Early Childhood Educational and Exceptional Needs
If you have thought about teaching young children with special needs or even directing educational child care programs, then the early childhood education and exceptional needs major could be for you.
ECEEN students develop skills for working with typically developing children as well as children with exceptional needs and their families. Students are prepared to teach in inclusive preschool classrooms and/or in classrooms serving children with exceptional needs up through grade 3. With an ECEEN degree, you can help children reach their full potential.
Students complete a program that prepares them to apply for licensure in Indiana as Early Childhood Generalist and Exceptional Needs through grade three. Students are prepared to work in pre-kindergarten classrooms, early intervention programs, and early childhood special education programs through grade three. The Purdue Child Development Laboratory and Purdue Child Care Program provide the perfect setting for these students to get lots of hands-on experience. Students complete a semester as a student teacher in a local preschool program.
Career Options
Upon graduation, an ECEEN student is qualified for teacher certification as an early childhood generalist (preschool level) and a teacher of students with exceptional needs (preschool to grade 3).
Work settings include:
- Early intervention programs
- School classrooms
- Community education programs
- Home-based programs
- Healthcare institutions
- Government organizations
Positions include:
- Public school pre-kindergarten or special education teacher
- Child care teacher or administrator
- Head Start teacher or administrator
- Preschool teacher
- Family support specialist
- Special needs service coordinator
- Visit CFS Graduates at Work to see how alumni are using their degrees in the real world
Coursework
ECEEN majors take the following types of CDFS specialization courses. (Not a complete list of all required or available courses.)
- Introduction to Family Processes
- Introduction to Human Development
- Child Development Practicum
- Families in a Multicultural Society
- Guidance in Early Childhood
- Child Development
- Introduction to Research in Child Development and Family Studies
- Developmental Assessment
- Health and Health Care for Children and Families
- Curriculum Applications of Language, Literacy and Social Development in Early Childhood Education
- Curriculum Applications of Math/Science Concept Development in Early Childhood Education
- Curriculum Applications of Atypical Development
- Approaches to Early Childhood Education
- Working With Families in Early Childhood Programs
- See myPurdue for a complete list of CDFS courses and descriptions
Experiential Learning
Several ECEEN courses include practicum components that give students opportunities to develop their skills for working with infants and young children. In their senior year, ECEEN students complete a semester of full-time student teaching that includes normally developing children and children with exceptional needs.
The Child Development Laboratory School and the Ben and Maxine Miller Child Learning Center are state-of-the-art facilities within the department that are used extensively by undergraduate students for observation, practicum, and student teaching experiences.