Top 12 Preschool Lead Teacher Skills to Put on Your Resume

Crafting a strong resume as a preschool lead teacher means showing a blend of early learning expertise and steady leadership. The right skills signal that you can build warm, developmentally sound classrooms, elevate your team, and champion each child’s growth. Below, twelve skills that lift your candidacy and make your impact clear.

Preschool Lead Teacher Skills

1. Curriculum Development
2. Classroom Management
3. Child Development
4. Early Literacy
5. Creative Arts
6. STEM Education
7. Montessori Method
8. Reggio Emilia Approach
9. Positive Discipline
10. SmartBoard Proficiency
11. Seesaw Application
12. Google Classroom

1. Curriculum Development

Curriculum development means designing engaging, developmentally appropriate plans that nurture social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth—day by day, across the whole year, with intentionality and care.

Why It's Important

A thoughtful curriculum brings structure and purpose to play and inquiry. It aligns goals with children’s needs, creates continuity across routines, and sets the stage for readiness—both for school and for life.

How to Improve Curriculum Development Skills

Build a living curriculum that breathes with your learners.

1. Keep current: Track best practices in early childhood (e.g., NAEYC standards, emerging research) and refresh units with new ideas.

2. Know your children: Use observations, interest webs, and simple assessments to tailor experiences to developmental stages and individual strengths.

3. Center play: Plan hands-on, play-based learning that weaves language, math, and motor skills into joyful exploration.

4. Honor diverse identities: Include multicultural stories, materials, and family traditions. Representation matters.

5. Use technology thoughtfully: Add tools that deepen exploration without eclipsing tactile, real-world materials.

6. Partner with families: Share goals, gather input, and connect classroom themes to home experiences and community life.

7. Reflect and refine: Review documentation, adjust pacing, and iterate based on outcomes you observe.

Small tweaks, repeated often, turn a good plan into a great one.

How to Display Curriculum Development Skills on Your Resume

2. Classroom Management

Classroom management blends routines, relationships, and clear expectations so young children feel safe, focused, and eager to learn.

Why It's Important

Predictable structure lowers stress and boosts learning time. Children trust the space, try new things, and practice social skills without fear.

How to Improve Classroom Management Skills

1. Co-create norms: Keep rules simple and visual. Practice them through songs, role-play, and consistent reminders.

2. Lean on routines: Smooth transitions, visual schedules, and steady rhythms make the day feel dependable.

3. Engage through choice: Offer centers with meaningful options that match interests and abilities.

4. Build community: Greet every child, hold morning meetings, and celebrate small wins. Connection fuels cooperation.

5. Communicate clearly: Keep families in the loop and collaborate with colleagues so support is aligned.

Calm, consistent practices turn turbulence into flow.

How to Display Classroom Management Skills on Your Resume

3. Child Development

Child development spans motor, language, cognitive, social, and emotional growth from birth through the preschool years—how children make sense of the world and themselves.

Why It's Important

Deep knowledge of milestones and variability lets you scaffold learning, spot concerns early, and plan experiences that truly fit the child in front of you.

How to Improve Child Development Skills

1. Design rich environments: Sensory play, open-ended materials, varied textures and tools invite discovery.

2. Champion play: Embed problem-solving and pretend play to grow language, self-regulation, and creativity.

3. Coach social skills: Use small-group work, turn-taking games, and explicit language for feelings and needs.

4. Move daily: Plan gross and fine motor activities—obstacle paths, dance breaks, tweezers and beads.

5. Teach emotions: Model calm-down strategies, name feelings, and practice empathy in real moments.

6. Partner with families: Share observations and simple ideas to extend learning at home.

7. Keep learning: Attend trainings, read widely, and reflect on practice with your team.

Growth spirals upward when experiences are just-right and responsive.

How to Display Child Development Skills on Your Resume

4. Early Literacy

Early literacy covers vocabulary, phonological awareness, narrative skills, letter knowledge, and print awareness—the sturdy scaffolding for later reading and writing.

Why It's Important

Strong early literacy opens doors. It powers comprehension, expression, and confidence across every subject.

How to Improve Early Literacy Skills

1. Read aloud every day: Choose diverse, engaging books. Ask questions, predict, retell, play with words.

2. Play with sounds: Sing, clap syllables, rhyme, and blend simple phonemes through games and songs.

3. Grow alphabet knowledge: Use multi-sensory letter work—tracing in sand, magnet letters, alphabet hunts.

4. Invite writing: Stock writing centers with chunky crayons, labels, lists, name cards. Model meaningful writing.

5. Make print visible: Label the room, keep a word wall, and rotate books so shelves feel alive.

6. Involve families: Share book lists, simple rhyming games, and quick routines for at-home reading joy.

Language blooms when stories and sounds become daily rituals.

How to Display Early Literacy Skills on Your Resume

5. Creative Arts

Creative arts—drawing, painting, music, movement, drama—give children many languages to express ideas and feelings.

Why It's Important

Art builds fine motor control, imagination, risk-taking, and emotional voice. It also sneaks in math, science, and language in delightfully messy ways.

How to Improve Creative Arts Skills

1. Offer varied media: Collage, clay, watercolors, found objects. Different tools, different textures, different outcomes.

2. Prioritize process: Celebrate exploration, not perfection. Ask about choices, not products.

3. Blend with content: Paint patterns for math, drum syllables for literacy, build scenery for storytelling.

4. Prompt creativity: Pose open-ended questions. What else could this be? How might we change it?

5. Create safety: A judgment-free zone unlocks brave expression.

6. Grow your toolkit: Seek trainings and idea swaps; keep a rotating bank of prompts at the ready.

Give children the materials and space—watch their ideas come roaring out.

How to Display Creative Arts Skills on Your Resume

6. STEM Education

STEM in preschool looks like exploration: science, technology, engineering, and math woven into play, tinkering, and wonder.

Why It's Important

Early STEM builds curiosity, flexible thinking, and problem-solving muscles—habits that power learning long after preschool ends.

How to Improve STEM Education Skills

1. Engineer through play: Blocks, ramps, loose parts. Predict, test, rebuild. Repeat.

2. Use tech with intent: Age-appropriate tools that document, explore, or create—never replacing hands-on work.

3. Fuel questions: Chart children’s wonders and design investigations around them.

4. Tackle real problems: How can we keep plants watered over the weekend? Which bridge holds more bears?

5. Keep learning: Join early STEM workshops and communities (NSTA and similar groups) to sharpen practice.

Curiosity is the engine. Your job—stoke it.

How to Display STEM Education Skills on Your Resume

7. Montessori Method

Montessori is a child-centered approach built on independence, hands-on materials, and a carefully prepared environment that respects each child’s pace.

Why It's Important

It nurtures focus, choice, and intrinsic motivation—children become capable, curious self-starters.

How to Improve Montessori Method Skills

1. Invest in training: Deepen your understanding through recognized Montessori professional development.

2. Elevate the environment: Beautiful, orderly, accessible materials; clear shelves; real tools sized for small hands.

3. Balance technology: If used, it should document learning or extend inquiry—never replace materials.

4. Engage families: Share principles and simple home adaptations to reinforce independence.

5. Individualize: Observe, rotate lessons, and adjust work cycles to match each child’s readiness.

6. Prioritize SEL: Grace and courtesy lessons, conflict resolution, and calm, respectful modeling.

7. Center sustainability: Practical life meets stewardship—gardening, composting, caring for the classroom and nature.

When the environment teaches, you guide. Children lead.

How to Display Montessori Method Skills on Your Resume

8. Reggio Emilia Approach

Reggio Emilia centers children as capable co-constructors of knowledge, with the environment as a “third teacher,” documentation as a compass, and collaboration with families as a core value.

Why It's Important

It cultivates creativity, agency, and deep inquiry—children explore ideas in many languages: drawing, building, storytelling, movement.

How to Improve Reggio Emilia Approach Skills

1. Curate thoughtful spaces: Natural light, real materials, mirrors, provocations that invite dialogue and discovery.

2. Document deeply: Photos, transcripts, artifacts—use them to plan next steps and make learning visible.

3. Partner with families: Invite expertise, share panels of documentation, and connect projects to community.

4. Use tech mindfully: Tools that record, reflect, and share—not distract.

5. Keep reflecting: Join Reggio-inspired study groups or workshops to hone your lens.

Follow the child’s questions and watch projects unfurl.

How to Display Reggio Emilia Approach Skills on Your Resume

9. Positive Discipline

Positive Discipline emphasizes mutual respect, teaching skills over punishing mistakes, and guiding children toward self-control and problem-solving.

Why It's Important

It builds trust and teaches practical tools—naming feelings, making amends, finding solutions—while preserving dignity.

How to Improve Positive Discipline Skills

1. Co-create simple rules: Child-friendly language, visuals, and frequent practice.

2. Reinforce the positive: Catch prosocial behavior; narrate what you see working.

3. Model respect: Your tone, your calm, your fairness—children mirror it.

4. Connect consequences: Logical, immediate, and instructive rather than punitive.

5. Coach problem-solving: Teach scripts and steps; guide, then step back.

6. Teach regulation: Calm corners, breathing, visual timers, and consistent language for emotions.

Firm and kind, together. That’s the sweet spot.

How to Display Positive Discipline Skills on Your Resume

10. SmartBoard Proficiency

SMART Board proficiency means using interactive whiteboards to bring lessons to life—tapping, dragging, drawing, and showcasing children’s thinking in dynamic ways.

Why It's Important

Interactive tools can boost engagement, offer multimodal access, and make whole-group learning more responsive.

How to Improve SmartBoard Proficiency Skills

1. Master the basics: Calibrate, switch inputs, use pens, capture screens—build muscle memory.

2. Use interactive lessons: Explore SMART’s resource library or create your own quick, visual activities.

3. Train up: Take official SMART professional development or district PD to learn shortcuts and features.

4. Practice often: Rehearse transitions and tools so class time flows.

5. Swap ideas: Share files with colleagues; iterate what sparks joy for your students.

6. Listen to kids: Notice what grabs attention and what confuses—adjust accordingly.

Technology should serve the lesson, not the other way around.

How to Display SmartBoard Proficiency Skills on Your Resume

11. Seesaw Application

Seesaw is a digital portfolio and family communication tool—teachers capture learning, children share their voice, and families stay connected.

Why It's Important

It strengthens the home-school bridge, supports individualized feedback, and gives young learners a stage to showcase growth.

How to Improve Seesaw Application Skills

1. Curate purposeful tasks: Short, visual, hands-on prompts that match preschool attention spans.

2. Simplify access: Use icons, voice instructions, and visual cues so children can upload independently.

3. Boost family engagement: Share regular updates, comment guidelines, and simple at-home extensions.

4. Use gentle gamification: Badges or celebration posts for effort and persistence—not just “right answers.”

5. Seek PD: Join Seesaw trainings or educator groups to discover time-saving tips.

6. Protect privacy: Align settings with school policies and child privacy laws (e.g., COPPA/FERPA).

Keep it simple, consistent, and joyful—children and families will meet you there.

How to Display Seesaw Application Skills on Your Resume

12. Google Classroom

Google Classroom streamlines announcements, assignments, and feedback—useful even in preschool when kept visual, brief, and family-friendly.

Why It's Important

It organizes resources, simplifies communication, and supports continuity when children are absent or learning from home.

How to Improve Google Classroom Skills

1. Design for preschoolers: Large icons, clear titles, and consistent naming so families can navigate fast.

2. Use interactive elements: Add visuals, short videos, and simple drag-and-drop or photo tasks.

3. Enable guardian summaries: Keep parents in the loop with automatic updates and highlights.

4. Offer multimedia: Story read-alouds, quick how-to clips, and visual schedules help all learners.

5. Give quick feedback: Short voice notes or stickers go a long way with young children.

6. Keep submissions simple: Photos of work, a short video reflection, or a single-click response.

7. Routine updates: Post weekly plans and reminders to set predictable rhythms.

8. Make resources accessible: Upload PDFs of songs, stories, and family activities for offline use.

Clarity first. Then charm. Keep your digital hub light and bright.

How to Display Google Classroom Skills on Your Resume