Early Childhood Special Education, Cert.

This course provides an in-depth study of typical growth and development from conception through age 8 with an emphasis on the specific needs and characteristics of each developmental level as described in developmental milestones charts and the NH Early Learning Standards. The experiences in this course will focus attention on how observation, documentation, and assessment can be used to inform understandings about children and the practice of teaching. Focused instruction is given on learning how to observe, document, and analyze children’s thinking and developmental processes. Insights gleaned from this learning will be enhanced by theories and research on child development. Prominent theories of child psychology, including but not limited to Piaget, Erikson, Maslow and Bronfenbrenner, will be introduced.  At least 15 hours of observation of children in childcare settings is required.    Prerequisites: none