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Foundations of Early Childhood Education is an introductory textbook that provides a comprehensive overview of the principles and practices of early childhood education for children from birth to 8 years old. It covers key topics such as child development, learning theories, curriculum planning, and the role of play in early learning. The book also emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive, culturally responsive environments that support the diverse needs of young children and their families. Designed for aspiring early childhood educators, this resource offers practical strategies and foundational knowledge to help students prepare for careers in childcare, preschool, or early elementary education. It’s an essential guide for anyone entering the field of early childhood education.
Course Competency 1: Explore the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the early childhood profession
Learning Objectives:
- Examine personal beliefs related to DEI in early childhood education
- Explore anti-bias education
- Review anti-bias education resources
Course Competency 2: Investigate the history and current trends of early childhood education
Learning Objectives:
- Review the origins of early childhood education
- Review current trends that impact early childhood education
- Review legislative acts that affect early childhood education
Course Competency 3: Explore regulatory requirements for early childhood education programs in WI
Learning Objectives:
- Review regulatory requirements for group childcare
- Differentiate between provisional, certified and licensed childcare
- Review regulatory requirements for family childcare
Course Competency 4: Summarize types of early childhood education settings
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the variety of early childhood education settings
- Identify different roles for early childhood educators in programming (directors, FCC, teachers, assistant)
- Recognizing the role of child development in each setting
Course Competency 5: Identify quality indicators in early childhood education programs
Learning Objectives:
- Summarize developmentally appropriate practice
- Review accreditation in early childhood education
- Review how Youngstar supports high quality early childhood in Wisconsin
- Review the purpose of environmental rating scales
Course Competency 6: Summarize responsibilities of early childhood education professionals
Learning Objectives:
- Review various jobs in early childhood and their responsibilities
- Reflect on professional behaviors in early childhood
- Summarize ethical responsibilities of early childhood educators
- Identify ways to advocate for the early childhood profession
Course Competency 7: Explore early childhood curriculum models
Learning Objectives:
- Compare curriculum models
- Define curriculum in early childhood education
- Review philosophies, theorists and teacher roles of research-based curriculum models
Course Competency 8: Examine the critical role of play as it relates to developmentally appropriate practice
Learning Objectives:
- Review the types of play
- Review the stages of play
- Explore the teacher/caregiver’s role in facilitating play
- Research how children learn through play
This textbook is part of the WisTech Open collection and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
You are free to:
– Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
– Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially
Under the following terms:
– Attribution — You must give appropriate credit to WisTech Open, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests WisTech Open endorses you or your use.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
You are free to:
– Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
– Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially
Under the following terms:
– Attribution — You must give appropriate credit to WisTech Open, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests WisTech Open endorses you or your use.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Funded by State of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Technical College System funding for Open Educational Resources
WisTech Open, including the Open RN and Bright Beginnings series, does not provide ancillary or instructor materials. You can instead create free, customized supplementary resources—slides, quizzes, worksheets, study guides, and more - on demand, through our generative AI platform, WisTech Fusion: https://www.wistechopen.org/wistech-fusion. Fusion only uses content from WisTech Open, Open RN, and Bright Beginnings resources.
To help keep print textbook costs low for our students, please consider using the electronic version, or purchasing a personal print copy, rather than requesting a publisher/desktop version from our printing partner. Orders can be placed through Kendall Hunt: https://he.kendallhunt.com/catalog.