Early Childhood Education

This foundational course includes an overview of the field of early childhood education and examines early childhood development; services for young children and their families; appropriate practices for infants/toddlers/young children; societal changes, historical roots, and current issues that impact young children and their families. This course includes 10 hours of field experience.

This course provides strategies for promoting the emergent creative dispositions of young children. Particular emphasis is on teacher candidates’acquisition of skills to integrate the arts into content areas and guide children to creatively express themselves in the arts: visual arts, music, dance and movement, and drama.

This course is the first of four sequential, incremental field experiences required of early childhood education majors. During this field experience, candidates will complete a family interaction project. Candidates will work under the supervision of the college supervisor and cooperating teachers who are highly qualified in early childhood education and spend 30 hours in an early childhood setting. Candidates will gain experience, practice, and training as they work with individuals or small groups of students in early childhood programs. During this field experience, candidates will complete a technology project.

In their junior year, candidates will complete this third field experience and are required to work with young children, engaging them in math, literacy, and social studies activities. The candidates will complete observations, documenting children's developmental level, and an analysis of student learning. Candidates will spend 30 hours in an early childhood setting. During this field experience, candidates will complete a child study.

This is the third field experience and candidates will spend 30 hours in an early childhood setting. During this field experience, candidates develop an integrated thematic unit of study. This field experience emphasizes the importance of assessment and developing creative activities appropriate for young children.

This course examines interactions among families, communities, and schools utilizing the ecological perspective. Students will apply strategies that honor diversity, and help them become culturally competent in the classroom and community.

This course explores the theories of human language emergence with a detailed account of language acquisition, young children's early communicative capacities, and growth milestones. Through the process of integrating formal, informal, and reflective writing and approaches, students will develop professional written and communication skills.

This course provides early childhood teacher candidates with skills and strategies to plan a curriculum to effectively promote children's learning and development. Candidates will examine the early childhood teacher's role in establishing and maintaining a positive and productive learning environment in the classroom.

The essential concepts, inquiry tools, and structures of content areas in early childhood education will be taught in this course. Candidates will examine the early childhood teacher’s role in creating math, science, and social studies activities to integrate with other curricular areas in early childhood programs.

This is the capstone 12-week clinical practice experience. In accordance with the South Carolina Department of Education requirements, candidates must complete at least 60 days in the field with a minimum of 10 full days of teaching. Grading is on a Pass/Fail basis.

This one-hour seminar will assist teacher candidates to make a successful transition from being a student of early childhood education to becoming a practicing, professional early childhood educator. Topics to be covered in this course include programming, working with children, communication, and interactions with families. This course will be taken during clinical practice. Grading is on a Pass/Fail basis.