Early Childhood/Elementary Teacher Education Major
Our Upside-Down Curriculum allows you to begin taking courses in your Early Childhood/Elementary Teacher Education degree program (and get out in the field) beginning in the first semester of your first year.
Why Early Childhood/Elementary Teacher Education?
The national spotlight is on education—particularly in the earliest years. Early childhood and elementary-level education is gaining more and more attention as the importance of a quality early childhood/elementary education experience is demonstrated again and again through studies.
The results are clear: success in early education leads to greater success as an older student and even later into life. The need for quality instructors on the early childhood (infancy through kindergarten) and elementary level (first grade through sixth) has been and will remain high.
Why Early Childhood/Elementary Teacher Education at Champlain
Classroom study at Champlain College is linked to hands-on experiences with students in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education settings. Here, the road to your own classroom begins during your very first semester, with plenty of time in local schools working with students, observing various teaching styles and learning what different age-levels are really like in the classroom. You'll develop lesson plans and implement a learning project in a local school or agency.
As a sophomore, you'll increase the time you spend in real classrooms, carrying out lesson plans and observing various teaching styles. By your fourth year, you'll have acquired the skills and confidence to manage your own classroom of students in kindergarten through grade 6, and will spend your final semester student-teaching under the guidance of a teacher and your Champlain College supervisor.
This major lets you choose from two curriculum paths: a dual endorsement in Early Childhood (ages 3 through 8) and Elementary Education (kindergarten through grade 6), or a dual endorsement in Early Childhood (birth through age 8) and Elementary Education (kindergarten through grade 6).
Both prepare you to meet the developmental needs of students, to structure the learning environment for age-appropriate learning outcomes, and to integrate technology into the classroom. You'll graduate eligible for licensure in the state of Vermont, which is recognized by 47 additional states.
Graduates of the program have gone on to careers as early childhood and elementary educators across the country (95 percent of the 2010 graduates are already working full-time in early childhood and elementary schools) and have been accepted in well-regarded graduate programs.
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As you learn teaching techniques in the college classroom, you immediately get to apply them in local preschools and elementary classrooms. In your first year as an education major, you will spend no less than 30 hours engaged in fieldwork. You will start out having observation experiences and move on through tutoring, preparing lesson plans and giving individual class lessons, culminating in a full-time student teacher residency. By the time you finish Champlain, you will have had far more field experience than the majority of your peers from other education programs.
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Tap into the 5,000-volume youth and children's literature collection in the Miller Information Commons, Champlain's extraordinary library.
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Learn to use the state-of-the-art technology classroom and create an electronic portfolio to showcase your work as you interview for teaching positions.
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Get recommended for Vermont licensure: meeting requirements for Praxis I and II tests, earning a 3.0 GPA or higher and successfully completing full-time student teaching, will make you eligible for Vermont teaching licensure, which is recognized in 47 states.
Ask a Question about our Early Childhood/Elementary Teacher Education Degree Program
Ask a question, and someone from our Admission team will put you in touch with the faculty or staff member who can best answer your questions.
Senior Project