Early Childhood Education Associate Degree Program Outline

A broad overview of the business world for both business and non-business majors. An introduction to the business environment, business ownership, management, marketing, technology and information, and finance.

Basic principles of communication that are particularly applicable in business and industry, providing a foundation for more effective communication skills. Focuses on the proper use of English grammar in business settings.

Introduces the student to the field of early childhood education by describing at a fundamental level how children learn, how teachers work with children and their parents, what is taught, and where the teaching takes place.

Surveys the field of psychology, including the development of behavior, physiological mechanisms of behavior, perception, motivation and emotion, consciousness, learning, memory, personality, and mental health.

Examines childhood development by observing physical and psychosocial factors that lead to cognitive, language, and literacy development according to a child's age.

The basics of written communication in business. Explores differences in approach and format for various business documents. Also covers techniques for planning, researching, organizing, and writing reports.

How to develop and implement appropriate curriculum for young children. Topics include the use of play, cooking, and physical activity; and techniques for fostering creativity and emotional, social, and verbal competence within the curriculum.

Guidance and discipline concepts applicable to children's behavior in preschool and primary school classrooms. By applying the concepts taught in this course, the student will be able to help children become responsible and productive.

Overview of the structure and operations of the federal government, including constitutional principles, rights and liberties, the political process, and the relationships among the three branches of the federal government.

Literature is a core component of an early childhood curriculum. This course will teach students how to evaluate appropriate resources and how to use these resources in a classroom to meet specific educational objectives.

A comprehensive review of mathematical skills and concepts commonly used in academic and vocational applications. Covers whole numbers, fractions, decimal notation, ratios and proportions, percents, statistics and measurement, geometry, real numbers, and algebra.

Play is a core component of an early childhood curriculum. This course will reinforce the importance of play and teach students how to integrate play into the art, music, movement, and drama curricula. This course will also analyze the connection between play and creativity, and will demonstrate techniques for fostering creativity.

This course teaches the student why art activities are important to young children and how to provide those art activities in the classroom.

The student will learn how the topics of health, safety, and nutrition are interrelated, how to assess children's health, how to plan for safety and attend to children's injuries, and how to foster nutritious eating habits.

Introduction to the partnerships with parents and others that teachers must create in order to achieve the best results for children in their classroom. Among the topics covered are home visits with parents and children, meetings with parents, and parental visits to the child's classroom.

Designed to assure a basic level of computer applications literacy. Includes word processing, spreadsheet, database, e-mail, and the Internet. Also covers various types of computer hardware and networking methods. (This course has been designed so that access to a computer is helpful, but not required.)

Introduction to the special needs of children with developmental disabilities, and how to implement programs that include these children in an early childhood classroom.

A broad-based course in physical education for children, which emphasizes the development of fundamental motor skills through child-centered activities that often involve the use of music.

An introduction to teaching young children how to read and write during the preschool years. This course covers the progression of communication, language, literacy, and listening, and the uses of children's literature to facilitate the development of literacy in early childhood.

A sociological overview of the ways in which cultural diversity influences children's behavior, communication, and learning styles, plus suggestions for teachers in working with children from diverse backgrounds.