A Quick Guide on Early Childhood Education in Toronto

  • Added:
    Jul 08, 2014
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A Quick Guide on Early Childhood Education in Toronto Photo by Jason White

Early childhood education is a discipline which is concerned about teaching young children, observing their specific needs and talents, and creating well-planned and stimulating programs suited to their needs. The aim is to involve children in acquiring basic physical, emotional linguistic and cognitive competence via group learning in a favourable environment.

Individuals interested in building careers in this discipline are expected to possess deep understanding of stages of child development, role of care givers in shaping their mind set, importance of friendly interactions with children, significance of concepts of attachment and reciprocity, forms of child behaviour, and development needs of children.

Early Childhood Education Toronto

In order to work with young children in Toronto, you will need to have undergone a specialized education and training. A college diploma in early childhood studies is the basic requirement to seek employment in this field. It's a two-year program that provides you with in-depth understanding in child psychology, infant and toddler care, health and wellbeing of young children, healthy development of the whole child, guidance and the individual child, empowering children's independence, inclusion of children with special needs, child abuse and advocacy and emerging professional.

The ECE program at Centennial College Toronto is highly regarded and helps you develop competencies in planning curriculums based on thorough understanding of child development, planning and implementing individual programs suited to each child's needs, utilizing a variety of observation techniques to study children's needs, maintaining responsive relationships with children and remaining fair and unbiased with children.

In addition, you also gain hands-on experience through field visits and industry field placements. You get to work with infants, toddlers, pre-school and school-aged children and understand how to provide an enriched learning environment for them. The college also operates two early child care centres in Toronto as lab schools, which allow you to experience and understand what high quality child care is all about.

Opportunities upon Graduation

This is a highly regarded field in Canada. The employment prospects are bright and are expected to grow further in the coming years. As a program graduate, you can easily find employment in child care centres Toronto, well-established nursery schools, shelters for women and children, parent resource centres, kindergarten classroom and drop-in centres.

Those who are looking for more advanced career opportunities may consider enrolling in advanced education program at the university. The program graduates can apply their academic credits towards further studies at partnered universities and institutes.

Program Eligibility

For being able to apply to this program, you will need secondary school diploma and scores in English Grade 12 C or University, or equivalent. However, this doesn't guarantee your admission in this program. Admission to this program is highly competitive and the program coordinator thoroughly assesses your application before granting you admission.

Once you enroll in the program, you will also need to obtain an annual clear police check with vulnerable sector screening and a clear medical report. In addition, you will need to complete valid First Aid and CPR certificates.

Author's Profile

The author of the article, discusses about early childhood education discipline. In the later part of his article, he discusses how a post-secondary ECE program prepares students for rewarding careers in this field.


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