The BS in Early Learning & Intervention: Birth through Kindergarten prepares educators for work in a variety of early care and classroom settings serving infants through Kindergarten-age children. Following completion of the curriculum, graduates will be eligible for credentialing as early childhood/early childhood special education (ZN) teachers under MDE regulations. The major integrates courses focused on child development, diverse family and community relationships, early childhood education, special education, and content area knowledge and pedagogy. It prepares educators to teach and work with young learners and their families, to meet the socioemotional needs of the whole child, and to implement developmentally appropriate practices and intensive interventions in response to both typical and atypical development. Preparation for work with young children, their families, and the direct and ancillary services dedicated to them, is most effective when informed by the multidimensionality of early growth and development. Study in the Early Learning & Intervention: Birth through Kindergarten program at Western Michigan University features an interdisciplinary structure that anchors professional learning and experience within the disciplines and best practices of early childhood education, family science, and special education.
71 hours are required for this major. No minor is required.