Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Education is designed to introduce students to stages of child development, age-appropriate activities for children, careers in early childcare, and rules and regulations around the childcare industry.

Each week, students will explore topics related to early childhood education and will be evaluated on weekly contributions to discussions, reflections to reading prompts, and responses to potential scenarios faced in an early childhood education setting. This course requires a minimum of 2 visits in a pre-approved early childhood setting arranged by the student.

In this course, students will explore five big ideas:

(1) Identify characteristics of various developmental stages in young children.

(2) Create developmentally appropriate experiences for young children.

(3) Explain and apply basic protocols, laws, and procedures in the early childhood education setting.

(4) Identify the various types of early childhood education programs and their purposes.

(5) Justify responses to complex hypothetical dilemmas in the early childhood education setting.

Students will investigate topics such as stages of development from infancy through Kindergarten, learn about appropriate communications strategies with young children, evaluate various classroom management techniques and safety protocols, identify the impact that culture, race, religion, ability and gender play in caregiving, and explore strategies for building relationships with families, communities, and other early childhood professionals.

This course incorporates a variety of multimedia resources from various sites providing a comprehensive review of course objectives. Students will create lesson plans using materials from home, share lesson plan ideas and participate in “faculty meeting” discussions with their peers. Students will also engage in collaborative activities, including discussions, that develop early childhood education literacy and connect these principles to real-world applications and current practices in today’s educational settings.

In this standard-level course, students are expected to invest approximately 6 hours per week on their course work.

Acknowledgements

Students are required to arrange a visit with a local early childhood education setting (pre-school, Kindergarten, child care center, home childcare, etc...). Two in person observations at this location are required.

Please Note: This course contains an end-of-course proctored exam. Instructions for students to identify an appropriate adult proctor are included in the course lessons.

Course Objectives

Course Essential Questions:

What is the purpose of early childhood education and programs and how do they support young children?
How do the stages of child development inform best practices around interaction with young children?
What are the different roles and responsibilities of early childhood education staff and administration?
How do current and local trends and issues play a role in Early Childhood Education and programming?

Course Objectives:

Identify the stages of development from infancy through kindergarten.
Learn about appropriate communications strategies with young children.
Evaluate various classroom management techniques and safety protocols.
Discuss the impact that culture, race, religion, ability, and gender play in caregiving.
Explore strategies for building relationships with families, communities, and other early childhood professionals.

Additional Requirements

Students will need to access a number of YouTube videos throughout the course.
Students must have access to a device that will enable them to record and upload videos of themselves demonstrating lesson plans and work. A device with a webcam and microphone is required.