Glossary
Kindergarten Teacher Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential kindergarten teacher terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key kindergarten teacher vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in kindergarten teacher training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Classroom routines
- Predictable daily procedures.
- Differentiation
- Adapting teaching for different learners.
- Fine motor skills
- Small muscle skills.
- Formative assessment
- Ongoing checks for understanding.
- IEP
- Individualized education program.
- Kindergarten readiness
- Skills children bring to school.
- Literacy centers
- Stations for reading and writing practice.
- Manipulatives
- Hands-on objects for learning.
- Morning meeting
- A daily community-building routine.
- Number sense
- Understanding numbers and quantities.
- Phonemic awareness
- Hearing and manipulating sounds in words.
- Phonics
- Teaching letter-sound relationships.
- RTI/MTSS
- Systems for extra support.
- Science of reading
- Research on how children learn to read.
- Sight words
- Common words recognized instantly.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Kindergarten Teacher practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Kindergarten Teacher training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.