The Associate of Arts in Child Studies provides a program for students who want to work with young children but do not desire to be certified to teach P-5 children. This non-certification program will enable students to work with young children in a variety of roles/positions, such as paraprofessionals, Head Start, preschool centers, after-school programs, recreation programs, and children’s ministries. The curriculum will provide a strong holistic background in liberal arts, the study of children from birth to early adolescence, and will develop graduates who know, guide, and nurture children and adolescents. Elective options enable the student to further refine their focus to more ministry-related positions. Many of these core courses are designed to help students transition to a later four-year program if desired, but the primary focus is on a self-contained two-year program; elective courses may vary in their direct applicability to a four-year Education degree.
