The Child Studies major provides a program for students who want to work with young children but do not want to be certified to teach P-5 children. This non-certification major will enable students to work with young children in a variety of agencies, such as Head Start, preschool centers, after-school programs, children’s museums, recreation programs, children’s ministries, and some private schools. The curriculum will provide a strong holistic background in the study of children, from birth to early adolescence, and develop students who know, guide, and nurture children and adolescents.
The student will demonstrate:
Knowing
- A knowledge of discipline-specific concepts related to teaching and supervising young children.
- A knowledge of the developmental characteristics of diverse young learners.
Guiding
- The ability to plan differentiated, developmentally appropriate learning activities.
- The ability to use developmentally appropriate learning activities and assessment strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners.
Nurturing
- The ability to create a safe and stimulating learning environment that supports all learners.
- The ability to work collaboratively with learners, families, colleagues, and other professionals to ensure student learning and growth.
- The ability to grow professionally by evaluating his/her practice and participating in professional learning.
