Early Childhood Education, A.S.

Most professional core courses are offered once per academic year as full-semester courses. Professional core courses are offered as either hybrid or online. The program can be completed in five (5) semesters if enrolled as a full-time student.

After successfully completing the program, the students will be able to perform the following:

• Understand how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.
• Understand individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.
• Work with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
• Understand the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and create learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.
• Understand how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.
• Understand and use multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
• Plan instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.
• Understand and use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.