Early Childhood Education (State Certificate)

Students completing this program should acquire the following skills and abilities:

• Create and maintain a safe and healthy environment for young children. 
• Demonstrate an understanding of how children differ in their development and approaches to learning and use this knowledge to provide opportunities supporting physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth.
• Develop relationships with children enhancing children’s self-esteem, social-emotional development, and problem-solving skills.
• Use individual and group guidance and problem solving techniques to support positive relationships with children assisting their development in self esteem, self control, and self motivation.
• Gather empirical data employing a variety of observation and assessment tools, and analyze data with the purpose of developing age and developmentally appropriate curriculum.
• Utilize age appropriate music, art, and craft activities and ideas to foster the development of creativity, motor skills, and interpersonal skills in children.
• Create an anti-biased, culturally relevant environment modeling respect for the many facets that fall under the term “diversity”.
• Demonstrate the ability to use theory, research, developmentally appropriate practice and a variety of instructional strategies when planning and implementing curriculum.
• Utilize age appropriate math, science, computer, and literature activities and ideas to foster the development of language, communication, and basic numerical skills, creativity, and curiosity regarding math, science, and technology.
• Develop personally and professionally, maintaining current knowledge in the field and participating in on-going professional development.