For Sonia Cedeño, teaching pre-k wasn't her plan. She had previously studied for a career in information technology. Then, she married and became the mother of two daughters. "When they went to school," she says, "I saw that the system was very weak. I asked my older daughter what it was like. She said, 'the teachers don't want me to do anything. They want me to just sit and listen and be quiet. I want to play.'" So Ms. Cedeño did some research, visited the school, and decided the system needed new people with a fresh approach. People like her.

So she went back to school at Kean University to earn her BA. After five years of juggling a full-time job, school, and two children, she completed her degree and was qualified to teach in an "Abbott" pre-k program. She says the BA program taught her to more fully understand children's needs and to communicate with them better.

Ms. Cedeño says that everything about teaching pre-k has proven ideal. She now earns $10,000 per year more than before earning her BA. The schedule allows her to start early and end early, leaving time for her own life and family. And the work is fulfilling. "I was born for this. When children learn from you, you feel you're doing something special, and you learn so much from them, too."

Today, Sonia Cedeño teaches three year olds at the Egenolf Early Childhood Center (EECC), a small, private childcare center that receives partial public support as part of the Abbott system. Earlier in her career, Ms. Cedeño taught at another facility, which, she says, involved "too much sitting."

At EECC, she's found a place that reflects her belief that young children learn best through direct experience. They embrace the High Scope curriculum, promoting learning through play and supporting development of children's individual interests. Classrooms are arranged with everything at the children's eye level, encouraging their interaction with the environment, the teacher, and one another. Parents are welcome anytime. Family support workers are on site and monthly workshops promote collaboration between parents and teachers.

Ms. Cedeño believes the most important thing for her students to learn in pre-k is independence, to be effective alone and in groups, to communicate and interact with the teacher and with other students, to express their needs and interests, to ask questions, and to seek help. She says kindergarten's more traditional structure requires much more sitting and listening and offers fewer opportunities to talk and play, which means pre-k is children's best opportunity to develop these skills.

Ms. Cedeño's work is demanding, stimulating, and different every year. She says the growing diversity of her class is among the most significant challenges she faces as a teacher. Spanish, Chinese, Hindu, and French are only some of the languages spoken by her students. Additionally, she notes, teaching three year olds means she often has students with undiagnosed special needs, making assessment and intervention increasingly important parts of her job.

Given these issues, she says inclusion is going to be the most important area of skills-development for pre-k teachers over the next several years. Successfully integrating the many languages, cultures, and special needs of students will be critical for pre-k to remain vital and effective. To that end, Ms. Cedeño is "going to fight for more inclusion training. We need to know how to teach these kids, how to involve them with the rest of the class." The risk, she adds, is that "without training, we might do them harm."

Ultimately, Ms. Cedeño says her work is deeply rewarding. Even more so because her own daughters, who inspired her career choice a decade ago, often ask to go with her to read to the children. They tell her, "Mommy, I love your job; it's beautiful."