Course Information Suite

Programs of Study: Undergrad

Curriculum and Instruction

http://education.illinois.edu/ci
Head of Department: Fouad Abd El Khalick
311 Education Building, 1310 South Sixth, Champaign, (217) 244-8286

Curriculum Preparatory to Early Childhood School Teaching

For the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education

This program focuses on preparing teachers for preschool, kindergarten, and the early primary grades (one through three) of the elementary school. Graduates of the program qualify for the early childhood certificate with early childhood special education approval. There are seven prerequisite courses that must be completed prior to admission into the Early Childhood Education program. See information on prerequisites. Students applying to the major must also provide evidence of having 50 hours of formal experience working with children or youth comparable to the age-level of students served in the program for which application is made. A minimum of 129 semester hours of credit, excluding basic military science, is necessary for graduation.

Illinois law and Council on Teacher Education policy require that all candidates for admission to a teacher preparation program pass the Illinois Licensure Testing System Test of Academic Proficiency (TAP) prior to admission. Effective July 2012, the Illinois State Board of Education determined the ACT Plus Writing/SAT scores can be used in lieu of a passing score on the Test of Academic Proficiency (formerly known as the Illinois Test of Basic Skills). See information on the details.

Students who are admitted to Early Childhood for the fall of their junior year may be able to complete the requirements for the bachelor's degree in four years, depending on the number of general education and area of concentration courses left to complete. Consult the Early Childhood adviser or the certification officer for additional information.

In order to be recommended for certification, candidates are required to maintain University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, cumulative, content area, and professional education grade point averages of 2.5 (A=4.0). Grades in courses of C- or lower may not be used for State of Illinois certification, endorsements, or approvals. Candidates should consult their adviser or the Council on Teacher Education for the list of courses used to compute these grade point averages. For teacher education certification requirements applicable to all curricula, see the Council on Teacher Education.  

Certification requirements are subject to change without notice as a result of new mandates from the Illinois State Board of Education or the Illinois General Assembly.

Degree Requirements

Hours Orientation Seminar
1 EDUC 101, Education Orientation Seminar

The following degree requirements also meet general education course requirements and must be selected from the campus general education course list. (A list of courses approved for the laboratory, literature, speech performance, and health/physical development requirements may be found here.)

Hours Communication Skills1
6-7 Composition I and a speech performance elective1, or CMN 111 and 112
0-3 Advanced Composition
6-10 Total

Hours Mathematics/Science2
6-8 Life science
6-8 Physical science (mathematics not acceptable)
3 Quantitative Reasoning I
4 MATH 103 - Theory of Arithmetic
19-23 Total

Hours Humanities3
6 Literature1
3 MUS 130 or 133 - Introd to the Art of Music or Introduction to World Music
3 ART 140 - Introduction to Art
12 Total

Hours Language other than English
0-12 Three years of one language other than English in high school or completion of the third semester of college-level language.

Hours American History4
3-4 Choose from:
 
HIST 170 - US Hist to 1877-ACP
 
HIST 171 - US Hist to 1877
 
HIST 172 - US Hist Since 1877
 
HIST 173 - US Hist Since 1877-ACP
 
HIST 270 - United States History to 1815
 
HIST 271 - Nineteenth Century America
 
HIST 272 - Twentieth Century America
3-4 Total

Hours Social Sciences3
4 Choose from PSYC 100, PSYC 103, or PSYC 105
3 PS 101 - Intro to US Gov & Pol
3-4 Social and Behavioral sciences elective
10-11 Total

Hours Health and/or Physical Development1
2 Health and/or physical development
2 Total

Hours Area of Concentration3
18 Additional study in one academic discipline selected from the categories of mathematics, science, social sciences, or humanities. No more than nine of the required eighteen hours may be taken at the 100 level. (Consult an adviser for the list of approved disciplines.)

Hours Professional Education
2 ART 201 - Art in Early Childhood
5 CI 420 - Found of Early Childhood Educ
3 CI 421 - Prin & Prac in Early Childhood
5 CI 442 - Math, Sci, Tech in Early Child
2 CI 444 - Social Studies Early Childhood Ed
3 CI 465 - Lang Literacy in EC Educ, I
2 CI 466 - Lang Literacy in EC Educ, II
2 CI 468 - Children’s Lit for EC Edu
3 Choose one from:
 
CI 422 - Families, Communities, Schools OR SPED 438 - Collaborating with Families
1 EDPR 250 - School & Community Experiences
2 EDPR 420 - Ed Prac Students with Sp Needs
4 EDPR 432 - Ed Prac in EC & ElEd
2 EDPR 438 - Ed Prac in Sp Fields in Ele Ed
3 EPSY 236 - Child Dev For Elemen Teachers or Psyc 216 Child Psych
3 EPSY 401 - Child Language and Education
3-4 EPS 201/202 - Foundations of Education
2 MUS 345 - Mus Methods in Early Childhood
3 SPED 414 - Assessment in ECSE
2 SPED 450 - Introduction to ECSE
3 SPED 465 - Curriculum & Methods in ECSE
55-56 Total
129 TOTAL minimum hours, including general education and professional education credits5
  1. Courses must be selected from approved College of Education course list.  See https://education.illinois.edu/saao/documents/Labs_and_Lits.pdf
  2. At least one science course must be a laboratory course and selected from the approved College of Education course list. The remaining life science and physical science courses are degree requirements which must be selected from the campus approved general education list.
  3. At least one 3-semester-hour course in humanities, electives, or the area of concentration must be taken in non-Western or US Minority culture.
  4. American History courses satisfy the Cultural Studies: Western/Comparative Cultures requirement.
  5. The total hours required for the degree may be higher for students who do not complete the language other than English requirement in high school.