Are you ready to launch a successful early childhood education (ECE) pathway program? In a recent webinar, Denise DuBois, Realityworks Senior Product Manager and Co-chair for the Alliance for Family and Consumer Sciences, guided us through creating a robust ECE curriculum with the best tools and resources available. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the courses and resources she shared for starting and early childhood education pathway program.
How ECE Fits into the Career Cluster Model
In 2024, the career cluster model went through an update and became the new framework wheel view. There are 11 clusters and three cross-cutting clusters that fit into any other cluster. In the revamped model, early childhood education fits within the Education cluster. There are four subclusters within Education that were previously referred to as “pathways”.
In the description of the sub-clusters, it’s clear that the Early Childhood Development sub-cluster is where early childhood education content lives. The definition states, “Careers dedicated to nurturing the holistic growth of children from birth to eight years old through education, care, and early intervention.”
DuBois shared an editable plan of study document she found at careertech.org that offers suggested courses and descriptions for secondary and post-secondary early childhood education programs. She used it as a reference for courses that should be in an early childhood education pathway and showed how you can use our learning aids to create an engaging, hands-on program.
Looking at various ECE pathway courses, DuBois decided on five courses to highlight in the webinar. We’ll focus on three of those courses in this blog.
Career Exploration in Education and Training
The first course in our pathway to early childhood education is Career Exploration in Education and Training. This course is meant to expose students to a variety of careers within education and training. DuBois shared three hands-on learning aids she recommends for engaging students in this course.
Education and Training Career Exploration Kit
The Education and Training Career Exploration Kit helps students explore careers in early childhood education, elementary education, secondary education, and professional support careers. This supplemental kit includes student workbooks, posters, and standards-based lessons that introduce students to a variety of potential careers.
Elementary Education Scenario Kit
Use the Elementary Education Scenario Kit to introduce students to unique scenarios professionals encounter when working with elementary students. It helps prepare future elementary educators for classroom management, lesson planning, teaching methodologies, and more.
Child Care Career Scenario Cards
The Child Care Career Scenario Cards cover real-world situations in childcare careers. Use these cards to develop soft skills within specific occupations through small-group discussions, as a large-group icebreaker, or as an individual challenge. The cards can help supplement existing employability skills, generate real-life discussions, and prompt reflection activities.
Human Growth and Development
The second course in our pathway to early childhood education is Human Growth and Development. This course provides basic knowledge of human growth and development as well as skills necessary to care for lifelong development, health, CPR/first aid, and nutrition. Here are three of the learning aids DuBois recommends for this course.
Fetal Development Kit
With the Fetal Development Kit, students get an in-depth look at embryo and fetal development. They can touch, feel, and examine a detailed, life-size model of each fetal development stage. Additionally, the kit comes with curriculum for a complete experience.
RealCare™ Infant Health and Safety Pack
The RealCare Infant Health and Safety Pack helps prepare students for childcare careers by bringing together the Choking Baby and Infant CPR Manikin, as well as student workbooks, posters, and interactive scenario cards. Use these tools to teach users 50 infant safety and first aid procedures.
Food Science and Nutrition Lab Kit
Introduce students to food science and nutrition concepts with our unique Food Science and Nutrition Lab Kit. This supplemental kit includes student workbooks, scenario cards, and posters. It also comes with numerous materials for a variety of lab activities focused on food technology.
Fundamentals of Education Professions
The third recommended course in the ultimate early childhood education pathway is Fundamentals of Education Professions. This course provides fundamental knowledge of the subject matter and methodology used in the Education cluster. Here are some of the hands-on learning aids DuBois recommends.
CDA Scenario Kit
The CDA Scenario Kit uses interactive, real-world childcare situations to prepare students to earn their Child Development Associate (CDA) Certification. Students will learn and practice skills they’ll need on the job in childcare settings. This robust kit includes a comprehensive teacher guide, student workbooks, and 78 scenarios.
Child Care Center Design Kit
This interactive Child Care Center Design Kit includes curriculum and manipulatives to teach students best practices for laying out learning center rooms. The kit includes manipulative that represent furniture and whiteboards to draw rooms that are ideal for learning and student interaction at three age groups.
Additional Resources
If you’re looking for more information on early childhood education career pathways, consider these resources:
- Visit our Early Childhood Education Implementation Page to learn more about the hands-on tools you can incorporate into your curriculum
- Learn more about resources for future childcare professionals in this blog
- Watch the full, on-demand webinar to explore more courses, learning aids, and activities to try with your students
