Complete Your Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Online

WE DON’T CARE WHERE YOU START; WE CARE WHERE YOU FINISH.
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The concentration in early childhood, offered in partnership with the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development, includes 18 credits comprised of six required courses. The concentration is designed to provide new educational and employment opportunities for adult learners seeking to complete their undergraduate degree with a liberal arts education and a professional focus in early childhood. Courses develop students’ foundational knowledge and skills in early childhood. Apply now

Students in the early childhood concentration are also required to take two ISLS courses and two 4000-level ISIN Special Topics in the Conduct of Inquiry (one in Humanities, and one in Social Sciences) courses.

Required Early Childhood Courses

  • EDIS 3013 Beyond "Bad" Behavior: Supporting Positive Behavior in Early Childhood
  • EDIS 3040 Foundations of Early Childhood & Education
  • EDIS 3045 Mathematics in Early Childhood: Understanding, Assessing & Supporting Development
  • EDIS 3060 Poverty and the Young Child
  • EDIS 4340 Talking the Talk: Supporting Language and Communication in Early Childhood
  • EDIS 4350 Interaction with Intention: Working with Young Children

Students in the early childhood concentration are also required to take 24 credits of degree electives outside of early childhood courses. These vary by semester and may include courses in disciplines such as anthropology, art, art history, architectural history, classics, drama, economics, history, literature, music, philosophy, politics, religion, and sociology.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will a concentration in early childhood prepare me to do? 
The early childhood concentration will prepare you to fill a variety of in-demand roles in childcare, pre-school, education administration, and child, family, and school services.  Other options might include careers in research, counseling, or child psychology. Some of these career paths may require education beyond a bachelor’s degree. For those interested in teaching, the concentration will provide excellent preparation for post-graduate programs that provide teacher licensure.

Will the early childhood concentration provide me with a Virginia teaching license?
No. The early childhood concentration does not provide a Virginia teaching license. It does prepare you to advance to a master of teaching program – such as the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development’s nationally-recognized Post-Graduate Master of Teaching (PGMT) – or pursue various alternative routes to teacher licensure in Virginia or elsewhere. Careful advising throughout BIS will support you to ensure that you have the coursework needed to pursue these options.

Can I get a job teaching without a Virginia teaching license?
Private schools may hire teachers without a license, and preschool teachers (working outside the public school system) typically do not need a license.

Can I complete this concentration online?
Yes. The School of Education and Human Development will hold all of the required early childhood courses online, using the Canvas learning management system. All of the early childhood courses will use asynchronous delivery, meaning that students do not need to log in to course activities or materials at a set time of day but can complete work for the classes whenever is convenient for them. Early childhood students will be earning a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree (BIS), which has several other required core and elective courses. These classes are also available online but most BIS core and elective courses are held synchronously, meaning that students will need to log in to the learning management system at a set time each week.  

Do I need to take the early childhood courses in any set order?
All students in the concentration must take “Foundations of Early Childhood Development & Education” first. “Interaction with Intention: Working with Young Children” comes at the end of the program. Students must either have completed other concentration requirements before enrolling in the class or be enrolled in both “Interaction with Intention” and any additional concentration courses they need to complete. Beyond these requirements, students may take concentration courses in any order. 

 

For more information please reach out to a recruitment coordinator. Call us at 800.346.3882 or email [email protected]

 

* The information contained on this website is for informational purposes only. The Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record represent the official repository for academic program requirements.

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