COURSE TITLE: EC109 - Competencies and Best Practices in Children and Family Programs III.
Section 2 DEPARTMENT: Early Childhood
INSTRUCTOR: Lori Riley
e-mail CONTACT:yoopergirl38ingr@yahoo.com
PREREQUISITES:
- Successful completion of EC108. (C or better)
- All students will continue to have a mentor/advisor and continue to work in an early childhood setting that serves preschoolers, or infant toddlers or family day care children.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course focuses on child growth and development from birth to age five with an emphasis on best practices in program management and family partnerships. Students will gain a basic knowledge of long range and daily planning, child observation, individualized teaching, record keeping, and reporting as they learn about strategies to manage effective program operation. Students will also gain a basic knowledge of strategies to establish productive relationships with families as they learn ways to gather parent input, nurture parent involvement, and improve partnerships with parents through home visits, conferences, and other methods of communication. Students will do readings, gather and explore resources, and engage in hands on activities to reinforce what they are learning, and put theory into practice. The course will also help students to continue to fulfill requirements of the CDA training process, particularly in the competency areas of program management and families.Note: This course is the third and final course in the series of three that include and are integrated with approved National Child Development Credential training. This course includes 40 or the required 120 training hours in early childhood education required by the CDA. As of this time, (2007) approximately 90% of students completing these courses will apply for a CDA credential in the endorsement of their choice.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of child growth and development principles, particularly as they relate to best practices in program management and parent partnerships.
- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of strategies for objective information collection by completing child observations.
- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of long and short term lesson planning, as well as a knowledge of documenting individualized teaching based on the needs of children.
- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of how to do an effective and positive home visit or parent conference with the purpose of strengthening parent/teacher partnerships.
- Students will demonstrate professionalism by completing the final 6 required items in the Professional Portfolio/Resource File.
TRANSFER POTENTIAL:
For transferability information, please consult The Transfer Equivalency List in the Registrar's Office. Phone 906-248-5580.
Head Start Performance Standards and Other Regulations
Update Your Head Start Program Performance Standards and Other Regulations Materials NowEARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ADVISOR
BMCC Policies:
All students please review the following policies and procedures
Student Handbook : (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/index.html).
Drop or Add a Class : (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/index.html#course).
Book Refund and Book BuyBack Policies:(http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/vbookstore.html)
Billing or an outstanding bill: (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/billingProcedures.html).
Information about class schedules and transcripts:(http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/transcripts.html).PASSWORDS:
The password to open the first lesson will be given to the student when fees are paid and registration is completed. Advisors may and should also obtain a password from BMCC Virtual College Staff for the purpose of better mentoring of their students; advisors and students should be aware that course calendar and lessons are confidential and copyrighted.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:OTHER MATERIALS:
- CDA packet, CDA guidebook, and 3 ring Resource File notebook with which the student is working.
- Textbook: Essentials for Child Development Associates, 2nd Edition ISBN # ESSENT2
- Textbook: A Practical Guide to Early Childhood Curriculum, 2nd Edition IBSN# 0-205-33754-6
- PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE FILE Comparison of the Resource Collection Items As They Appear In The Previous Competency Standards Books & Essentials 1st Edition vs. The Current Competency Standards Books & Essentials 2nd Edition
Other publications, resources, or handouts may also be assigned or suggested. Access to on line reading assignments, such as Head Start or NHSA articles, will be found on the home page of this class. Some assignments may include an exploration of Net web sites that promote child growth and development or parent partnerships.
ONLINE READING: As assigned; see home page
CDA REQUIREMENTS
- To fully meet the requirements of the CDA credentialing process, the student will continue to work in a center where he/she can be observed working as lead teacher (at least on observation days), either with infants/toddlers or with at least eight children ages 3-5. The students must also continue to have an advisor/mentor who will make at least one observation visit during this course and who will write up this observation as the official CDA advisor. This observation will be placed in a sealed envelope and saved for the CDA Rep's Verification visit.
- To complete the CDA requirements, the student will also distribute questionnaires to the parents of the children he/she works with about six weeks into the school year. These will be collected by the advisor or director and saved for the CDA Rep's Verification visit.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENT:
- To complete the assignments in each of the 14 week lessons in a timely manner.
- The student will attend scheduled chat sessions, dates of which will be arranged between the instructor and students.
- As a professional courtesy, the student will e-mail the instructor if a chat session will be missed or if there is a problem in completing assignments in a timely manner.
- The student will arrange with his/her director to distribute and collect the parent questionnaires, which will not be seen by the student, but saved in a sealed envelope.
- The student will arrange with the advisor/mentor the final observation visit, which will be written up by the advisor and given to the student in a sealed envelope. The student will seek help from the advisor on resource file items and class work as necessary.
GRADING:
Total possible points Class Assignments 2 Quizzes (50 points each) Exam 2 Competency Papers Parent Questionnaires 6 Resource File Items BMCC GRADING SCALE:
A = 94 - 100% C = 74 - 76% A- = 90 - 93% C- = 70 - 73% B+ = 87 - 89% D+ = 67 - 69% B = 84 - 86% D = 64 - 66% B- = 80 - 83% D- = 60 - 63% C+ = 77 - 79% F = 00 - 59%
RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENT:
ASSIGNMENTS: Assignments are posted in each weekly lesson and in the course calendar. It is suggested that students print out the course calendar, note their start dates on the first weekly lesson and give a copy of the course calendar to their advisor/mentors. Assignments are emailed to the instructor but no attachments are permitted. If there is a written assignment it should be copied and pasted into the email to the instructor. (See home page of course)
COMMUNICATION: Students are expected to communicate with their advisor/mentors or the instructor if they are having any problems with course assignments, or if there is a family crisis that is causing delays in getting work done on time.
In addition, students are encouraged to exchange emails and do networking if they wish to do so.
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR STUDENTS APPLYING FOR THE CDA CREDENTIAL:
- Students applying for the CDA credential upon completion of EC109 must, at least by week 7 in EC109, arrange for their advisor/mentors to visit and do the Advisor Written Observation found in the CDA Packet. The observation can be discussed with the student, but the written observation itself must be placed in a sealed envelope and saved for the CDA Rep’s Verification Visit. (Students who are not applying to CDA will arrange with the instructor to do an alternative assignment.)
- Students who are applying for the CDA credential must also distribute the Parent Questionnaires that are found in the CDA Packet to the parents of the children with whom they work. These must be collected and saved in a sealed envelope for the CDA Rep’s Verification Visit. (Students who are not applying to CDA will arrange with the instructor to do an alternative assignment.)
INCLUSION OF NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE:
Some of the students in this course are Native Americans and are already working with Native American children in Native American early childhood programs. Other students work in various childcare settings including Head Start and child care programs; in some cases Native American children are included in these settings. Students will be able to put the ideas, activities and theories learned in this course into actual practice with Native American children or children of other cultures. Cultural implications and considerations are integrated into outside reading assignments and lessons whenever possible, particularly in lessons that focus on parent/family partnerships.
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