Preschool Teacher resume skills. The words recruiters search for.
The 17 skills, tools and credentials that come up in preschool teacher job posts, sorted by type, and how to put them in bullets a recruiter believes.
By Nazir Elmurodov, Founder, LaunchCV · Updated
/ The list
Keywords by type. Use only the ones that are true for you.
Hard skills · 10
- Early childhood education (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Lesson planning (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Play-based learning (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Social-emotional learning (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Child development (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Kindergarten readiness (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Classroom management (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Observation and assessment (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Health and safety (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Licensing standards (used in Molly's sample resume)
Tools & software · 3
- The Creative Curriculum (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Teaching Strategies GOLD (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Brightwheel (used in Molly's sample resume)
Licenses & certifications · 2
- CDA (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Pediatric CPR and First Aid (used in Molly's sample resume)
Soft skills · 2
- Family engagement (used in Molly's sample resume)
- Patience
16 of 17 appear in Molly's sample resume. See where
/ How to use them
Put keywords in bullets, not just in a skills list.
A skills list tells the software you have a skill. A bullet shows a recruiter what you did with it.
The Creative Curriculum
Weak: Skills: The Creative Curriculum
Strong: Lead a classroom of 16 four- and five-year-olds with one assistant teacher, planning weekly lessons with The Creative Curriculum
Teaching Strategies GOLD
Weak: Skills: Teaching Strategies GOLD
Strong: Assess children 3 times a year with Teaching Strategies GOLD and share results with families at conferences
Kindergarten readiness
Weak: Skills: Kindergarten readiness
Strong: By spring, 14 of 16 children met widely held expectations in literacy, up from 9 in the fall — our main kindergarten readiness goal
Play-based learning, Social-emotional learning
Weak: Skills: Play-based learning, Social-emotional learning
Strong: Use play-based learning and social-emotional learning routines, such as a calm-down corner and daily feelings check-ins
Strong bullets come from Molly's sample resume and our preschool teacher bullet examples. Names and figures are illustrative.
/ Use them honestly
Keywords get you found. Proof gets you hired.
Mirror the job post's wording for skills you really have. If a preschool teacher post asks for Early childhood education and you've used it, say Early childhood education, in the post's spelling, and show where.
Mirror the job post's wording
If a preschool teacher post says "Lesson planning", write "Lesson planning", not a near-synonym — as long as it's accurate. Recruiters search for the post's exact term.
Only claim what you can back up
Expect to be asked about every term you list. If you couldn't spend two minutes on Early childhood education — what you did and what changed — leave it out.
Show it in a bullet
A skills list says you know The Creative Curriculum. A bullet like the one under Lead Preschool Teacher, Pre-K in the example above shows what you did with it.
No stuffing, no hidden text
Repeating a word or hiding keywords in white text doesn't make you a better match. A person reads the resume in the end.
Which of these does your resume say?
Free ATS score and missing keywords in about 10 seconds.
Applying to one post? Scan its keywords against your resume.
Keep going
/ Questions
Preschool Teacher keywords, answered.
Something else? support@launch-cv.com
How many keywords should a preschool teacher resume have?
There's no magic number. Molly's sample resume uses 16 of the 17 terms on this page — the ones that fit that job. Cover what your post asks for that you can back up, each where it fits; repeating a keyword doesn't help.
Should I copy keywords exactly from the job post?
Use the post's wording for skills you really have. If a preschool teacher post says "Early childhood education", write "Early childhood education" rather than a synonym, so a recruiter searching for that term finds you. Don't add skills you don't have just because the post lists them.
Where should keywords go on my resume?
In your summary, a short skills section and, above all, the bullets under each job, where you show what you did with the skill. In Molly's sample, The Creative Curriculum shows up in a bullet under Lead Preschool Teacher, Pre-K. Plain text in the body of the page is easiest for applicant tracking systems to read.
Which tools should I list on a preschool teacher resume?
The ones you've used and the post mentions. Common ones in preschool teacher posts include The Creative Curriculum, Teaching Strategies GOLD and Brightwheel. Name the tool in the bullet where you used it, not only in the skills list.
How should I list CDA and Pediatric CPR and First Aid on my resume?
Spell them the way the job post does, and include both the abbreviation and the full name if you have room. Put licenses and certifications in their own section or next to your education, and only list ones that are current.
Keywords for related roles
All 88 rolesSee which of these your resume already says.
Free ATS check — no sign-up, about 10 seconds.