Course Descriptions

Early Childhood Education Course Descriptions

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(Enter Datatel Course Numbers with the dash. i.e. ENGL-100; use commas to separate multiple Course Numbers)

CHLD-100 - INTRO. TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION  3 credits
Provides students the opportunity to develop a realistic view of the teaching profession, and fosters an understanding of the major issues in early education, including the history and philosophy of contrasting early childhood education models; components of quality early learning; design of environments; child observation techniques; basic teaching skills; licensing regulations; and home/school/community relationships. This course will be team taught with the professor who is supervising the students' field work. COREQUISITE: ENGL-100.
CHLD-110 - CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT  3 credits
Examines the growth and development of young children from conception through early elementary school years in view of the contemporary theories and findings of Erikson, Piaget, and others. Contributions from pediatric, nutritional, social services, and other disciplines are included. A major focus will be ways in which young children construct knowledge about their physical, social, and intellectual worlds. Alternative styles of child rearing in different cultures are integrated into the course. This course meets Office for Children requirements for training under Category A. COREQUISITE: ENGL-100.
CHLD-120 - EARLY CHILDHOOD FIELD WORK 1  1 credit
Provides students with opportunity to develop skills in working with young children and to integrate theories of child development with direct experience in an early learning environment.
CHLD-140 - SCHOOL-AGE CARE AND THE NSACA  4 credits
This course presents relevant information pertaining to the need for school-age care and the variety of programming approaches that are available to children and their families to accommodate schedules and lifestyles. The National School-Age Care Alliance (NSACA) standards for quality care and NSACA accreditation are addressed specifically within the contexts of programming topics. Topics covered in this course include the need for developing relationships with home, school, and whole families, understanding the developmental needs of the school-age child, understanding the significant differences between day-care and school-age care and designing programs that accommodate different needs. This course also addresses the important topics of developing respectful, safe environments and activities that acknowledge preferences and independence in school-age children. Each topic is presented in the context of developmentally appropriate practice.
CHLD-160 - CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS  3 credits
Understanding the young child with special needs involves a basic knowledge of normal child development before age three. This course will review normal early development processes, and introduce methods for helping children whose motor, perceptual, language, behavioral, or social development is impaired or delayed. Emphasis will be on stimulating young children with special needs within a substantially separate classroom, in a home-based program, and in a mainstream child care program.
CHLD-200 - CURRICULUM FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 1  4 credits
Provides students with integrated experiences in applied early learning through lecture, discussion, and workshops in creative expression, dramatics, mathematics, science, sensory motor play and music and movement with a focus on young children's need to feel, handle, and manipulate materials as the means of learning about their world. Explores the teacher's role in providing encouragement and stimulation so that children feel free to express their ideas through many media. Special attention is given to the role of play in development. Included are program techniques which foster the development of healthy self concept and methods for mainstreaming in the early childhood setting. PREREQUISITE: CHLD-100, CHLD-110
CHLD-220 - EARLY CHILDHOOD FIELDWORK 2  2 credits
Students spend six hours per week in the role of student classroom aide to provide direct experience with children in a group setting in which they have opportunities to plan and implement learning experience in the areas they are studying in the curriculum course. PREREQUISITES: CHLD-100, CHLD-110.
CHLD-225 - DYNAMICS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD BEHAVIOR  3 credits
The student will examine the process of guiding young children in the early childhood classroom. This course presents strategies used by teachers of young children to observe and evaluate behaviors in the classroom. Students examine adult and child expectations to design effective guidance strategies and consider family, community and diversity as positive and powerful influences needed to help children meet the goals of self-regulation. Understanding these influences assist students in developing effective, appropriate and dynamic approaches for guiding the behaviors and interactions of young children and supporting their development. PREREQUISITE: CHLD-110
CHLD-270 - INFANT AND TODDLER CARE  3 credits
This course provides students with an overview of group care for infants and toddlers. Emphasis will be placed on care and protection while examining safety, health, nutrition, and child abuse issues. The environment, daily routines, parental involvement, and staff selection and training will also be discussed.
CHLD-300 - LANGUAGE & READING INSTRUCTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD  4 credits
This course focuses on literacy, creativity, linguistics, and developmental reading approaches for children from preschool through early elementary school, stresses the interrelatedness of the language arts (reading, writing, listening, speaking), and provides opportunities for students to develop ways of working with young children that emphasize creative expression and critical thinking in communication. Teaching strategies and learning materials that include print-rich environments and emphasize the child as a reader during the emergent, initial, and established stages of reading development will be explored, designed and implemented. Students will develop skills in the areas of planning and presenting lessons, individualizing and sequencing curriculum and instruction, and using appropriate methods, media, and materials. PREREQUISITES: CHLD-110, CHLD-200, ENGL-200.
CHLD-331 - SUPERVISION SKILLS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION  3 credits
The student will examine the special needs of supervisors and staff in programs for young children - the meeting of which enables them to support and facilitate the growth and development of young children and their families. Course content will be both descriptive and practical, will consider supervisor and supervisee roles and responsibilities, supervisory approaches, issues that affect staff morale and effectiveness, design of staff development and training, implementation tools, adult learning styles, effective communication and observation, holding conferences, and evaluating staff within the context of a clinical supervision approach. A major focus of the course will be the importance of the supervisor’s own ongoing professional development and willingness to learn. Students must be Lead Teacher DEEC qualified
CHLD-335 - EARLY CHILDHOOD PRACTICUM 1  4 credits
PREREQUISITE: CHLD-110, CHLD-200 COREQUISITE: CHLD-300
CHLD-340 - STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNICATING WITH WHOLE FAMILIES AND THE EARLY CHILDHOOD COMMUNITY  3 credits
This course addresses elements of effective adult communication within the context of early education programs. Reading, writing, speaking and listening are critical and mutually dependent skills that are essential for developing positive and appropriate professional relationships with families and other professionals. Topics covered include verbal and non-verbal strategies for communicating with families and early childhood professionals and agencies for a variety of purposes. This course encourages students to develop communication habits that will enhance instruction and programming, while affirming and engaging families by using culturally competent and professionally presented communication. Three lecture hours. PREREQUISITE: ENGL-100, CHLD-100 , CHLD-110, CHLD-200, and CHLD-300
CHLD-400 - EARLY CHILDHOOD PRACTICUM 2  6 credits
Provides students with opportunities to increase their skills in working with young children and to integrate theories of child development with developmentally appropriate practice in the classroom. Students work under the direction of an experienced teacher as they increasingly assume responsibilities for the management of the classroom and the organization and design of the curriculum. Integrated and sequenced series of learning experience for a child or for a group of children are planned, implemented, and evaluated by the students. In frequent conferences with their cooperating teachers and college supervisor, students continuously evaluate all aspects of their teaching. PREREQUISITE: CHLD-300, CHLD-325, CHLD-320
CHLD-425 - EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM PLANNING  3 credits
This course is intended to help students acquire the interpersonal and organizational skills required for leadership in the early childhood field. It includes program issues of health and safety, nutrition, social services, parent involvement, personnel policies, educational programming, assessment and evaluation, budgeting, professional development, and community resources, and focuses on a study of the practical aspects of program operation. It considers various early childhood education models and the respective implications for curriculum planning, together with an emphasis on the mainstreaming concept. A special focus is strategies for communication among adults: staff members, parents, and personal from other agencies. PREREQUISITE: CHLD-325
CHLD-430 - PROGRAM LEADERSHIP FOR AFTER SCHOOL DIRECTORS  3 credits    Course Offered Thru SCE Only
This course is designed for directors and emerging leaders in the Out-of-School time field responsible for program administration and fiscal management, or planning to move along the career lattice to become a program director. Through this course, after-school program leaders will consider the leadership role involved in establishing vision and mission for a program, building strong administrative systems, and managing the budget and fiscal sustainability of the program. Students will also be engaged in examining ways to protect the program on legal issues and risk management, building technology systems that work for staff and youth, guiding continuous improvement and evaluation, providing leadership on community partnerships, advocacy, and public relations. Class activities will include exploring different approaches to administrative systems, learning for a number leaders in the field with specific administrative content expertise, exploring budget models and writing mock grants and a final project. Restricted to After School Directors.
CHLD-495 - ADMINISTRATION EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS  3 credits
This course is based on Office for Child Care Services requirements for Director 1 qualification. The students will examine the various organizational models and financial legal/possibilities for early childhood programs, review licensing requirements, and study the roles and skills required of administrators of such programs. Particular attention will be given to areas and issues of management essential to the successful functioning of a human service agency serving young children and their families. Experiences and professional goals of participants are a focal point of the course.