Preschool Teacher Assistant

YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago; Palatine (IL); On-site; USD 18,866 - 26,870; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance

Generous PTO and paid holidays

403(b) plan with company contributions

Continuous learning opportunities

Discounts on programs and events

Job summary

A community-focused organization is seeking a Teacher Assistant to support the Lead Teacher in providing effective instruction and ensuring a positive classroom climate for children aged 3-5. Responsibilities include supervision, lesson planning, and collaboration with families. Candidates must have a high school diploma and 6 credit hours in Early Childhood Education, along with experience working with children. This full-time position includes competitive hourly pay and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent plus 6 college credit hours in Early Childhood Education required.
• Prior experience working with children is necessary.
• Basic knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices for children ages 2-5.

Responsibilities

• Support instructional strategies and classroom management.
• Ensure health and safety supervision of children.
• Assist with lesson planning and classroom organization.

Skills

Child growth and development knowledge

Ability to build rapport with children and families

Experience working with children

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Minimum 6 college credit hours in Early Childhood Education

ECE Child Development Associate (CDA) or equivalent preferred

Job description

The Teacher Assistant in collaboration with the Lead Teacher provides support in effective instructional strategies, classroom management, learning, assessment, evaluation and related research for children 3-5 years old. The Assistant Teacher is responsible for providing developmentally appropriate learning experiences, supervision of children assigned in the classroom, and providing a supportive and positive classroom climate, while ensuring the individual needs of the children are met as mandated by DCFS, ExceleRate Illinois, NAEYC, federal, state and local standards, as applicable.

Salary is $16.60 per hour, full-time benefits, and opportunities to grow within the organization.

Benefits

• Competitive salaries reflecting your skills and experience.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance for eligible employees, plus wellness programs, mental health resources, and a family gym membership.
• Generous PTO and paid holidays, with flexible work hours for work-life balance.
• 403(b) plan with company contributions for eligible employees after 2 years of service.
• Continuous learning opportunities through workshops and training programs.
• Supportive work environment valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Discounts on programs, employee assistance programs, and company-sponsored events.

What You’ll Do

• Promote and model high quality teaching and learning in the classroom that fosters academic readiness.
• Demonstrate culturally and linguistically appropriate practices that value all children and families and make them feel welcomed and an essential part of the program.
• Maintain awareness and supervision of children’s needs and ensure their physical health and safety at all times.
• Assist with communicating and developing effective partnerships with parents and families, encouraging parent involvement.
• Abide by DCFS and all quality standards for maintaining safe, high-quality programming.
• Collaborate regularly with the classroom team including families, volunteers and all staff.
• Assist with collecting and using multiple data sources, both formative and summative, to inform instruction and child-centered learning and development.
• Assist with completing routine professional development annually; utilize continuous quality improvement (CQI); and identify different instructional resources and methods to meet children's varying needs and improve the classroom experience for children and families.
• Participate and support association/center efforts toward recruitment, enrollment, attendance and retention of families while supporting the YMCA's mission and center operations as needed.

Lesson Planning and Classroom Management

• Collaborate with the Lead Teacher to develop lesson plans with goals, objectives, activities and outcomes for children that integrate health, nutrition, mental health, disabilities and parent involvement.
• Assist the Lead Teacher in implementation of high quality, developmentally appropriate instructional activities and curriculum approaches (like Creative Curriculum™) that facilitate active learning experiences and promote the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of each child; while ensuring the program follows DCFS, YMCA, ExceleRate Illinois™, and NAEYC accreditation standards, if applicable.
• Takes the lead in the absence of the Lead Teacher.
• With the support of the Lead Teacher, use observational and child data to assist in planning developmentally appropriate and engaging early learning experiences based upon the emergent needs of the child.
• Assist the Lead Teacher in leveraging the physical environment and pedagogical documentation to support teaching and learning practices.
• Support and implement planned studies/projects for an in-depth investigation of a topic over time.
• Establish and maintain an attractive, clean, safe and engaging classroom environment which includes positive guidance techniques and encourages children's independence and self-selection of activities.
• Assist with classroom management, arrangement, organization, and labeling of materials.
• Assist with completion of classroom inventory quarterly; and the selection of materials and equipment to support instruction and children’s learning using environmental assessments to guide decisions.

Minimum & Preferred Requirements

• High School Diploma or equivalent (GED) and a minimum of 6 college credit hours in Early Childhood Education required.
• ECE Child Development Associate (CDA) or comparable credential (Minimum: Gateways Level 2 ECE credential) preferred.
• Must have prior experience working with children.
• Basic knowledge of child growth and development as well as developmentally appropriate practices for children ages 2-5.
• Ability to analyze and interpret state and local standards as well as state and local licensing requirements.
• Ability to build rapport with children, families, and colleagues.

Child Abuse Prevention

• Reporting any items that may provide a health or safety hazard to staff, members or guests to your supervisor.
• Following all policies and procedures related to keeping children safe in our facilities and programs, including those related to the monitoring and supervision of children.
• Reporting any suspicious behavior and violation of policy and procedures to your supervisor.
• Completing all child abuse prevention training as required.