Early Childhood Infant/Toddler Educator (ITC)
Program Course Descriptions

Course material will be dealt with through lecture/discussions, workshops, observations, and field work and should enable the student to: observe and record children's behavior; describe stages children go through in the major areas of growth and discuss appropriate methods of guiding behavior at each stage; discuss major developmental and learning theories; defend the value of play and design play experiences to enhance growth at each developmental stage.

Students will learn to: discuss the role of the day care educator as a member of an interdisciplinary team in identifying, planning for, and working with at-risk infants and toddlers; use observational methods of assessment; recognize the characteristics of infants and toddlers at-risk for intellectual deviations, sensory and communication impairments, physical disabilities, and emotional behavioral disorders; discuss the impact on the family and describe ways of interacting with and supporting parents.

On completion of this course which utilizes lecture/discussion, observation, audio-visual materials, readings and field work as learning techniques, students should be able to: describe the stages of infant and toddler development and identify the factors that influence this development; discuss the responsibilities of the educator in assessing and responding to the developmental needs of infants and toddlers; select developmentally appropriate experiences and materials for infants and toddlers, and design environments for them that will enhance their growth and development.

Through professionally supervised work with people working in Infant and Toddler child care agencies and on-campus faculty guided seminars, students as a result of their field placement experience should be able to interact with children from 0-3 years old, in a growth producing manner and guide them in their interaction with others, establish constructive relationships with other adults in settings for children from 0-3 years old, and plan experiences for children that show their understanding of infant and toddler development and how children from 0-3 years old learn best.