Early Childhood Education, AAS

The purpose of this program is to develop skilled professionals who will care for and educate young children. Graduates work in a variety of private and public child care settings and in family child care and early intervention programs. Graduates may also work with families and community organizations as parenting coaches, policymakers and advocates.

90 credits

Program Contacts

Cost

Estimated Cost: $ 18,030

  • Resident Tuition: $ 13,050
  • Technology Fees: $ 1,260
  • General Student Fees: $ 900
  • Online Course Fee: $ 900 
  • Books / Course Materials: $ 1,800 (Some courses use Open Educational Resources (OER), which are free or low-cost materials.)
  • Program Specific Fees: $ 120 (MMR immunization if needed)

Costs provided are estimates only, and may differ depending on course type and/or modality. Learn more and view current tuition and fee information.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete this program will be able to:

PLO 1 - Design and implement a Reggio-inspired curriculum approach for children to learn to make appropriate choices and actively participate in their own learning

PLO 2 - Apply age-appropriate guidance strategies so children develop empathy, moral autonomy, self-worth and the ability to self-regulate in challenging situations

PLO 3 - Use basic mathematics in everyday life and business transactions, including measurement, introduction of probability and statistics, reading graphs and tables, and signed numbers

PLO 4 - Apply research and observational skills to deepen an understanding of human development

PLO 5 - Examine ways to administer and manage the successful operations of child care programs

Program Requirements

All courses in a program require default grading (completed with a letter grade of C- or better, or Pass) unless specified otherwise below.

General Education

WR 115Introduction to College Composition

4

Human Relations - choose one course from list

3-4

Health/PE/Dance - see list

3

MTH 098Math Literacy

5

Or

MTH 025Basic Mathematics Applications

3

WR: See Footnote 1. 

List of accepted Human Relations Courses

List of accepted Health/PE/Dance courses – can be any combination to reach 3 credits

MTH: See Footnote 2.

Program Core Courses

ECE 105Health and Safety Issues in Early Childhood Education

2

ECE 110Observing Young Children's Behavior

1

ECE 120Introduction to Early Childhood

2

ECE 130Guidance of Young Children

3

ECE 150Creative Activities for Children

3

ECE 160Exploring Early Childhood Curriculum

4

ECE 170Infants and Toddlers Development

4

ECE 210Applying Early Childhood Curriculum

4

ECE 230Family, School, Community Relations

3

ECE 240Supervised Student Teaching

4

ECE 250Infant and Toddler Environments

3

ECE 260Administration of Child Care Programs

3

ECE 280Co-op Ed: Early Childhood Education

1-7

FN 130Family Food and Nutrition

3

HDFS 226Child Development

3

HDFS 227Children Under Stress

3

 

ECE 253Diversity Issues in Early Childhood Education

3

Or

ED 258Multicultural Education

3

 

HDFS 228Young Children with Special Needs

3

Or

ED 269Inclusion and Special Needs

3

ECE 240: complete a total of 12 credits. See Footnote 3.

ECE 280: complete a total of 6 credits. See Footnote 4.

Electives

Program Electives

Complete 6 credits from the following options:

Anthropology (ANTH), Art History (ARH), ART, American Sign Language (ASL), Astronomy (ASTR), Business (BA), Business Tech (BT), Biology (BI), Career Guidance (CG), Chemistry (CH), Mandarin Chinese (CHN), Computer Info Tech (CIS), Communication (COMM), Creative Writing (CRWR), Computer Science (CS), Chinuk Wawa (CW), Education (ED), Effective Learning (EL), English (ENG), Ethnic Studies (ES), Food & Nutrition (FN), French (FR), Geology (G), Geography (GEOG), Geographic Info Science (GIS), Health (HE), Human Services (HS), History (HST), Humanities (HUM), MTH - Math (MTH 060 or higher only), Music (MUS), Physics (PH), Philosophy (PHL), Psychology (PSY), Student Life & Leadership (SLD), Sociology (SOC), Spanish (SPAN), Theatre Arts (TA), Writing (WR) (WR 121Z or higher only)

 

Specific courses faculty recommend: 

ART 111, ART 250, ART 261

CIS 101

COMM 111Z, COMM 218Z

CS 120

ED 100, ED 216, ED 258, ED 269

ENG 100

ES 101, ES 244

GEOG 141

HST 266

MUS 101, MUS 131, MUS 134

PHL 201, PHL 221

PSY 201Z, PSY 215

SLD 111

SOC 204, SOC 205, SOC 210

Open Electives

Complete 6 credits any 100- or 200-level courses of any course(s) 100-level or higher to reach 90 total credits. Work with an academic advisor.

Note: Students using lower-credit courses to meet General Education requirements may need to take additional electives to meet the 90-credit minimum.

Footnotes

1 – Any writing above WR 115 is also accepted

2 – Any math (MTH/STAT) above MTH 025 is also accepted

3 – ECE 240: requires 12 credits (270 hours/90 hours per term for 3 terms) of student teaching. Please contact the Program Coordinator, Kathleen Lloyd, for further information and to schedule your hours. Documentation of MMR immunization required prior to enrolling in ECE 240. More information on the Early Childhood Education web page. 

 
ECE students must enroll in the Central Background Registry (CBR) with the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) at least 1-2 terms before registering for ECE 240 or ECE 280. The application and fingerprints are free but can take 45- 60 days to approve - be sure to plan ahead. Learn more in the Central Background Registry document
 

4 – Students are eligible to enroll in the course and work in an off-campus community site once they have completed 3 terms of student teaching ECE 240. Documentation of MMR immunization required prior to enrolling in ECE 280. Cooperative education worksites and schedules vary. Contact Kathleen Lloyd.

Notes

Credential

ECE students are encouraged to enroll in the Oregon Registry, a statewide professional recognition program that records and recognizes the growth and achievements of early childhood care and education professionals. Eleven college credits are available (Credit for Prior Learning - CPL) for those individuals who have already earned a step 7 or higher in the Oregon Registry (ORO) based on community training hours.

Sample Term Planner

Early Childhood Education Sample Term Plan

*Subject to change. Connect with an academic advisor to create an individualized academic planner.