Teacher Training Program - Inactive Courses

Organization

Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services, Inc.

Credit Course Categories:

NOTE: During the period that the following credit recommendations were active, credit is recommended only after an individual has successfully completed the entire program.

Descriptions and credit recommendations for all evaluated learning experiences

Classroom Management

Length:

45 hours.

Dates:

April 1996 - June 2001.

Objectives:

Students will be able to organize and maintain a developmentally appropriate learning environment including all aspects of planning, record-keeping, observation, team building, and maintenance for the pre-school classroom.

Instruction:

Major topics include: starting the year; arrangement of the classroom; discipline/positive guidance techniques; health and safety procedures; program planning; record keeping; team building; and maintenance.

Credit recommendation:

In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 1 semester hour in Early Childhood Education or Child Care (5/99).

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Early Childhood Curriculum OR Principles and Practices of Montessori Education

Length:

Minimum 240 hours.

Dates:

April 1996 - June 2001.

Objectives:

Students will be able to: discuss the theoretical foundations of early childhood curriculum development and their implementation in the early childhood classroom in a developmentally appropriate manner; organize and integrate the following curriculum areas into classroom practice: art, music, mathematics, language arts, social studies, and science; and determine when to present appropriate manipulative materials to support each of the curriculum areas.

Instruction:

The curriculum addresses how to engage children in developmentally appropriate ways with individual, small group, and whole group instruction and emphasizes how to manage the transition between activities. Art: materials and media, i.e., crayon, pencil drawing, clay, water color, sculpture, etc.; Music: listening, following directions, appreciation, recognition, group participation in songs, movement games, instrument making, etc.; Math: 0 to 10 materials, teens and tens, decimal system, and addition; Language Arts: pre-writing exercises, language patterning sequence, visual discrimination, initial sounds, phonetic sounds, phonograms, grammar games, literature and poetry for pre-schoolers; Social Studies: sensorial perception of the concept of time, basic human needs, and vastness of history, sensorial age appropriate experience with maps, flags, landforms, habitats and cultures, child's body awareness and relationship to the world; Science: health, nutrition, human body, solar system, rocks, plants, and animals; Manipulatives: helping the child to function in his/her own environment, increase attention span, develop self-discipline, and refine gross and fine motor skills through practical life activities; developmentally appropriate sensorial materials involving matching, sorting, and discrimination.

Credit recommendation:

In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in Early Childhood Education or Child Care (5/99).

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Early Childhood Development - Birth Through Age 5

Length:

75 hours.

Dates:

April 1996 - June 2001.

Objectives:

Students will be able to: recognize landmarks of development in the birth to 3 year old child and use techniques of observation in tracking a child's development; recognize the different developmental stages of the older toddler and the preschooler in the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional areas; select and provide the child with developmentally appropriate activities for each age and each stage of growth; identify developmental problems and provide appropriate activities for children with special needs; and discuss the child's place in the family and the need to involve families in the child's healthy development.

Instruction:

Major topics include: infant and toddler development; emotional, physical, cognitive, and social landmarks; milestones of development; observation techniques; suggested materials for developmentally appropriate activities; theories of development; the child in the family; exceptional children; toddlerhood: physical, cognitive and emotional development; preschoolers: physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development; play; moral development; self-identify and sex roles; Montessori philosophy and method.

Credit recommendation:

In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in Early Childhood Education or Child Care (5/99).

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Maria Montessori: Topics and Readings Related to Her Life and Work (380)

Length:

45 hours (20 weeks); includes 2.5 hours per week of supervised structured independent study. In addition, supervisors meet twice monthly with participants to assess and guide progress and assimilation.

Dates:

January 2001 - August 2005.

Objectives:

Students will be able to: discuss Montessori's approach to life and human development; discuss how current research validates Montessori's basic philosophy that education is not what the teacher gives, but is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual and acquired not by listening to the words, but by experiences upon the environment; plan, design, document educational experiences for each child that incorporate Montessori's philosophy, as well as current research, and provide movement activities that fit into the developmental sequence.

Instruction:

This course explores topics and readings of Maria Montessori's original works emphasizing her philosophy and methodology related especially to the importance of movement in education. Course participants compare recent studies of the developing brain in infants and toddlers showing the correlation to what Dr. Montessori observed and described and upon which the learning approach is based, submit a final essay, quoting from and citing Montessori's original works, and comparing and contrasting her philosophy with other developmental approaches.

Credit recommendation:

In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in Montessori Education (11/00).

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Principles and Practices of Montessori Education

Length:

Minimum 90 hours.

Dates:

April 1996 - August 2005.*

Objectives:

Students will be able to discuss the theoretical and philosophical foundations of early childhood curriculum development and their implementation in the early childhood classroom in a developmentally appropriate manner; organize and integrate the following curriculum areas into classroom practice: Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Art, and Music and Movement.

Instruction:

The curriculum addresses how to engage children in developmentally appropriate ways with individual, small group, and whole group instruction and emphasizes how to manage the transition between activities. Language Arts: pre-writing exercises, language patterning sequence, visual discrimination, initial sounds, phonetic sounds, phonograms, grammar games, literature and poetry for young children; Math: 0 to 10 materials, teens, tens, and hundreds, decimal system, operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and introduction to fractions; Science: health, nutrition, human body, solar system, rocks, plants, and animals; Social Studies: sensorial perception of the concept of time, basic human needs, vastness of history, sensorial age appropriate experience with maps, flags, landforms, habitats and cultures, child's body awareness and relationship to the world; Art: materials and media, i.e., crayon, pencil drawing, clay, water color, sculpture, etc.; Music and Movement: listening, following directions, appreciation, recognition, group participation in songs, movement games, instrument making, etc.

Credit recommendation:

In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 6 semester hours (3 in Mathematics/Language Arts, 1 in Science, 1 in Art/Music, and 1 in Social Studies) in Montessori Education (6/00) (11/11 revalidation). *NOTE: This course has been divided into two separate courses. Please refer to the exhibits for Math and Language for the Montessori Classroom and Cultural Studies for the Montessori Classroom.

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Supervised Practicum/Field Experience

Length:

Minimum 90 hours of supervised practicum/field experience.

Dates:

April 1996 - June 2001.

Objectives:

Students will be able to carry out developmentally appropriate activities in an actual classroom setting based on the concepts, philosophy, and approach presented in the lecture; write and implement appropriate lesson plans for each curriculum area.

Instruction:

Under the direct observation and supervision of a head teacher, the students observe children and write assignments relating their observations to class discussion, engage children in developmentally appropriate activities, read articles and textual materials, keep a journal, and view videos to support the concepts, philosophy, and approach presented in the lecture.

Credit recommendation:

In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours as a supervised field experience or internship in Early Childhood Education or Child Care (5/99).

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Thematic Approach to Curriculum Development in Early Childhood

Length:

Dates:

January 2001 - August 2005.

Objectives:

Students will be able to: explore various topics of interest to children and choose a specific theme for curriculum development that relates to each of the discipline areas; develop and gather curriculum materials for activities and learning experiences integrated around the specific theme; apply the thematic approach in cross-disciplinary classroom teaching; tie separate discipline areas into an integrated approach to learning. Brainstorm ideas about curriculum development; list relevant ideas and develop a theme; research and create materials which are age appropriate for preschool children; field test materials with preschool children and describe their reactions and conversation regarding the materials; and summarize the steps taken in the creation of the project and present a project which introduces, presents, and displays the thematic materials that have been developed.

Instruction:

This course explores specific themes, such as seasons, holidays, animate life, etc. Students work in small groups to develop and/or gather relevant curriculum materials from across the discipline areas to support the selected theme. Groups present their final projects to the class and they work in small groups to develop and/or gather thematic materials to support activities and learning experiences across the discipline areas. Students are graded on the appropriateness and comprehensive-ness of the curriculum materials and their relevance to each discipline area.

Credit recommendation:

In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in Montessori Education (11/00).

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