Associate of Arts in Early Childhood Care and Education

This course examines a variety of developmentally appropriate instructional strategies central to the education of children. Integrating a micro-systemic perspective that takes into account internal and external family dynamics, this course will focus on identifying theoretical and applied solutions to the choice of age-appropriate learning exercises

This course examines the fundamentals of infant and toddler development, including planning and implementing programs in group care. It emphasizes meeting physical, social, emotional, and cognitive needs; scheduling, preparing age-appropriate activities, health and safety policies, record keeping, and reporting to parents.

This course examines the family during the latter half of the twentieth century. Topics include a diverse range of issues, including single mothers, fathers, disparities among families, child care and child well-being, cohabitation, and how these trends affect American family life.

This course is an examination of physical, cognitive, emotional and social development in the first 3 years of life. Course topics include developmental milestones, abnormal development and disease, parenting, family dynamics and appropriate care practices and environments from infancy through 36 months of age.

This course focuses on theory and practical approaches to understanding and providing accommodations for students with special needs. Students will be presented with an overview of the characteristics of the most prevalent types of disabilities, as well as the laws that protect and best educational practices for children with disabilities. Students will examine the methods to teach, as well as the documents that provide the legal basis for meeting the needs for an appropriate education for this population.

This course examines factors influencing child rearing practices in families with an emphasis on developing practical skills for working with parents and children. Topics of study include family systems, communication dynamics, blended and culturally diverse families, conflict management, custody concerns, factors supporting healthy child development and resilience, challenges to positive parenting and models for effectively working with parents and youth

This course examines formal and informal methods of gathering and analyzing data on children. The emphasis is on understanding developmental patterns and implications for diagnostic assessment and intervention.

This course is designed to provide a solid foundation for undergraduate study in the online environment. Students will be introduced to learning theory, the tools available in the online classroom and campus, and online research. Identification of personal learning style allows students to improve their study/learning techniques and prepares them to succeed in college level courses. Students will be introduced to formatting and citation styles. APUS policy and procedure is addressed. There is an emphasis on written communication to assist students in the transition to the online environment.