I’ve worked in Church Pre-schools for the past 6 years and absolutly love it. How good of a compensation they can/will give you depends on how good of a program they want to run. The one I work at pays above what other county programs pay, in order to retain good quality teachers – and the strategy pays off. But overall my personal opinion on working with children is – if you’re in it for the money, you are in the wrong profession. I realize not everyone can afford this attitude, but working as a Preschool teacher for me is about a whole lot more than money – that is a nice side benefit, but not the reason I’m doing it at all. What more reward to I need than little arms wrapping themselves around my neck, legs, waist.. and say ” I wove you Ms. Dee”

Depends… sometimes the experience can be great- other times, not so great. I worked at one when I first started in preschool teaching. For the first six years I was there, I loved my job. I had a great mentor as a director, moved up the ladder quickly, and felt I was really helping to bring up wonderful Christian children. Then, the old director retired, and a new director was hired. She changed the way everything was run- suddenly a school that was so prosperous was in the red, the elders started to change policies to suit them, all our benefits were taken away, and the director had no idea what she was doing. I left within a month of the new director starting, as did three other teachers. The difficult part about working for a church school is the “laws” that govern it. If there is a dispute (they didn’t want to pay me my earned two weeks vacation for the year when I left) you have to go through the elders. Often, there is no other recourse you can take… since the church is separate from the state, you cannot take the elders to court over disputes. Over the six years I was there, there were numerous scandals- the associate pastor had an affair with one of the office staff (both were married), another office staff had an illigitimate child with a teacher, money was stolen from staff’s purses… it was the most corrupt place I have ever worked! It was also difficult that the ratios were so high… since churches do not have to abide by the same standards as other preschools, you often end up with very high staff to child ratios. I’d have 12 alone- with no other staff around at all- from 3 in the afternoon until closing. That meant, no answering phones, no bathroom breaks for me, and no one to help if a child was severely injured (which did happen). Granted, this was all a one-time incidence with one center- but it was enough to keep me from applying to any other church schools again!

If you are going to work there for the ministry it is fabulous. Just make sure that money is not an issue for you because church preschools are on a limited budget and it is definitely something that is all about the ministry.

I have been very happy in this field for 15 years.

Great! Children in Church preschool behave better than in public preschool I think. Because they are taught to be polite, respectful and courteous children of God.

I taught (volunteered) in our church’s preschool for 2 years..until we stopped offering preschool due to some trouble with a mother. It’s alot of fun, and its not necessarily because you get the best kids either. You get families that are unchurched, but you get to teach their kids about God, etc, and they get to go home & reach their families also. This way you can reach more sometimes. I worked years ago at a daycare back in San Diego in the late 80s, pretty much the same thing, except its God-based. You are teaching them Bible instead of just taking care of them. I really enjoy my time. Am volunteering again this year, teaching 1st grade, I have all of 2 students this year,, even if I had only 1 student I’d still volunteer. I dont get paid, but its fun to do this, and the children need someone to teach them. I’d say pray about it, talk it over with your husband if you’re married, and talk about it with your preacher. See if God is leading you in this direction, because it really is an adventure. You are molding these children in the way that they should go, and when they see you out at the grocery store, or Walmart, they will scream TEACHER!!! and run up to you and hug your leg. I have one student who is coming into 2nd/3rd grade, I had him for preK, K, 1st grade and part of 2nd grade. He is in the upstairs school this year, but I still consider him ‘my student’. and he still refers to me as “teacher” . 🙂 Its a grand word and a grand work 🙂

pros: usually better kids, better families. cons: you may NOT be covered under unemployment compensation or workmans compansation. check this out. you never know if you would need them. I was screwed over (best way to say it) by a church. I burned my hand one week (needing medical care) they took care of all my bills. No wonder, they didn’t have workers comp and they did not want me to find this out. And they also took out social security taxes, yet failed to report this deduction from the feds. A year later they adruptly closed the doors (the diocese was closing some churches). That is when the workers find out everything. No insurance on us. In mid-summer, it is very hard to find a job in a child care center. Unemployment would have been helpful.

I’m working in church preschool. its great because we are also touching the spiritual lives of our pupils. (”,)

Fine.

it’s the greastist choice of all