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CTE/Education & Training Curriculum Early Childhood Education 2
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Core Standards of the Course

Strand 1
Students will identify and demonstrate employment skills needed to work with young children

Standard 1
Identify and demonstrate positive and required employment characteristics

  1. Qualifications for directors and teachers
    • Director
      • Must be at least 21 years of age
      • One of the following
        • associates, bachelors, or graduate degree from an accredited college with 12 semester credit hours of early childhood development courses
        • current, valid national certification such as a Child Development Associate credential (CDA) or other credential deemed equivalent by the Child Care Licensing department
    • Caregivers (Lead Teacher)
      • Must be at least 18 years of age
      • Be able to independently care for children
    • Assistant Caregivers (Support Teacher)
      • Must be at least 16 years of age
      • Must work under the immediate supervision of a caregiver who is at least 18 years of age
      • May be included in caregiver to child ratios, but shall not be left unsupervised with children
  2. Professional development/training for directors and teachers
    • Each caregiver needs 20 hours of annual child care training; 10 of which must be face-to-face instruction
    • All new hires (including directors) must complete 2.5 hours of orientation training before they start working with children
    • Background screenings
    • Infant/Child (Pediatric) First-aid and CPR certification are required
    • Anyone handling food must have a food handler permit
  3. Characteristics of quality caregivers
    • Acts purposeful with a goal in mind and a plan to accomplish it
    • Has a knowledge of Child Development and stays aware of current findings; including using DAP guidelines to support children's learning
    • Desires to support and scaffold the child's learning
    • Observes children and uses observations to determine needs
    • Follows best teaching practices and reflects on the experience
    • Is a problem-solver and independent thinker
    • Able to respond to the changing dynamics of a class and makes changes as needed (is not so focused on curriculum books or themes)
    • Makes ethical decisions based on what is best for young children and their families
    • Participates in professional development
    • Advocates for the education of young children
    • Works will families to create a positive experience for children
  4. Part of a professional community
  5. Identify components of a resume
    • Shows strengths and abilities about the job you are applying for
    • Typed, one page, 8 ½" x 11" paper and professional in appearance
    • Components
      • Include-contact information, work experience, objective and education
      • Don't include- ethnic background, personal photo, fancy fonts and religion, etc.

Standard 2
Identify the requirements for and advantages of obtaining the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential

  1. Requirements for obtaining the Child Development Associate Credential (CDA)
    • 120 hours of professional education in early childhood development- use a tracking worksheet to document your hours of experience
      • hours obtained while enrolled in the ECE pathway may be recorded but need to be verified by your teacher
    • 480 hours of work experience- use a tracking worksheet to document your hours of experience
      • work experience must be with a group (five or more) children, ages birth to five, in a center-based program
      • hours obtained while enrolled in the ECE pathway may be recorded but need to be verified by your teacher
    • CDA professional portfolio
    • CDA observation with a Professional Development specialist (PD specialist)
    • CDA exam
  2. Advantages for obtaining the CDA
    • Advance your career
    • Meet job requirements
    • Higher wage opportunities may be available
    • Reinforce commitment to early childhood education
    • Understand developmentally appropriate practice
    • Gives you credibility and confidence

Performance Skills
Compile a list of three early childhood associations, including website address, describing the professional resources and membership opportunities they each offer. CDA Resource Collection VI-2, *CDA pg. 14 Keep an ongoing log of CDA professional education and work experience hours *CDA pg. 8-10


Strand 2
Students will identify and implement Utah licensing standards

Standard 1
Students will identify and implement Utah licensing standards

  1. Administration and Children's Records
    • Establish, follow and ensure that all staff and volunteers follow a written health and safety plan
    • All children have an admission and health assessment (medical information like allergies), form on file
    • All children have current immunizations on file, unless they have an exemption
    • Keep all children's records confidential
  2. Facility
    • 35 square feet of indoor space for each child
    • 1 working toilet for every 15 children
    • All areas of the facility (indoor and outdoor) are safe, in good repair and free from hazards
    • 40 square feet of outdoor space for each child
    • Outdoor area is enclosed by fence, wall or natural barrier
  3. Ratios and Group Size
    • Maintain the number of caregiver-to-child ratios for single-age groups of children in the table below:
      Ages of Children # of Caregivers # of Children Maximum Group Size (with 2 caregivers)
      Birth-23 months 1 4 8
      2 years old 1 7 14
      3 years old 1 12 24
      4 years old 1 15 30
      School-age 1 20 40
    • If a center has mixed age groups the ratios are different
    • Caregivers maintain active supervision of each child always
      • Set Up the Environment- so staff can supervise and be accessible to children all times
      • Position Staff- If there is more than one staff member in a space, position yourselves so that you can observe and see children at all times
      • Scan and Count- staff always know how many children are in their care and what they are doing
      • Listen- listen for specific sounds or the absence of them that could indicate a potential danger
      • Anticipate Children's Behavior- staff use what they know about their children to anticipate potential challenges
      • Engage and Reflect- staff work together to assist in the care of children
  4. Child Guidance and Interaction
    • Provider shall ensure that no child is subjected to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse while in care
    • Any person who witnesses or suspects that a child has been subjected to abuse, neglect, or exploitation shall immediately notify Child Protective Services or law enforcement
    • Inform parents, children and those who interact with the children of the center's behavioral expectations and how any misbehavior will be handled
    • Individuals who interact with the children shall guide children's behavior by using positive reinforcement, redirection and by setting clear limits that promote children's ability to become self-disciplined
    • Caregivers shall use gentle, passive restraint with children only when it is needed to stop children from injuring themselves or others, or from destroying property
    • Interactions with the children shall not include: restraining a child's movement by binding, tying, or any other form of restraint that exceeds gentle, passive restraint
  5. Child Safety and Injury Prevention
    • All harmful objects and hazards are inaccessible to children; to view a list see the Child Care Center Rule Interpretation Manual, section 13
    • Objects and other items that are brought into the center (backpacks, things in pockets, etc.) may also be hazardous
    • Items with small parts or that fit through a paper towel tube are too small for children under the age of 2
  6. Emergency Preparedness and Response
    • Keep first-aid supplies in center, including at least antiseptic, bandages and tweezers
    • Fire drills are conducted monthly and disaster drills at least once every 6 months
    • Health and safety plan are located in the center and followed in an emergency or disaster
    • Parents will receive a written report of every incident, accident, or injury involving the child
  7. Health and Infection Control
    • Keeping the facility clean and sanitary, and washing hands are key factors in preventing and reducing the spread of illness
    • Toys and materials (bedding, dress-up clothing, etc.) should be cleaned weekly or more often if needed (ie: if a toy is in a child's mouth)
    • Proper Handwashing procedures should be posted and followed
        • Use warm water. Run water over hands to remove soil before applying soap.
        • Use liquid soap and rub hands together to create a soapy lather.
        • Rub hands for at least 20 seconds including back of hands, between fingers and under fingernails.
        • Rinse hands and dry with a single-use paper or cloth towel.
      • Handwashing is required:
        • Before handling or preparing food or bottles
        • Before and after eating meals and snacks or feeding a child
        • After using the toilet or helping a child use the toilet
        • After contact with a body fluid
        • When coming in from outdoors or arriving to work
        • After cleaning up or taking out garbage
      • A child who is ill with an infectious disease may not be cared for at the center except when the child shows signs of illness after arriving at the center
      • Gloves should be worn during diapering/toileting practices, first-aid and when handling food
  8. Food and Nutrition
    • Each child age 2 years and older is offered a meal or snack at least once every 3 hours
    • Providers should be aware of food allergies and sensitivities and ensure that children are not served the food or drink of which they are allergic/sensitive
    • Food is served in dishes or napkin and not placed on a bare table

Performance Skills
Find a copy of one weekly menu and add it to your CDA portfolio
CDA Resource Collection I-2, pg. 12
Compile a Family Resources Guide and add it to your CDA portfolio
CDA Resource Collection IV, pg. 14

  • IV-1 Family counseling
  • IV-2 Translation services for ESL and American sign language
  • IV-3 Two agencies that provide resources and services for children with disabilities
  • IV-4 Three or more websites and a brief description of each that provide information to help families understand growth development and learning of young children. At least one article must relate to child guidance

All the above standards are from the Utah Center Rule Interpretation Manual. For specifics see https://childcarelicensing.utah.gov

Strand 3
Students will support social and emotional development and implement positive guidance

Standard 1
Students will develop a warm, positive, supportive and responsive relationship with each child

  1. Appreciate each child
    • Use observations to understand each child
    • Create experiences that support their sense of belonging
    • Value the child's temperament
      • Temperament: how children approach, react to, and relate to the world around them
    • Support children in taking pride in their own individual and cultural identity
    • Promote a child's sense of self and help them flourish
      • Identity: Roles, behaviors and attributes that we assign ourselves
      • Self-esteem: Perception of your own self-worth and value
      • Personal power: Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset
      • Optimism: the belief that good things will happen to you and negative events are temporary setbacks to overcome
      • Resiliency: Ability to withstand, recover from, and adjust to set backs or change
  2. Guide children in expressing their feelings
    • Teach children "feeling" words (happy, sad, excited, disappointed, etc.) and associate the name with a way they feel so they can articulate the feeling instead of acting out
    • Give permission to have all feelings, even negative and allow children to not feel ashamed
    • Give time, space and the means to work through their feelings; model calmness when discussing and dealing with feelings
  3. Establish partnerships with families
    • Family is a group of people, not necessarily biologically related that share emotional bonds, common values, goals, responsibilities and contribute significantly to each other's well-being
    • Develop a cooperative and collaborative relationship with families where you both make the interest of the child your focus
    • A partnership with families contributes to school success and provides a stable presence for the child
    • Ways to create partnerships:
      • Include pictures of families in the center
      • Encourage family participation in the center
      • Communicate with families by providing regular information concerning center business or happenings
      • Hold parent-teacher conferences to discuss the child and center
      • Maintain confidentiality of any information families share

Standard 2
Students will guide children to function effectively in the group and to acquire social skills

  1. Encourage successful social interactions
    • Develop a positive relationship with each child
    • Caregiver sets the example and expectations for how children relate to others by
      • Talking and listening to the child respectively
      • Being sensitive to children's feelings
      • Validating children's efforts, accomplishments, and progress not intellect
      • Let them know you care about, appreciate, and value them unconditionally
      • Help children understand social rules, playing cooperatively, and contributing to a learning community
      • When communicating with children, staff and families state positive information before negative information
  2. Build prosocial skills
    • Teach, support and facilitate prosocial skills (compassion, empathy, sympathy, positive interactions, respect and support)
    • Help children put feelings into words
    • Read books that allow you to discuss characters, feelings and actions
    • Help children interpret facial expressions in media and in others
  3. Help children resolve conflict
    • Teach and model effective ways to resolve conflicts independently
    • Help children see that a conflict is a shared problem that can be solved by seeing, listening to and understanding both points of view and finding a solution that everyone can agree upon
    • The end goal is for children to learn how to resolve conflicts on their own
    • 6 Step Approach to Conflict Resolution
      • Approach calmly, stopping hurtful actions
      • Acknowledge children's feelings
      • Gather information; find out what is wrong, get each child's point of view
      • Restate the problem; use the child's own words to repeat each child's side of the situation so they know you heard them
      • Ask for solution ideas and choose one together
      • Be prepared to provide follow up support

Standard 3
Implement positive guidance techniques for preschoolers

  1. Identify guidance, discipline, and punishment
    • Guidance: continual long-term influence on behavior
    • Discipline: Behavior modification when needed; to teach and train a behavior by instruction and exercise in accordance with rules and conduct
    • Punishment: A penalty inflicted for wrongdoing, a crime or offense. Physical or verbal attacks
    • Self-discipline is the overall goal of guidance and discipline
    • Guiding by example is a very effective way to teach children the desired behavior
    • Children feel more secure when caregivers are consistent
    • Respond to aggressive behavior in nonaggressive ways. (ie: When responding to a 2- year-old having a temper tantrum, if the caregiver remains calm and nonaggressive, then the situation becomes deescalated and can be resolved quicker)
    • Adjust the environment so that items that might be a potential problem are placed out of sight
  2. Identify common reasons children misbehave.
    • Normal behavior for the child's age
    • Natural curiosity
    • They do not know any better
    • To get attention
    • To get power
    • For revenge
    • Feeling inadequate or incapable
    • The need to feel that they belong
  3. Implement natural and logical consequences.
    • Natural Consequences - occur without interference by letting nature just take its course. The child can see the result of his behavior/choices. This consequence can't be used if it will cause harm to the child, other's property, if the consequences are too far in the future, or if the behavior cannot be tolerated
    • Logical Consequences - occurs with interference from the caregiver and should be relevant to the misbehavior. It should be short, not imposed in anger, and provide opportunities for the child to learn from their behavior and/or decision
  4. Practice positive guidance techniques
    • Positive statements
    • Redirection
    • Reverse attention
    • Positive reinforcement
    • Limited choices
    • Time Away/Cool down area
    • Encouragement

Performance Skills
Create and teach a developmentally appropriate Self-concept lesson plan; include objective, content area, concepts, procedure, rationale and transitions in a professional lab setting.
CDA Resource Collection II-6 *CDA pg. 13

Create and teach a developmentally appropriate social skills lesson plan; include objective, content area, concepts, procedure, rationale and transitions in a professional lab setting.
CDA Resource Collection II-8 *CDA pg. 13


Strand 4
Students will complete and incorporate observations to strengthen every aspect of an early childhood program

Standard 1
Incorporate observation techniques and guidelines while studying children and developing strategies to meet their needs.

  1. Know the purposes of observations and assessments of children
    • Observation - An observation is watching children with the clear goal of studying a specific behavior or ability. It helps you to learn and understand children and better enables you to interact with and teach them. Helps to identify how best to challenge and support the children. Observations show growth and behavior patterns. To develop realistic curriculum and goals.
      • Naturalistic Observer: An observation is watching children with the clear goal of studying a specific behavior or ability.
      • Participant Observer: An observation during interaction with children with the clear goal of studying a specific behavior or ability.
    • Assessment - Evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality or ability of someone or something
      • Formal Assessments: include standardized tests and research instruments, recording data on carefully designed forms, and analyzing and interpreting data
      • Informal Assessments: observing children in the classroom, collecting samples of their work, interviewing parents, and talking with children
        • Types of Informal Assessments
          • Anecdotal -These records are short descriptions of incidents involving one or more child. These records provide data on a child's interests, interactions, and progress
          • Checklist -Checklists allow you to gather observational information about children's skills, behaviors, or attitudes
          • Time Sample -Records the number of times something happens (ie: how many times a child uses the computer) during a specified time period
          • Student Portfolio-Collection of students work, assessments, photos, etc. that the teacher collects.
  2. Understand objective/factual statements vs. subjective/interpretative statement
    • Objective/factual statements - statements that rely on and are based on the solid facts using the 5W's (who, what, where, when, how, why) as a foundation. They focus only on what you can see and hear. They set aside personal feelings and prejudices.
      • "Johnny sat and stared at the blocks before he began to build with them."
    • Subjective/interpretive statements - rely on personal opinions, assumptions, and feelings about the behavior that has been observed. Generally, should not be used.
      • "Johnny did not want to build with blocks, I don't think he likes playing blocks, so he sat and stared at them."
  3. Planning and evaluating using observations
    • Part of planning and implementing a lesson is doing an observation and evaluation to see if your plans met specific skills and behaviors throughout the developmental areas
    • Written observation record
      • What did you observe?
        • Observe and document
      • What does this tell me?
        • Evaluate and interpret
      • What do I do with this information?
        • Plan and implement

Standard 2
Use completed observations to develop a daily/weekly schedule and lesson plans

  1. Develop and implement a daily schedule
    • Daily/weekly schedules should be posted for preschool and school-age groups. The schedule should include, at a minimum, meal, snack, nap/rest, and outdoor play times
    • Daily activities should include outdoor play or indoor play that support gross motor skill development
    • Providing a flexible daily schedule helps the center run smoothly and provides consistency and diminishes misbehavior
  2. Implement DAP learning experiences for preschoolers.
    • English Language Arts
    • Mathematics
    • Science/Sensory
    • Creative Arts
    • Social/Emotional and Social Studies
    • Physical Health and Safety

Performance Skills

Compile three samples of record keeping forms and add it to your CDA portfolio
CDA Resource Collection V, *CDA pg. 14

  • Accident report form
  • Emergency form
  • Completed observation form that documents a child's developmental/learning progress
Create a sample of a weekly plan; includes age group, intended goals for learning and development, brief description of planned learning experiences, and accommodations for children with special needs
CDA Resource collection I-3, *CDA pg. 13


UEN logo http://www.uen.org - in partnership with Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and Utah System of Higher Education (USHE).  Send questions or comments to USBE Specialists - Lola  Shipp or Ashley  Higgs and see the CTE/Education & Training website. For general questions about Utah's Core Standards contact the Director - THALEA  LONGHURST.

These materials have been produced by and for the teachers of the State of Utah. Copies of these materials may be freely reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit should be given to Utah State Board of Education. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of the Utah State Board of Education, 250 East 500 South, PO Box 144200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200.