Hidden Gems: ECD 209 – Introduction to Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health
A little girl smiles as she chases bubbles through a grassy park.
Maybe you've always felt drawn to working with infants and toddlers, even been a nanny or considered working for a Head Start program or childcare center. If you feel empathy for young children and a desire to be a part of their healthy growth and development, this course may be right for you.
In ECD 209, you'll acquire the knowledge and skills needed to work with children ages birth through 8 years old by encouraging healthy interactions, activities and development to help build their resilience, the ability to face adversity. By analyzing a wide variety of case studies, you will gain understanding of best practices for fostering the mental health and well-being of young children within the context of their family and community. Unique to this course is work focused on supporting the caregivers, not just the children. This empowers caregivers to better support the children, creating stronger foundations.
Time spent in the classroom is complemented by weekly field observations in infant/toddler and/or early childhood programs.