Private Early Childhood Teacher

Thrive Education Partners•Buffalo, NY

3d•$90,000 - $130,000•Onsite

About The Position

We’re looking for an exceptional Private Early Childhood Teacher to design and lead a warm, thoughtful, developmentally rich learning experience for a bright and imaginative 3-year-old girl in the Buffalo, New York area. This is a unique opportunity for an experienced early childhood educator who loves young children, understands how much learning happens through play, story, rhythm, language, music, movement, and relationship, and is excited by the opportunity to help create a highly personalized private preschool experience. This is a private teacher role, not a nanny, babysitting, or household assistant position. The family is seeking a professional educator who can bring structure, creativity, developmental expertise, and intentional curriculum planning into the home while honoring the joy, wonder, and flexibility that early childhood requires. The primary student is bright, verbal, observant, imaginative, and socially engaging. She enjoys books, stories, songs, music, pretend play, hands-on exploration, characters, and meaningful interaction with trusted adults. She benefits from gentle structure, clear expectations, playful routines, autonomy, and learning experiences that feel natural rather than overly formal. For three days each week, she will be joined by another 3-year-old boy for a shared early childhood learning block. The teacher will use the same curriculum, daily rhythm, and schedule for both children and will be responsible for supporting both students’ learning, engagement, social-emotional development, and participation during shared instructional time. The girl remains the primary student for this placement, but the ideal candidate should be fully comfortable leading a small, two-child early childhood learning environment. The family is looking for a teacher who can create a beautiful, intentional, developmentally appropriate preschool experience that supports early literacy, oral language, fine motor development, early numeracy, creativity, independence, social-emotional growth, and joyful curiosity.

Requirements

Experienced early childhood educator who genuinely loves working with young children and understands the importance of play, rhythm, wonder, and relationship.
Strong knowledge of early childhood development and can design learning experiences that are both joyful and intentional.
Skilled in early literacy, oral language development, fine motor development, early numeracy, and social-emotional learning.
Warm, calm, emotionally mature, and confident with bright, verbal, strong-willed preschool-aged children.
Can provide structure without being rigid and boundaries without being harsh.
Knows how to support a child’s autonomy while still guiding the flow of the day.
Creative and comfortable using stories, songs, music, art, movement, nature, baking, sensory play, books, and imaginative play as meaningful teaching tools.
Can manage a small two-child learning environment with patience, flexibility, and strong developmental judgment.
Understands that a 3-year-old can be bright, verbal, and capable while still needing movement, play, rest, repetition, emotional support, and room to be little.
Comfortable helping children work through frustration, transitions, sharing, turn-taking, and unexpected changes with calm co-regulation.
Communicates clearly and professionally with parents.
Brings discretion, maturity, and sound judgment to a private-family setting.
Understands that this is a professional teaching role and are comfortable maintaining appropriate boundaries around responsibilities, communication, and scope of work.
Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Child Development, Literacy, or a related field
Significant experience teaching preschool, kindergarten, early elementary, or private early childhood learners
Strong early literacy background
Experience planning and implementing developmentally appropriate curriculum
Experience supporting social-emotional development in young children
Comfort teaching two 3-year-olds in a small-group format
Current background check (required; Thrive facilitates)
Verifiable references from prior teaching or tutoring roles
Professionalism, discretion, and adaptability -- you are working inside someone's home

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Literacy, Child Development, Curriculum & Instruction, or a related field
Experience in private teaching, homeschool education, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, Montessori, nature-based education, or play-based preschool environments would be a plus
Experience with bright, verbal, highly imaginative, young children
Training or experience in structured literacy, language development, fine motor support, or early childhood assessment/documentation

Responsibilities

Design and lead a developmentally appropriate private early childhood learning program for the primary student, with a small-group component three days per week.
Implement a consistent curriculum, daily rhythm, and weekly learning structure for the primary student and one additional 3-year-old learner during shared instructional days.
Plan rich, play-based learning experiences that incorporate stories, songs, music, movement, art, nature, pretend play, early literacy, oral language, early numeracy, fine motor development, and practical life skills.
Create a warm, joyful, and predictable learning environment that balances structure with flexibility, autonomy, creativity, and child-led exploration.
Support early literacy development through books, storytelling, songs, phonological awareness, vocabulary-building, conversation, print awareness, and playful exposure to letters and sounds.
Support early math and reasoning through counting, sorting, patterns, shapes, measurement, games, puzzles, building, movement, and hands-on problem-solving.
Encourage social-emotional growth, including sharing, turn-taking, peer inclusion, emotional regulation, flexible thinking, empathy, and gentle conflict resolution.
Help both children build age-appropriate independence, classroom habits, attention to routines, task initiation, and comfort with transitions.
Adapt activities to meet the developmental needs, interests, and readiness levels of both children while keeping them on the same general curriculum path.
Use story-rich, seasonal, nature-based, Waldorf/Reggio/Montessori-inspired, or other developmentally appropriate approaches when helpful.
Prepare materials, organize the learning environment, document observations, and communicate thoughtfully with the family about the primary student’s growth, interests, progress, and next steps.
Partner professionally with the family and Thrive Education Partners around curriculum planning, developmental goals, progress monitoring, and long-term educational design.
Occasionally support learning-connected enrichment experiences, outings, or activities when agreed upon in advance.