Early Childhood Development, AAS

PURPOSE: This program prepares student in the care, education, and supervision of young children birth to age eight. The curriculum is designed for persons seeking employment in the early care and education field, or for those persons currently employed who want to update and enhance their skills. Occupational opportunities include administrator, director, assistant director, lead teacher, or assistant teacher in settings such as preschools, child care centers and homes, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, public schools, and before-and after-school programs. The AAS degree is at Level 6 of the Virginia Career Pathways for Early Childhood and Out-of-School Time Practitioners, where Level 5 is a Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential an Early Childhood Development Certificate and Level 9 a doctoral degree. Level 7 a Bachelor’s Degree.

By the completion of this program, students will be expected to demonstrate an intermediate level of competency in the following skills:

1. Apply developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments for young children
2. Create strategies for building relationships and involving diverse families in their children’s development and learning
3. Use systematic observation and documentation to assess the development of all children
4. Implement a wide array of developmentally appropriate approaches, instructional strategies, and tools appropriate for individual children
5. Design, implement, and evaluate developmentally appropriate and meaningful curriculum for each child
6. Analyze professional experiences and practices for alignment with best practices, ethical standards and other early childhood professional guidelines

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIAL CONDITIONS: Students must meet JTCC admission requirements. Students may need to complete placement tests in English and mathematics. Visit www.jtcc.edu/placement for all course placement options. If students have deficiencies in English and/or mathematics, JTCC offers developmental and prerequisite courses to prepare students for the curriculum. New students should visit the Advising Center and returning students their faculty advisor for more information.

Text in italics and parentheses indicates approved course substitutions. Pre-requisite and co-requisite requirements can be found in course details.