One important goal for preschool teachers is to foster their students' language development. Reading to students is one of the best ways to accomplish this goal. Read to students often and move your finger along the words as you read so that students begin to make a connection between spoken word and text. Encourage oral language by inviting students to tell stories or retell events that happened to them at home. Invite students to draw pictures to tell stories and to use music, art and rhyme to develop language skills.
Preschool students are quickly developing large and small motor skills, and the development of these skills is a vital goal for preschool teachers. Provide blocks, puzzles and other manipulatives for students to use to build their small motor skills. Offer paper and a variety of writing utensils, including pens, large markers, crayons, paint brushes and chalk for students to develop the small motor skills necessary for writing. Engage students to develop large motor skills by playing balancing games. Practice throwing and catching balls and skipping, running and jumping.
Fostering their preschooler's social development is another goal for preschool teachers. Teachers should encourage students to work cooperatively in groups. Young children may find it difficult to share their toys, so teachers should step in and help students understand how to share and interact with their classmates. In addition, teachers should create classroom rules and help students follow them.
Preschool teachers must teach their students how to be independent and prepare them for kindergarten. Preschool teachers should focus on teaching students how to care for themselves: using the toilet on their own, washing their hands, feeding themselves at meal time and dressing themselves. Dramatic play and plenty of practice and guidance can help preschool teachers achieve these goals.