Education: Early Childhood

Degree Awarded:  Bachelor of Arts

For students interested in working with children grades Pre-Kindergarten to 3rd, the Early Childhood major could be the one for you. The Early Childhood major provides students with opportunities to develop professional knowledge, skills and dispositions through readings, observations, as well as group projects while on campus and in classrooms within the area. All students take courses in technology applications, philosophical and historical foundations of education, assessment of student performance and issues of diversity in the classroom. Students develop competency in their teaching style through clinical experiences in classrooms within the areas. So, whatever your choice, the challenges helping the next generation are richly rewarding.

Students who wish to teach in early childhood will pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Early Childhood. Those students successfully completing the program will receive a license to teach children in grades P/K-3 or ages three to eight. Early childhood teachers must have completed 12 semester hours in the area of reading/language arts.

Requirements for this Major:

63 semester credits including:

Education Core (14 SH)

• EDC 201 Foundations of Education (3 SH)
• EDC 225 Voices of Diversity (2 SH)
• EDC 230 Educational Psychology (3 SH)
• EDC 330 Introduction to Students with Exceptional Learning Needs (3 SH)
• EDC 340 Educational Media and Technology (3 SH)

Teaching of Reading Core (12 SH)

• EDC 321 Phonetic Approaches to Reading (3 SH)
• EDC 324 Diagnosis and Correction of Reading Problems (3 SH)
• EDE 323 Reading and Language Arts in Early Childhood (3 SH)
• EDE 410 Literature Based Reading (3 SH)

Early Childhood Core (21 SH)

• EDE 304 Child Development and Learning (3 SH)
• EDE 306 Curriculum Development and Implementation in Early Childhood Education (3 SH)
• EDE 307 Fine Arts in Early Childhood Education (3 SH)
• EDE 308 Family and Community Relations (3 SH)
• EDE 320 Mathematics in Early Childhood (3 SH)
• EDE 422 Social Studies in Early Childhood (3 SH)
• EDE 424 Science in Early Childhood (3 SH)

Field Experience (4 SH)

• EDE 312 Early Childhood Field Experience I (2 SH)
• EDE 412 Early Childhood Field Experience II (2 SH)

Student Teaching for Licensure (12 SH)

• EDE 440-42 Student Teaching: Early Childhood (9 SH)
• EDE 443 Seminar and Project for Early Childhood (3 SH)