PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: This program prepares students to work in careers involving children and families. These include positions in childcare, human services, family daycare, health, and education. This class offers hands-on experience in a learning laboratory for children, as well as classroom instruction. In this program the student will: 1) work as a teacher assistant, 2) plan, prepare materials for, and present activities for children in the lab (including art, science, table toys, floor toys, pretend, and group time with stories and games), 3) become certified in CPR and First Aid, 4) gain an understanding of pre-school and school-age children's development and appropriate guidance techniques, 5) improve personal characteristics and teamwork skills that enable them to more effectively work with children, 6) work in a community site, such as group day care center, special needs program, Head Start, or related site. Students will obtain approximately 125 hours of field site experience the first year. Second year students who have successfully completed Early Childhood Education I have the option of Early Childhood Education II, and/or Co-op. Early Childhood Education Co-op is correlated with training in the Children's Learning Center. Most of the individualized instruction will consist of the Child Development Associate (CDA) resource file as well as 3 days a week working with young children in various community settings. Fieldwork hours from both Early Childhood I and II can count as part of the 480 hours required for the CDA credential.

PROGRAM CIP CODE: 19.0700                                               P.S.N. 16402

TEXTBOOK(S): Working with Young Children, Dr. Judy Herr, Goodheart-Wilcox, 2008, Working with Young Children - Mastering CDA Competencies, Dr. Judy Herr, Goodheart-Wilcox, CDA (Child Development Associate) Competencies

SOFTWARE: Microsoft Office, Internet

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE PROGRAM: This program prepares students for the realities of working with children and families. It prepares students for the CDA (Child Development Associate) credential. Employability skills instruction is incorporated into the curriculum. Work based learning opportunities are available to qualified students in classroom pre-schools and day care centers. Articulated college credit is available from Delta College, Ferris State University, Mid-Michigan Community College, Baker College and Montcalm Community College.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES: Opportunities are available for students to improve their occupational knowledge, skills and leadership through CTSO membership, competitions, community volunteer projects, student-led meetings, and/or intra-curricular activities. In a positive experiential learning environment, students develop leadership and management skills, responsibility and self-confidence, communication and decision making skills, good citizenship and respect for other cultures, as well as a basic understanding of parliamentary procedures. These activities help students set and realize their career goals, and instill a sense of the duty and responsibility associated with being a role model, mentor, volunteer and future community leader.

JOB TITLES AVAILABLE                                                   JOB TITLES REQUIRING FURTHER

AT MPATC:                                                                          TRAINING/CERTIFICATION/EDUCATION:
Child Care Worker                                                             Day Care Center Teacher
Day Care Provider                                                              Day Care Center Director               Preschool Teacher Assistant                                          Social Worker

Elementary Teacher Assistant                                        Elementary Teacher

Day Care Center Teacher Assistant                              Middle School Teacher

Activities Assistant                                                             Activities Director

Link to State Curriculum Standards/Segments:

MICHIGAN CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK

Content Standards and Benchmarks by Subject Area

(120 Total Standards)

Early Childhood Education

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS (12 content standards)

Meaning and Communication:

1. All students will read and comprehend general and technical material.

2. All students will demonstrate the ability to write clear and grammatically correct sentences, paragraphs, and compositions (demonstrate fluency for multiple purposes, recognize techniques, edit texts, select appropriate language structure).

3.  All students will focus on meaning and communication as they listen, speak, view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts.

4.  All students will use the English language effectively.

Literature:

5. All students will read and analyze a wide variety of classic and contemporary

literature and other texts to seek information, ideas, enjoyment, and understanding of their individuality, our common heritage and common humanity, and the rich diversity in our society.

Voice :

6. All students will learn to communicate information accurately and effectively and

demonstrate their expressive abilities by creating oral, written, and visual texts

that enlighten and engage an audience.

Skills and Processes:

7. All students will demonstrate, analyze, and reflect upon the skills and processes

used to communicate through listening, speaking, viewing, reading, and writing.

Genre and Craft of Language:

8. All students will explore and use the characteristics of different types of texts, aesthetic elements, and mechanics - including text structure, figurative and descriptive language, spelling, punctuation, and grammar - to construct and convey meaning.

Depth of Understanding:

9. All students will demonstrate understanding of the complexity of enduring issues

and recurring problems by making connections and generating themes within and

across texts.

Ideas in Action:

10. All students will apply knowledge, ideas, and issues drawn from texts to their lives

and the lives of others.

Inquiry and Research:

11. All students will define and investigate important issues and problems using a

variety of resources, including technology, to explore and create texts.

Critical Standards:

12. All students will develop and apply personal, shared, and academic criteria for the

enjoyment, appreciation, and evaluation of their own and others' oral, written, and

visual texts.

SOCIAL STUDIES (24 content standards)

Geographic Perspective:

1.  All students will describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of

places, cultures, and settlements.

Civic Perspective:

2.  All students will describe the political and legal processes created to make decisions, seek consensus, and resolve conflicts in a free society.

Public Discourse and Decision Making:

3.  All students will engage their peers in constructive conversation about matters of public concern by clarifying issues, considering opposing views, applying democratic values, anticipating consequences, and working toward making decisions.

SCIENCE (15 content standards)

Construct New Scientific and Personal Knowledge:

1.  All students will ask questions that help them learn about the world; design and

conduct investigations using appropriate methodology and technology; learn from books and other sources of information; communicate their findings using appropriate technology; and reconstruct previously learned knowledge.

Use Scientific Knowledge from the Life Sciences in Real-World Contexts:

2.  All students will use classification systems to describe groups of living things;compare and contrast differences in the life cycles of living things; investigate and explain how living things obtain and use energy; and analyze how parts of living things are adapted to carry out specific functions.

3.  All students will investigate and explain how characteristics of living things are passed on through generations; explain why organisms within species are different from one another; and explain how new traits can be established by changing or manipulating genes.

4. All students will explain how scientists construct and scientifically test theories concerning the origin of life and evolution of species; compare ways that living organisms are adapted (suited) to survive and reproduce in their environments; and analyze how species change through time.

Use Scientific Knowledge from the Physical Sciences in Real-World Contexts:

5.  All students will measure and describe the things around us; explain what the world

around us is made of; identify and describe forms of energy; and explain how electricity and magnetism interact with matter.

6. All students will investigate, describe and analyze ways in which matter changes; describe how living things and human technology change matter and transform energy; explain how visible changes in matter are related to atoms and molecules; and how changes in matter are related to changes in energy.

7. All students will describe how things around us move and explain why things move as they do; demonstrate and explain how we control the motions of objects; and relate motion to energy and energy conversions.

8. All students will describe sounds and sound waves; explain shadows, color, and other light phenomena; measure and describe vibrations and waves; and explain how waves and vibrations transfer energy.

Use Scientific Knowledge from the Earth and Space Sciences in Real-World

Contexts:

9. All students will investigate and describe what makes up weather and how it changes from day to day, from season to season and over long periods of time; explain what causes different kinds of weather; and analyze the relationships between human activities and the atmosphere.

MATHEMATICS (13 content standards)

Patterns, Relationships and Functions:

1. Students recognize similarities and generalize patterns, use patterns to create

models and make predictions, describe the nature of patterns and relationships, and

construct representations of mathematical relationships.

Geometry and Measurement:

2. Students develop spatial sense, use shape as an analytic and descriptive tool,

identify characteristics and define shapes, identify properties and describe

relationships among shapes.

3. Students identify locations of objects, identify location relative to other objects,

and describe the effects of transformations (e.g. sliding, flipping, turning,

enlarging, reducing) on an object.

Number Sense and Numeration:

4. Students experience counting and measuring activities to develop intuitive sense

about numbers, develop understanding about properties of numbers, understand the

need for and existence of different sets of numbers, and investigate properties of

special numbers.

5. Students recognize that numbers are used in different ways such as counting,

measuring, ordering and estimating, understand and produce multiple

representations of a number, and translate among equivalent representations.

Probability and Discrete Mathematics:

6. Students investigate practical situations such as scheduling, routing, sequencing,

networking, organizing and classifying, and analyze ideas like recurrence relations,

induction, iteration, and algorithm design.

CAREER AND EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS (10 content standards)

Applied Skills:

1. All students will apply basic communication skills (e.g., reading, writing, speaking, and listening), apply scientific and social studies concepts, and perform mathematical processes in work-related situations.

Career Planning:

2. All students will acquire, organize, interpret, and evaluate information from career

awareness and exploration activities, career assessment, and work-based experiences to identify and pursue their career goals.

Developing and Presenting Information:

3. All students will demonstrate the ability to combine ideas or information in new ways, make connections between see, seemingly unrelated ideas, and organize and present information in formats such as symbols, pictures, schematics, charts, and graphs.

Problem Solving:

4. All students will make decisions and solve problems by specifying goals, identifying resources and constraints, generating alternatives, considering impacts, choosing appropriate alternatives, and evaluating results.

Personal Management:

5. All students will display personal qualities such as responsibility, self-management, ethical behavior, and respect for self and others.

Organizational Skills:

6. All students will identify, organize, plan, and allocate resources (such as time,

money, materials, and human resources) efficiently and effectively.

Teamwork:

7. All students will work cooperatively with people of diverse backgrounds and abilities, and will contribute to a group process with ideas, suggestions, and efforts.

Negotiation Skills:

8. All students will communicate ideas to support a position and negotiate to resolve divergent interests.

Using Employability Skills:

9. All students will integrate employability skills into behaviors which prepare one for

obtaining, maintaining, advancing, and changing employment.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION (8 content standards)

Motor Skills:

1. All students will participate successfully in selected health-enhanced, lifelong physical activities.

Physical Fitness:

2. All students will develop and maintain healthy levels of cardio-respiratory endurance.

Cognitive Concepts:

3. All students will describe the effects of activity and inactivity and formulate example of lifestyle choices that result in the development and maintenance of health-related fitness.

Personal and Social Character Traits:

4. All students will demonstrate appropriate behavior (at least 95% of the time) related to selected personal/social character traits that commonly emerge in a physical activity context.

5. All students will value physical activity and its contribution to lifelong health and wellbeing.

TECHNOLOGY (6 content standards)

Using and Transferring:

1. All students will use and transfer technological knowledge and skills for life roles.

Using Information Technologies:

2. All students will use technologies to input, retrieve, organize, manipulate, evaluate,

and communicate information.

Applying Standards:

3. All students will apply ethical and legal standards in planning, using, and evaluating technology.

Evaluating and Forecasting:

4. All students will evaluate the societal and environmental impacts of technology and forecast alternative uses and possible consequences to make informed civic, social, and economic decisions.

HEALTH EDUCATION (7 content standards)

Applied Health Concepts:

1. All students will apply health promotion and disease prevention concepts and principles to personal, family, and community health issues.

Accessing Information Services:

2. All students will access valid health information and appropriate health promoting products and services.

Health Behaviors:

3. All students will practice health-enhancing behaviors and reduce health risks.

Influences:

4. All students will analyze the influence of cultural beliefs, media, and technology on health.

Goal Setting and Decision Making:

5. All students will use goal setting and decision-making skills to enhance health.

Social Skills:

6. All students will demonstrate effective interpersonal communication and other social skills which enhance health.

Health Advocacy:

7. All students will demonstrate advocacy skills for enhanced personal, family, and community health.

ARTS EDUCATION (dance, music, theater, and visual arts)

(5 content standards)

Performing:

1. All students will apply skills and knowledge to perform in the arts.

Creating:

2. All students will apply skills and knowledge to create in the arts.

Analyzing in Context:

3. All students will analyze, describe, and evaluate works of art.

Connecting to other Arts, other Disciplines, and Life:

4. All students will recognize, analyze, and describe connections among the arts; between the arts and other disciplines; between the arts and everyday life.

WORLD LANGUAGES (10 content standards)

Diversity:

1. All students will identify diverse languages and cultures throughout the world.

Learning as a Lifelong Process:

2. All students will recognize learning a new language as a lifelong process.

LIFE MANAGEMENT EDUCATION (10 content standards)

Balance of Work and Family:

1. All students will demonstrate skill necessary to function in family roles and relationships which are transferable to roles and responsibilities within the workplace and community.

Nurturing:

2. All students will demonstrate the characteristic of nurturing.

Human Development:

3. All students will analyze factors which influence human development.

Decision-making:

4. All students will demonstrate responsible personal and family decision-making.

Responsibility:

5. All students will practice family, social, and civic responsibility.

Wellness:

6. All students will develop a plan for individual and family wellness.

Demographic Change:

7. All students will examine demographic changes and their impact on society and the

family.

Consumerism:

8. All students will practice responsible consumer and producer behavior, rights, and

responsibilities.

Impact of Technology:

9. All students will assess the effects of technology on the family.

Using Community Resources:

10. All students will demonstrate the use of community resources to solve individual

and family issues.