May - Hope in the Classroom

This course applies current research on measuring and teaching hope to early childhood education. Starting as early as ten months, children have the capacity for goal setting and are actively creating pathways and practicing agency. Throughout this course, Early Childcare Educators will gain an awareness of developmentally appropriate ways to teach children goal setting and critical thinking skills that combine to create hopeful thinking patterns. Educators can teach cognitive patterns of hope in the classroom that benefit children throughout their education and in every sphere of life.

June - Music & Movement

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2022b) states that daily physical activity is essential for growth and development in early childhood. Children demonstrate a natural inclination to move and engage with music through bouncing, clapping, and rocking as early as infancy, long before they can form words (Church, 2004). Music, when combined with movement, has many social, emotional, physical, and cognitive benefits that aid in early childhood development. Incorporating relevant activities into the classroom provides children the opportunity to discover their natural disposition to move as well as explore their imagination and creativity.