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Child Development Courses

CHD 400 Introduction to Early Childhood Education (3 credits)
This seminar helps students grasp the breadth, depth and foundations of early childhood education.

CHD 402 Writing for Educators (3 credits)
Early Childhood staff of all levels (directors, teachers, assistants, aides, family child care, etc.) must demonstrate professionalism as strong communicators not only verbally, but as writers as well. This course will lay the ground work of writing expectations in the program and serve to remediate as needed.

CHD 410 Growth and Development of Children (3 credits)
This is a broad sketch of human growth and development from prenatal stages to elementary age. Developmental processes are studied from a biological and developmental perspective. Personality development and the effects of temperament on learning are discussed.

CHD 411 Social and Emotional Growth of Children (3 credits)
This course studies the social, psychological and emotional growth of children from prenatal to elementary ages. Issues of attachment, perspective-taking and friendship are discussed.

CHD 422 Human Diversity and Relations (3 credits)
The purpose of this course is to expand students' understanding of the influences of gender, culture, economic situation, learning styles and language on the socialization of children, and then how to use this new understanding to form the way we program for and interact with children.

CHD 435 Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Education (3 credits)
This is a historical, present and future perspective of developmentally appropriate practices. Appropriate classroom practices and current topics are discussed.

CHD 440 Children's Play and Learning (3 credits)
Theories of Piaget, Parton, Erickson, and Vygotsky are studied to determine how children learn to play and the effect that play has on the child's development. Historical perspectives and effects of play on learning are reviewed.

CHD 461 Ethics in Early Childhood (3 credits)
Classical and historical ethics are explored, as well as the student's personal values system. Individuals face tough ethical decisions with increasing frequency in our society and a framework for addressing those questions is needed. Each student will develop a system for making ethical decisions in their personal and professional life.

CHD 430 Infants and Toddlers (3 credits)
In this course, students will study the emerging skills and developmental characteristics of infants and toddlers. Course topics include environments that foster development, appropriate practices, and promoting the development of autonomy.

CHD 445 Language Development and Emergent Literacy (3 credits)
The research and stages of language development from birth through age seven are extensively explored. Students will understand how to guide children through the language acquisition process.

CHD 451 Dual Language Learners (3 credits)
This course will move beyond the basics of language development to help educators understand the natural progression of secondlanguage acquisition in young children. The focus will be creating a supportive environment for second-language learners with effective ways to measure progress, address individual differences and work with parents while acknowledging the importance of children's home language and cultures.

CHD 450 Children's Literature (3 credits)
Using children's books to develop literature-based curriculum is the emphasis of this course. There is a review of authors of children's literature and an exploration of books for a variety of purposes.

CHD 482 Young Child with Special Needs (3 credits)
This course is designed to introduce the student to the information and techniques needed to develop curricula and instruction to meet the unique needs of individual children in early childhood settings. Special emphasis is given to the theories, research and practical application from the fields of both early childhood education and special education.

CHD 490 Portfolio and Synthesis (3 credits)
This final course is designed to help learners reflect on all they have done in the program. Through guest speakers, research study and reflection on practice, students will synthesize all they have learned. Preparation of a professional e-folio will cap the learning experience.