Early Childhood Education
-
Degree Type
Associate of Applied Science
-
College
-
Contact
Advising Coordinator: Ronnette Haynes
Phone: 479-788-7605
Invest in yourself and help prepare the next generation of students by earning an Associate of Applied Science in early childhood education.
This 60-credit hour program is designed primarily for preschool workers and P-4 teaching assistants or paraprofessionals who are not seeking admission into a teacher licensure program. Coursework is designed to address the birth-to-age-5 population. Are you currently an ECE professional? You may be able to take courses, or have your staff take courses, at minimal cost, through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Scholarship®
Students who are successful in completing the degree will meet the educational component of the Arkansas Birth Through Prekindergarten Teaching Credential awarded by the Division of Childcare and Early Childhood Education. Program credit hours may also be applied to the Bachelor of Applied Science and Bachelor of Science in organizational leadership at UAFS.
Earning your associate degree in early childhood education will provide you with the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to effectively prepare students for academic success. You'll be able to pursue careers as an assistant preschool teacher, childcare worker, and teacher's assistant. Some of the courses within this curriculum will transfer into a bachelor's degree program for those who later wish to continue their education.
Technical Certificates
This 26-hour program delivers a curriculum specifically designed to address pre-school
and early childhood education. Courses include Child Guidance, Preschool Curriculum,
and Infant Toddler Curriculum.
Certificates of Proficiency
This 13-hour program delivers a foundational curriculum designed to address preschool and early childhood education. Courses include Foundations of Early Childhood Education, Child Growth and Development, Future Perspectives in Early Childhood, and First Aid.
This 9-credit hour program provides curriculum designed for those in helping professions such as human services, health care organizations, educators, and others. Courses include Intermediate Spanish I, II, and Spanish for the Professions. Beginning Spanish I and II, or required placement scores are prerequisites for Intermediate Spanish I.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Show understanding of young children's developmental stages of learning from birth through age eight by creating healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments for young children.
- Demonstrate understanding of diversity in the community and the classroom by engaging families and communities in respectful, reciprocal relationships that foster classroom development.
- Exhibit understanding of the goals, benefits, and uses of assessments as they work with young children, by using developmentally appropriate assessment to develop curriculum, to use teaching strategies, and in setting goals for their pre-kindergarten students.
- Demonstrate understanding of early childhood best practices by creating diverse and differentiated teaching strategies to help young children engage in their learning and diverse developmental stages. Candidates will practice self-reflection to promote positive outcomes in their teaching, and they will use a broad repertoire of developmentally appropriate teaching strategies/learning approaches.