Students are expected to learn the following within the Early Childhood Education program:
- Developmentally Appropriate Practice
- Articulate the NAEYC standards of developmentally appropriate programs.
- Create and explain a developmentally appropriate floor plan for children from birth to eight years of age.
- Observe and analyze the physical environment, teaching practices, and how children learn an observation checklist.
- Research Methods and Assessment Techniques
- Identify the purpose, value, and use of formal and informal observation and assessment.
- Describe the advantages and disadvantages of systematic observation methods.
- Identify theory and theorist in relationship to children and approaches to learning.
- Child Development
- Examine age level characteristics, word pictures, and outline and describe milestones in the areas of cognitive, physical, social, and language development for children from birth to eight years of age.
- Conduct observations to examine the physical, social, cognitive, and language development of children from birth to eight years old.
- Define the domains of development.
- Reflective Practitioner Skills
- Administer theory based tasks to children and write evaluations of the children's responses.
- Evaluate both a single activity and/or an early childhood program in terms of its effectiveness in meeting the needs of the particular group or individuals for whom it is planned.
- Building Relationships
- Name and explain key strategies for successful school, home, and community partnerships.
- Identify local community agencies responsible for providing various safeguards for children's experiences and learning.
- Identify and discuss signs of abuse and the reporting requirements of abuse and neglect in the State of Maryland.
