Early Childhood Development Certificate

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G3 Eligible Program– Qualifying students may have ZERO costs for tuition, fees, and textbooks.
Learn more at https://brightpoint.edu/training-workforce/g3.

PURPOSE: This one-year program prepares students for jobs working with young children (birth to age eight) in preschools, elementary schools, child-care centers, and before- and after-school programs. Jobs include director, assistant director, lead teacher in childcare centers or private preschools, and assistant teacher in public or private schools. This program is offered at the Chester Campus. This career-technical degree is guided by an advisory committee comprised of local education leaders.

CREDENTIALS: A Certificate is a program of study typically less than two years in length with a major in a career-technical area. Students receiving a CERT intend to pursue immediate employment. The Certificate is at Level 5 of the Virginia Career Pathways for Early Childhood and Out-of-School Time Practitioners, where Level 3 is a Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential and Level 4 is an Early Childhood Development Career Studies Certificate. In addition, students will have earned 31 of the 62 credits required for the Early Childhood Development Associate of Applied Science degree (Pathways Level 6).

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIAL CONDITIONS: Students must meet Brightpoint admission requirements. New students should work with their New Student Navigator to get ready for their first semester. They can also email getstarted@brightpoint.edu for assistance. Continuing students should work with their faculty advisor on academic planning and graduation requirements.

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

Apply developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments for young children
Use systematic observation and documentation to assess the development of all children.
Implement a wide array of developmentally appropriate approaches, instructional strategies, and tools appropriate for individual children
Design, implement, and evaluate developmentally appropriate and meaningful curriculum for each child.

Required Courses

SDV 100 - College Success Skills 1 credit
CHD 120 - Introduction to Early Childhood Education 3 credits
CHD 145 - Teaching Art, Music and Movement to Children 3 credits
CHD 165 - Observation and Participation in Early Childhood/Primary Settings 3 credits
CHD 205 - Guiding the Behavior of Children 3 credits
EDU 235 - Health, Safety, and Nutrition Education 3 credits
ENG 111 - College Composition I 3 credits
PSY 230 - Developmental Psychology 3 credits
CHD 118 - Language Arts for Young Children 3 credits
CHD 146 - Math, Science and Social Studies for Children 3 credits
CHD 166 - Infant and Toddler Programs 3 credits

Total Minimum Credits to Complete: 31

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Pre-requisite and co-requisite requirements can be found in course details.

Students are strongly encouraged to complete courses in the order they are listed in the catalog.

CHD 165 is a practicum class that requires students to observe young children and participate in an approved early childhood setting for 40 hours throughout the semester.

To enroll in CHD 165 students must have a declared early childhood major and complete a TB screening, a criminal background check and a sex offender registry check, as a condition of placement in a practicum site. Students are expected to cover all costs for these procedures.

Students should regularly meet with their faculty advisor and check their degree progress by accessing advisement reports in the Student Information System (SIS) in the myBrightpoint portal or the Academic Planner in Navigate.