Build a Foundation for Success

Enrich young lives. Our Early Childhood program emphasis prepares you to shape the key skills that determine a child’s success in school and beyond.

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AZCAST early childhood teacher with students learning

Gain the essential skills necessary to pursue a career in early childhood. Become a lead teacher, instructional coach, administrator, or director in an early learning public or private environment. Energize and engage children birth through age 8!

The Bachelor of Applied Science in Early Childhood (BAS EC) degree program is an extension of the AAS degree awarded at a community college. Accepted undergraduate students can specialize in becoming an early childhood educator or early childhood leader.   

Students will gain the professional skills necessary for a successful career in any early childhood organization. These skills include creating structured learning environments aligned to the developmentally appropriate practices and standards supported by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  

The BAS in EC focuses on creating early childhood practitioners who have a deep understanding of how to best meet the developmental and learning needs of children from birth through age 8.  

Early Childhood students will explore:

Developmentally appropriate teaching and assessment practices

Cognition, social/emotional, language, self-help, and motor/physical developmental domains and how to create learning environments that encourage success

The importance of building relationships with families and honoring culture and cultural values

Leadership skills critical to becoming effective, professional early childhood practitioners, such as educators, mentors, advocates, and administrators