Early Childhood Education Schools in Florida

Early childhood education is critical to child development. Studies show that properly educated children are likely to graduate high school and college and become law abiding citizens. Furthermore, they are likely to be healthier due to informed choices made based on their education and awareness. It is therefore in this context that early childhood educators play a critical role in nation's development.

Education Requirements
The education requirements for prospective early childhood educators usually vary from position to position and according to the demands of individual states in the US. In Florida, for example, you could work in a day care with only a high school diploma.

For senior level positions, like becoming an elementary school teacher, you would need to have at least a bachelor's degree and a teaching license in order to become eligible to teach. A Bachelor of Science (B.S) program in Early Childhood Education focuses on grooming students into becoming efficient Pre Kindergarten to third grade teachers.

Bachelor's programs, in most institutions in Florida, are geared towards inculcating effective teaching practices to future educators through a combination of both online and hybrid education formats. By successfully completing the B.S program, which typically takes four years to complete, students acquire the ability to earn the Florida Educator Certificate (for kindergarten / primary level teaching) and an ESOL endorsement. The ESOL is a valuable addition to a Florida teaching certificate.  Many bachelor degree programs in Florida also require their students to do a student teaching internship, usually in their last year of study.

To attain administrative positions in early childhood education, for example becoming a daycare director, you would need a Master's degree to meet the minimum education requirement. Master's degree programs usually take one to three years to complete, depending upon the program and institution. A master's degree in early childhood education is pursued by many individuals in order to meet their continuing education requirements and in a bid to keep their teaching licenses updated.

In a Master's program, students have to perform academic research pertaining to various social and academic habits and development of children. Many Master's programs require students to work on a thesis or dissertation. Master's programs offered in the field of early childhood education may be titled as Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MS) or Master of Education (MED).

Curriculum
The early childhood education, Florida based colleges program is geared towards imparting a comprehensive knowledge on topics such as:

• Learning style theories
• Teaching strategies
• Early childhood classroom curriculum
• Curriculum design
• Child development

Skills
As future children educators, you will learn important skills in Florida, early childhood education programs. These range from the best ways of teaching to managing time effectively. Some of the skills you may learn are:

• Effective instruction
• Time management
• Class management
• Decision making
• Interpersonal communication

Job Outlook
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the employment of kindergarten and elementary school teachers is predicted to grow by 12 per cent faster than the average of all other occupations, from 2012 to 2022. With regard to the pay, the median annual wage for kindergarten teachers was $50,120 in May 2012.