Early Childhood Education Curriculum

Early Childhood Education Curriculum 

Certificate of Completion: 23 credits. Advising Guide

Career Description

For students not yet working in the field, it is recommended that this certificate be taken alongside or immediately after completing the ECE Fundamentals certificate. Upon completion of both certificates, students will be qualified for teaching positions in private licensed child care programs.

Early childhood professionals currently working in the field as home visitors, assistants, or teachers can apply this coursework towards their required professional development hours and to progress up the Oregon Registry Steps.

Course of Study

The ECE Curriculum certificate is designed to build upon the fundamentals of ECE and provide additional knowledge and skills for creating and implementing a high-quality curriculum and an inclusive classroom culture for children birth through age eight.

The certificate addresses all six of the Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators, with an emphasis on child development and learning in context (Standard 1), teaching practices that are developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate (Standard 4), and the integration of academic content in the early childhood curriculum (Standard 5).

The certificate runs three consecutive terms, fall through spring. It is designed for part-time students but can be combined with the ECE Fundamentals certificate or additional ECE coursework to achieve full-time enrollment status. All certificate courses may be applied towards the Early Childhood Education AAS degree.

Program Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this certificate will be able to:

1. Use intermediate knowledge of early childhood development and of individual children for creating and implementing curriculum, teaching practices, and learning environments that are safe, healthy, respectful, culturally and linguistically responsive, developmentally appropriate, supportive and challenging for each child.
2. Establish respectful, reciprocal relationships that engage families in their child’s development and learning as collaborative partners.
3. Use observation, documentation and assessment to inform instruction and planning in early learning settings.
4. Create an inclusive classroom culture, maintain supportive relationships and interactions with young children and use a broad repertoire of developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically relevant, anti-bias and evidence-based teaching skills and strategies that reflect the principles of universal design for learning and meet the needs of each child.
5. Use knowledge of child development and early learning standards to select and create curriculum that counters biases and stereotypes, fosters young children’s interest in the content areas, and facilitates individual and group learning.
6. Use collaborative, reflective, and intentional practice in their work with young children and as members of the early childhood profession.
7. Support and advocate for young children in their care

Prerequisites

• Recommended: ECE 120 Introduction to Early Childhood Education (3 credits) or Step 8 in Oregon Registry
• Placement into WR 115 Introduction to Expository Writing (4 credits) or IRW 115 Critical Reading and Writing (5 credits)

ECE Electives

• ECE 177 Multi-Age Groups (1 credit)
• ECE 179 Child Portfolios in ECE (1 credit)
• ECE 185 Field Trips in Early Childhood (1 credit)
• ECE 187 Cooking Experiences for Young Children (1 credit)
• ECE 188 Block Play and Woodworking for Young Children (1 credit)
• ECE 238 Administration of ECE Programs (3 credits)
• ED 101 Teachers Make a Difference: Exploring the K-5 Classroom (1 credit)
• CG 209 Job Finding Skills (1 credit)
• WR 122 or WR 122Z Composition II (4 credits)
• Up to 3 credits of Physical Education (PE) courses
• Up to 3 credits of Set Three Community-based Training (1 credit per 10 hours)
• Up to 3 credits of foreign language