Early Childhood Education

The early childhood program at Elms College prepares you to teach students from pre-kindergarten through grade two.

As a candidate for your initial teaching license in Massachusetts, you complete rigorous coursework and do fieldwork in local schools with young children with and without moderate special needs, in local schools. You leave Elms prepared to teach all areas of the curriculum and make adaptations for students with moderate special needs.

A degree in early childhood education will prepare you to work in collaboration with parents, colleagues, and educational specialists, such as speech and physical therapists, to ensure that your students have the best experience possible when they enter your classroom. The Elms College preparation program for early childhood teachers exceeds state standards for both knowledge and performance and gives prospective early childhood teachers a competitive edge in seeking employment.

Early Childhood Education students will be able to:

• Have an understanding of typical and atypical physical, cognitive, language, and social/emotional development of children with and without special needs, and use this understanding to understand students’ needs and interests. This allows them to plan and present developmentally-appropriate lessons and learning activities, and to determine the progress children are making.
• Draw on subject matter knowledge in teaching reading and language arts, children’s literature, mathematics, science, social studies, health, physical education, and the arts to provide developmentally-appropriate learning experiences that respond to children’s interests, and challenge them to construct an understanding of the world in which they live, through play and active learning.
• Communicate clearly and respectfully with children, families, colleagues, and members of the community, and work with them to benefit children’s learning and development.
• Organize and manage a classroom to provide time, space, materials, and support necessary for a stimulating and safe learning environment.
• Reflect on teaching and learning, and use reflections to meet legal and moral responsibilities for professional growth and service to children and their families.
• Meet state licensure standards for communication and literacy skills, subject matter knowledge, teaching reading and language arts, and performance.