the pace that is right for them and the teacher helps track their progress. The goal of this method is to help the child not just learn, but come to love learning and look for opportunities to grow and develop throughout their life. This philosophy of learning follows child development and is backed by current science. It also facilitates a kind, peaceful environment in which children can experience the love of God as we also teach about Jesus and attempt to facilitate a love for God, people, and the world He created.