Early Childhood Education

View the 2025-2026 Academic Catalog to find course titles, numbers and descriptions.

Students interested in Early Childhood Teaching Licensure (PreK–2) will complete the Early Childhood Studies major and the Early Childhood Education major.

Early Childhood Studies Major Requirements for Early Childhood Education Majors

• BIO1101 Life on Earth
• CHEM1110 Introduction to Physical Science
• EDUC4491 Students with Disabilities for General Education Professionals*
• EDUC4495 Early Childhood Education

Choose one 2000-level English elective:

• ENGL2101 Romance and Conquest in British Literature: 900-1600
• ENGL2102 Imperialism and Resistance in British Literature: 1800-Present
• ENGL2304 American Voices I: U.S. Literature to 1865
• ENGL2604 American Voices II: U.S. Literature Since 1865

Choose one 1000-or-above US History elective:

• HIST1105 United States History to 1877
• HIST1106 United States History Since 1877
• HIST2105 America Since 1960
• HIST 2106 A History of New England: 1500-Present
• HIST2128 Immigrants in the American Experience
• HIST2130 African American History:1865 to the Present
• HIST2205 Women in American History
• HIST2210 Themes in History of the American West
• HIST2222 The Business of America: An Economic History of the U.S.

Choose one 1000-or-above World History elective:

• HIST1107 African History: Themes
• HIST1108 World History to 1500
• HIST1109 Modern World History
• HIST1111 An Introduction to East Asian History
• HIST1114 Creating the Atlantic World
• HIST2119 19th Century Europe: Democracy and Imperialism
• HIST2120 Europe in the Era of World War
• HIST2125 History of Modern Latin America
• HIST2126 History of Japan Since 1600
• HIST2140 History of the Modern Middle East
• HIST2207 Slavery and Global History
• HIST2401 Modern China: Continuity and Change

• MATH1120 Foundations for Math for Teachers I
• MATH1122 Foundations for Math for Teachers II 
• PSYCH2303 Child Development

First Year: Fall or Spring

• EDUC1111 The Great American Experiment

Second Year: Fall

• EDUC2211 Learning, Teaching and the Early & Elementary Curriculum

Second Year: Spring

• EDUC2212 Teaching All Students, PreK-6*

Third Year: Fall

• EDUC3211 Literacy and Literacy Methods I 
• EDUC3213 Mathematics Methods for Early and Elementary Grades* 

Third Year: Spring

• EDUC3212 Literacy and Literacy Methods II*

Third or Fourth Year: Fall or Spring

• EDUC3215 Explorations in Science and Engineering in the Early and Elementary Grades 
• EDUC3216 History and Social Science Methods Grades PreK-6 
• EDUC3300 Sheltered English Instruction: Teaching English Language Learners* 

Fourth Year: Fall or Spring

• EDUC4467 Student Teaching Practicum
• EDUC4468 Student Teaching Capstone Seminar 

Learning and Creating Learning Communities

• Conduct research into the nature of human learning and construct an understanding of how people learn and what it means to teach.
• Construct a philosophy of classroom “management” that moves beyond discipline toward the building of communities which are grounded in an ethic of care and nurture learners’ well-being and healthy social-emotional development. 
• Create a collaborative learning community within the classroom which builds on and is inclusive of the full range of diversity that exists among student populations.

Curriculum Planning and Assessment of Learning

• Design learner-centered units of study which use learners’ self-directed exploration of authentic materials and real-world problems and challenges. 
• Select materials out of which learners might build an understanding of ideas, events, questions and concepts that are central to the discipline. 
• Document students’ explorations in order to design a learning environment which responds to and extends student learning.

Teaching All Students

• Express an unwavering respect for all students as meaning-makers and view differences that exist among diverse student populations as resources and assets on which to build curriculum.
• Utilize a broad range of instructional practices to reach and teach all students and accommodate and modify curriculum to ensure that all students –regardless of differences in their races, ethnicities, native language, prior schooling, background, knowledge and skills--are engaged in meaningful learning to meet appropriate learning goals.

Engaging Families and Communities

• Plan curricula which recognize families and communities as resources for learning and inquiry and engage PreK-12 students in active exploration of materials that reveal the richness of their culture and heritage.
• Forge positive relationships with families and engage in regular, two-way, culturally proficient communication with families about students and their learning.

Promoting Access, Equity and Education

• Design curricula for PreK-12 students which deepens their appreciation for American civic culture, its underlying ideals, founding principles and political institutions as well as develops their skills of critical engagement to “break historical patterns of racial inequality.”
• Design curricula that enable PreK-12 students to realize and actualize their own capacity to participate and lead in their communities, both locally and globally.
• Build a foundation of antiracist practices

Commitment to Social Justice

• Advance issues of social justice within the classroom, school, and community
• Nurture and cultivate the academic excellence, cultural and linguistic competence, sociopolitical consciousness and emotional intelligence of all students

Developing Professional Culture, Ethics and Leadership

• Serve as a teacher–leader, seeking to advance issues of social justice within the classroom, school and community.
• Contribute to a culture of reflective practice and inquiry by collaborating with colleagues to explore issues of teaching, learning and assessment.
• Contribute to the growing body of research knowledge about the nature of learning and on craft knowledge about teaching.