EARLY CHILDHOOD A.A.S.

This program is designed for persons interested in child care, preschool, and early childhood education.

PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Apply content knowledge in academic disciplines to design, implement, and evaluate curriculum for children birth to age eight.
• Utilize appropriate methods and materials to facilitate learning (social, emotional, physical, and cognitive) for all children birth to age eight.
• Utilize a variety of assessment tools to understand children and provide appropriate experiences for all children birth to age eight.
• Provide for the diverse needs of children and families by articulating the various factors (family, community, learning environment) that influence growth and development of children from birth to age eight.
• Exhibit professionalism including: ethical standards, collaborative learning, self-assessment, ongoing learning, and advocacy.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

In order to graduate with the AAS degree in Early Childhood, students must demonstrate competency (a grade of C- or higher) in five Key Assessments. The Key Assessments are completed in each of the core early childhood courses (ECH 101, 102, 103, 104, 110, and 111 and BEH 101). This requirement also applies to students who have transferred credits to Cayuga from another college. Please contact the Early Childhood coordinator if you have any questions.

GENERAL INFORMATION

For individuals interested in working with children, Cayuga also offers a Liberal Arts AA degree with an Early Childhood concentration, as well as an Early Childhood Certificate, and Teacher Assistant and Child Development Associate (CDA) coursework. In addition, the College also offers Liberal Arts/Adolescence Education, Liberal Arts/Childhood Education, and an Education concentration.

TRANSFER INFORMATION

Students planning to transfer into a four-year degree program in Early Childhood should contact their advisor, the Coordinator for Transfer and Articulation in the Centers for Student Engagement and Academic Advisement, or the Early Childhood coordinator to plan the most appropriate course sequence for optimum transferability. It is suggested that students who wish to transfer into four-year degree programs complete the AA degree in Liberal Arts with an Early Childhood concentration.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Students must be able to satisfactorily and safely perform duties associated with the care and education of children from birth to eight years of age. Download the Technical Standards for the degree.

Students are required to have police and child abuse clearances and physical examinations prior to beginning their field experience classes (ECH 103 and 104).

Note: A prior felony conviction may hinder a student’s ability to enroll in a course or complete the requirements of certain academic programs and/or meet the criteria for licensure required by certain professions. In addition, students are required to submit to alcohol and/or drug testing upon request by either the College or any of the cooperating field placement sites. Students who test positive are subject to removal from the field placement and will therefore not be able to satisfy requirements for the completion of the degree. Refusal to submit to the test will result in the student being asked to leave the field placement site and may result in dismissal from the course and/or the program.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

The curriculum listed are required for the AAS degree in Early Childhood. Students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.3 or higher to enroll in field experience coursework (ECH 103 & 104). Transfer credit for Early Childhood or Education courses will only be granted after transcript review by the Education Coordinator.

* A minimum grade of C- (70) is required to complete graduation requirements
** Library 102 recommended elective
NOTE: Math Competency Requirements – Students must pass the Math Placement Test or pass Math 099 in order to fulfill prerequisite requirements for ECH 222