Preparing for a Career in Early Childhood Education

Do you love working with children? Do you desire to strengthen individuals, families and community? Are you an energetic person? Do you have natural leadership skills?

If yes, you may want to consider a career in Early Childhood Education.

When planning for a career in Early Childhood Education, you need to start at the beginning and decide which path you would want to take.

This planning shall not be taken lightly as every action you take will greatly influence the children you will be dealing with. You will be directly involved in shaping the lives of children – from health, emotional well-being to intellectual growth – all of which can affect their later success in school, work and life.

A proper training, for example, pursuing higher education in Early Childhood Education, is advisable as this training ground will provide you with the fundamental knowledge and skills that you need to study children, dealing with children, understanding their mind and feelings, and bringing the best out of them.

A typical college course may cover the following modules (or equivalent):

• Adult Supervision: Mentoring in a Collaborative Learning Setting
• Children & Literature
• Culture & Diversity in Early Childhood Education
• Infant & Child Development
• Introducing Young Children to Visual Arts
• Introduction to Early Childhood Education
• Music and Movement with Young Children
• Principles & Practices in Early Childhood Education
• The Child, the Family & the Community

Through the training, you will gain much more than just a stepping stone to a career in Early Childhood Education. You will find that your life will be enriched at the same time. Furthermore, these skills are applicable across different areas of life:

• Ability to create appropriate learning environments for children
• Ability to promote healthy development in children
• Active listening with patience and empathy
• Aware of cultural differences and special needs of children
• Developing collaboration with parents
• Enhancing speaking and presentation skills
• Increased self-confidence and self-understanding
• Teamwork and leadership
• Understanding of how children learn
• Understanding the different stages of child development

Is Early Childhood Education for you?

Further reading:

• Careers.Fun n Professional: It’s So Much Fun in Nurturing Preschoolers
• Further Study: Trained & Qualified Early Childhood Educators?
• Further Study: Be a Trained, Certified and Qualified Educator of Young Children (1)
• Further Study: Be a Trained, Certified and Qualified Educator of Young Children (2)