Teaching in the Early Childhood Classroom Certificate

What you will study

UCM’s Teaching in the Early Childhood Classroom certificate gives you the knowledge you need to effectively teach young children aged birth through 8 years. You’ll gain a better understanding of the types of curricula and assessments that engage young students and help them grow and learn more effectively. 

Some of the classes you may take include: 

• Acquisition of Language and Literacy
• Classroom Management and Interactions
• Early Childhood Practicum

Through these and other classes, you’ll deepen your understanding and teaching practices for creating positive learning environments as well as apply teaching strategies in your classroom to help all children build strong language and literacy skills.

All courses for the Teaching in the Early Childhood Classroom undergraduate certificate are taught in Lee’s Summit at our Missouri Innovation Campus, just 30 minutes from Kansas City.

 

 

Unique learning opportunities in early childhood education teaching

As part of your UCM Teaching in the Early Childhood Classroom certificate, you’ll have ample opportunities to put what you learn into practice for valuable experience teaching young children and learning from other teachers in the field:

• Use your own classroom as a lab: Complete experiential learning as practicum experiences to apply learning in your own classroom. Practice the teaching strategies, evaluations and assessments you've learned with young children. 
• Connect your own experiences: Connect your learning to instruction and teaching practices. Apply what you’ve learned to design curriculum and assessment programs in your own early childhood classroom.
• Build relationships within a cohort: Network with other teachers in the field in a cohort model. Learning as a group can be particularly valuable if you’re looking to switch jobs or get a deeper perspective on what early childhood teaching is like from others’ shared experiences.

 

What can you do with a Teaching in the Early Childhood Classroom certificate from UCM?

This undergraduate certificate shows employers that you can effectively engage young children, develop positive classroom experiences and evaluate early learning. Whether you’re already teaching in a classroom or aspire to earn your bachelor’s degree, this ECE certificate is a valuable tool to help you advance your career — or prepare you for a new one. The skills you learn prepare you to work in a variety of settings. These include:

• Elementary school classrooms, grades K–3 (*must be certified)
• Preschool classrooms
• Child care centers
• Youth facilities

Learn more about jobs in early childhood education

Use the tool below to learn about the job outlook and types of career paths in the early childhood education teaching field.

 

 

Financial assistance options for your Teaching in the Early Childhood Classroom certificate

At the University of Central Missouri, we believe higher education should be within reach for all students. For those earning a certificate along with a UCM degree, in addition to university scholarships, we offer loans, grants and other options to help you affordably finance your college education. Beyond our general scholarship opportunities, UCM offers several scholarships specifically for Early Childhood Education undergraduates, including:

• Merle C. and Maxine Rider Scholarship in Early Childhood Education
• Merle C. and Lillian J. Rider Scholarship in Early Childhood Education
• Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education Scholarship

Learn more about program-specific scholarships by using the UCM Scholarship Finder.