Associate of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education

UM Western's Early Childhood Education (ECE) Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree prepares early childhood practitioners to meet the unique needs of children from birth through age eight and their families in a variety of early childhood settings, including child care homes and centres, Head Starts, and preschools.

Western offers two ECE AAS courses in-person on the Bitterroot College campus (EDEC 247 & EDU 201). The remainder of Western's ECE AAS core and professional courses are available remotely/online via Western's School of Outreach. General Education courses needed for Western's ECE AAS may be taken remotely/online via UM Western's School of Outreach or in-person at Bitterroot College.

Program graduates will:

Know and understand young children's characteristics and needs.

Know and understand the multiple influences on development and learning.

Use developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments.

Know about and understand family and community characteristics.

Support and empower families and communities through respectful, reciprocal relationships.

Involve families and communities in their children's development and learning.

Understand the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment.

Know about and use observation, documentation, and other appropriate assessment tools and approaches.

Understand and practice responsible assessment.

Know about assessment partnerships with families and other professionals.

Know, understand, and use positive relationships and supportive interactions.

Know and understand the importance, central concepts, inquiry tools, and structures of content areas or academic disciplines.

Use your own knowledge and other resources to design, implement, and evaluate the meaningful, challenging curriculum to promote positive outcomes.

Identify and involve themselves with the early childhood field.

Know about and uphold ethical standards and other professional guidelines.

Engage in continuous, collaborative learning to inform practice.

Integrate knowledgeable, reflective, and critical perspectives on early education.