Department: Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies
Major: Early Childhood Unified Education: Birth through Third Grade
The BS in Early Childhood Unified Education: Birth to Third Grade prepares educators for work in a variety of early care and classroom settings serving infants through children in third grade. Following completion of the curriculum, graduates will be eligible for credentialing as early childhood/early childhood special education (BK) and early elementary (PK-3) teachers under MDE regulations. The major integrates courses focused on child development, diverse family and community relationships, early childhood education and special education, and content area knowledge and pedagogy. It prepares educators to teach and work with young learners and their families, to meet the socio-emotional needs of the whole child, and to implement developmentally appropriate practices in response to both typical and atypical development. Preparation for work with young children, their families, and the direct and ancillary services dedicated to them, is most effective when informed by the multi-dimensionality of early growth and development. Study in the Early Childhood Unified Education: Birth to Third Grade at Western Michigan University features an interdisciplinary structure that anchors professional learning and experience within the disciplines and best practices of early childhood education, family science, and special education.