What Parents Need To Know About Montessori Preschool Teachers
What questions should you ask about your child's Montessori preschool teachers? If this is your first experience with Montessori early childhood learning, take a look at everything you need to know about the people who will care for, support, and educate your child.
What Types of Clearances and Background Checks Do the Teachers Have or Need?
According to the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care, all states must have rules or laws that outline comprehensive background check requirements for childcare providers. These must include an FBI database fingerprint check, a search of the National Crime Information Center's National Sex Offender Registry, and a search of additional registries such as a state criminal repository, state sex offender registry, and state child abuse/neglect registry.
Not only should your child's teachers have these clearances and pass these background checks, but they may also need to provide additional information depending on the state's child daycare licensing laws. Your state's department of public welfare, office of child development, or a similar government agency can provide a list of clearance/background check-related licensing requirements for daycare staff members.
What Type of Education Should Child Care Teachers Have?
Unlike traditional preschools, daycare centers, and other early childhood education settings, Montessori schools have their own educational requirements for teachers. But this doesn't necessarily mean that the teachers won't have to also follow general requirements set by state licensing agencies.
If your state requires a specific educational or training level for early childhood educators, the Montessori teachers will need to meet or exceed it. This could include an associate's degree, bachelor's degree, or a state teaching license/credential. The state may also require teachers to complete a specific number of credits in child development, instruction, and learning, or a similar area.
Along with meeting licensing requirements, your child's pre-k teacher should have completed a Montessori training program. The Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) accredits these programs. A MACTE-accredited program meets the association's quality standards and can show evidence that the coursework prepares competent and caring teachers.
Montessori teacher education programs help future educators to learn about the philosophy and prepare them to work with a specific age group. These include infant to toddler (birth through age two), early childhood (ages three through six-years old), lower elementary (ages six through nine-years old), upper elementary (nine through 12-years old), and secondary (either ages 12 through 15-years old or 12 through 18-years old). A preschool teacher should have early childhood credentials.
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