Advanced Child Development
Career Field: Education
Adult Career Pathway: Early Childhood Education
Type: Bridge course / employment prep
Prepares Students for: Clarifying interest in working with children ages 0-5; entry-level employment in an early child care facility; success on the Accuplacer test for entry into community college program, effective parenting and/or volunteering in an early childhood environment
Target Student Population: CASAS Reading 230+, TABE 5.0+
Access Curriculum: View Materials
Course Description: Focuses on stages of development – infant, toddler, preschool and school-age; literacy development; and early childhood education as a profession – careers, roles and responsibilities, ethics and teamwork. Emphasis is placed on academic and soft skills necessary for ABE and college success; and students are assisted in discerning their own pathway. In addition to in-class time, there is a volunteer placement at HeadStart, ECFE, day care center or family day care, allowing students to apply what is learned in the classroom into direction action (optional, highly encouraged). Learners can extend their learning further through optional on-line study via a LearnerWeb Early Childhood plan.
Duration: 3 hours/class, 1 class/week, 15 weeks = 45 hours of instruction.
Curriculum Materials: A scope and sequence document outlines 14 units, including topic, guiding questions and learning activities. Learning activities, organized in unit folders, include reading, writing, vocabulary and other skill building. Optional volunteer assignments apply to each unit topic. Entry-Level Training Modules provide PowerPoint presentations on core child development concepts and additional hands-on learning activities.
Curriculum Pluses: Well organized. Creative learning activities that promote ABE standards. Links to many videos to enhance learning. Volunteer assignments support effective experiential learning in a childcare setting.
Curriculum Drawbacks: Some learning activities noted in the scope and sequence document seem to be missing from the unit folders.
Author: Jolee Mosher, Saint Paul ABE; adapted from St. Paul ABE Child Development Bridge classes 1, 2, 3 developed by Elizabeth Andress and Kiara Buchannan
Created: 2019; original version created in 2012
Contact:
Jolee Mosher, St. Paul Public Schools – Adult Basic Education
Hubbs Center, 1030 University Ave W., St. Paul, MN 55104
[email protected]