Early childhood education, which is also known as nursery education, is a specialization of education that focuses on children from birth to the age of 8 years. It has grown as an important field as municipal, state, and federal authorities provide funding for preschool and pre-K. There are several theories proposed for teaching at this particular age including Vygotsky’s socio-cultural, Piaget’s constructivist and Kolb’s experiential learning theories. During this age, the curriculum should be delivered in the form of activities that involves physical, cognitive and social development. Working with children at this early age is certainly exciting and enjoyable but it can also get stressful and challenging in some instances.

What does an early childhood education student learn?

Teaching young children requires understanding their abilities, development, behavior and psychology. Teachers should know how to deal with the students, how to respond to their needs and how to deliver a curriculum to them. The following list shows the courses that are commonly offered in early childhood education programs:

1. Introduction to early childhood education: this course introduces the principles of this type of education and the differences compared to education to older students.
2. Language development in early childhood: among the challenges in education to young students is that their language is not mature. The teacher needs to use different methods for delivery of the content in addition to helping the students develop their language.
3. Beginning literacy: this course introduces the methods used to teach the students the concept and techniques of writing and reading which includes knowing the letters, words and phrases.
4. Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Education: this is a challenging part of education to these young students as it is not possible to evaluate them using traditional exams used with older students.
5. Language Arts and Reading for Early Childhood: arts can be considered the main tool used in early childhood educations including the use of drawings, songs or games. Teachers also use storytelling but the content must use simple language of short phrases that can cope with the language development in the students.
6. Science for Young Children: this course introduces the scientific basics that should be introduced to the students and how these basics can be taught.
7. Child Health and Safety: a teacher for the children at this age is not only responsible for teaching them but he/she is also responsible for the health and safety of the children inside the class.

Now I have the early childhood education degree…where can I work after graduating?

Early childhood education is the favorable career for people who are passionate about children. You will work with children in the most important part of their development. There are various positions that you may consider in this career. It is also common to shift between different positions during your career life.

1. Preschool or elementary school teacher: this is considered the entry level job in this career. At the beginning, you may work as an assistant teacher under close supervision of a mentor.
2. Childcare center director: this position is responsible for day-to-day management of daycare, preschool and childcare center. Administrative tasks include record keeping, career counseling and evaluation of staff.
3. Home-based service provider: you may choose to work as a freelancer educator who provide home based services. You may help students with educational difficulties or students in home-schooling. In these settings, you will need to plan more activities for the students to compensate for their interaction at schools with their fellows.
4. Family support specialist: you will provide support to families facing special conditions or crisis as a divorce, devastating health conditions or financial stress.
5. Consultant: if you have enough experience, you may choose to provide consultancy to schools or childcare institutes to establish their curriculum or support children with special needs.
6. Researcher: early childhood education is a field of exciting research where you can develop new educational methods that fulfill the rapid changes in the world and make use of the new technologies.

Should I choose an early childhood education degree?

If you are passionate about children and you have interest in education and leaving your impact on children during their early stages, then you should consider starting your career in this field. It is an exciting and enjoyable career. You will also develop a number of skills that are essential for teachers:

1. Passion and enthusiasm for early childhood education
2. Patience
3. Sense of humor, creativity and ability to develop games and enjoyable teaching methods
4. Communication skills: you will need exceptional skills to effectively communicate with the students and their families.
5. Understanding diversity