Early Childhood Professions

The Early Childhood Professions program prepares individuals for various levels of employment in child care centers, public school settings, headstart programs, or other areas where caring for young children is the primary function. This program focuses on cognitive, physical, emotional, and social growth and development. The program meets the educational component for qualification as a Director, Group Leader, or Infant/Toddler Group Leader in a child care center in Colorado.
Early childhood educators care for children from birth to age 12. Most child care workers combine basic care and teaching duties. Individuals who primarily teach are classified as teachers. Successful child care workers must be mature, patient, understanding, articulate, and have energy and physical stamina. They must be effective communicators, be able to anticipate and prevent problems, deal with disruptive children, be enthusiastic and alert, and provide discipline in a firm but fair manner.
Early childhood professionals who work as teachers also must be knowledgeable in the subjects they teach and be able to employ different teaching methods to respond to individual and cultural differences in the students they teach.

Training in early childhood professions can help prepare individuals for a variety of related career opportunities such as: