Associate in Applied Science inEarly Childhood Education

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Why Major in Early Childhood Education

The Early Childhood Education program is offered by the Health and Human Services Department at the Quad-Cities Campus, Moline, through distance learning at the East Campus, and online courses. The Early Childhood Education program is especially designed to prepare persons to work with children birth through age five in a child care or preschool setting.

The Black Hawk College Early Childhood Education program has been approved as an entitled program through Gateways to Opportunity. Courses taken at Black Hawk College support the attainment of the following Gateways Credentials: Levels 2, 3, and 4; Infant-Toddler Credential Levels 2, 3, and 4.

Students must successfully document and meet all health and background checks required by academic programs and/or courses.

See the ECE Program Flyer (PDF)

Discover careers and salaries for this program

Locations

East Campus

Quad-Cities Campus

Formats

On-campus

Online

Number of Credits

Next Start Date

Any Time

Careers In Early Childhood Education

Instructional coordinators
Preschool teachers
Kindergarten teachers
Elementary school educators
Child, family and school social workers

Courses in Early Childhood Education

Students will take classes designed to give particular understanding and skills in such areas as human growth and development, curriculum and guidance. Observation and practical experience will take place in off-campus preschool and child care facilities.

First Semester

ECE 100   Introduction to Early Childhood (3)
ECE 115   Infant/Toddler Development (3)
ECE 200   Growth & Development of Young Children (3)
ENG 101 Composition I or
ENG 101C Composition 1 (3)
Mathematics elective* (3)

* It is recommended that students pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Education complete MATH 108.

Second Semester

ECE 201   Health, Safety & Nutrition (3)
ECE 202   Observ/Assessment Y.C. (3)
ECE 203   Curriculum for Early Child Prog (3)
ECE 215   Infant/Toddler Curriculum (3)
PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychology or
SOC 101   Principles of Sociology (3)

Third Semester

ECE 204 ECE Practicum I (3)
ECE 205 Language Development & Activity for Young Children (3)
ECE 224 Methods of Guiding Children’s Behavior (3)
Humanities elective (3)
SPEC 111 Business & Professional Comm. or
SPEC 175 Intercultural Communication or
SPEC 101 Principles of Speech Communication (3)

Fourth Semester

ECE 214 ECE Practicum II (3)
ECE 225 Math & Science for the Young Child (3)
EDUC 210 The Exceptional Child (3)
ECE 220 Admin/Sup/EC Prog (3)
ECE 222 Child, Family, and Community (3)

Learning Objectives

Students who complete this program will be able to:

Create an individualized instructional plan for a specific child based on his/her strengths and weaknesses, as informed by both standardized assessment and research-based developmental domains.
Develop and implement developmentally appropriate health, safety and nutrition activities.
Develop, implement, and evaluate a preschool lesson plan for each of the learning domains (math, science, social studies, language, literacy, the arts, health and safety, music and movement) that incorporates evidence-based practices in content and delivery methods.
Evaluate the role of ecological, child and teacher factors in the social emotional development of children and how to make changes in the classroom environment to improve child outcomes.
Demonstrate knowledge and application of professionalism in early childhood education as indicated by image, behavior and dispositions expected of students receiving an AAS in early childhood education.
Assess and analyze family-friendliness and cultural competencies of the early childhood education program/environment and create associated improvement plans.