Early Childhood Education

Caring for and educating our children is one of our society's most important responsibilities. From infancy, nurturing environments enhance the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social growth of children. Qualified early childhood educators are in great demand.

Our Associate and Bachelor's degrees in Early Childhood Education have been designed to provide a solid, thorough understanding of young children.

A.S. in Early Childhood Education
This Associate in Science degree prepares you to work with infants through preschool children in a daycare or to teach in a preschool setting. The degree includes topics such as child development, family relationships, fundamentals of early childhood education, and curriculum design.

Required Courses for the A.S. in Early Childhood Education
PSY 508 Child Development
EDU 550 Foundations of Early Childhood Education*
EDU 551 Learning and Early Childhood Environments*
EDU 553 Creative Arts in ECE*
EDU 555 Language & Literacy Development
EDU 600 Math & Science in ECE
ECE Elective**

**And One Additional Course of  Your Choice in the field of Early Childhood Education, for example:
EDU 601 Observation and Assessment in ECE* (online)
EDU 602 Young Children with Special Needs* (online)
EDU 603 Family and Community Relations in ECE (online)
EDU 604 Enhancing Supervision Through Mentoring (online)
EDU 605 Early Childhood Program Administration (online)
PSY 510 Infant and Toddler Development

*Note:  These courses have prerequisites

Portfolio Requirement for Early Childhood Education Majors
Each student enrolled in an Early Childhood Education program at GSC is required to prepare a portfolio as part of the graduation requirement.