Course List - EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
AEC PROGRAMSession 1
322-703-RL - The Early Childhood Education Profession
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to describe and explain the job functions of an early childhood educator. Students will become familiar with the characteristics of the main types of educational childcare services in Québec and the specific features of each type. Students will also be able to identify the conditions of practice and the work activities specific to the job functions of an educator.
The course enables students to assess themselves with regard to the skills and behaviors required to practice the profession in the context of the different client groups they encounter. It introduces students to a process of developing their self-awareness and an understanding of their personal and professional skills while providing students with an overview of the Attestation of College Studies in Early Childhood Education program. The course also provides an overview of the educational process related to the tasks required to perform job functions.
322-713-RL - SAFETY IN CHILD CARE
Course description:
This course teaches students how to prevent situations presenting health risks in an early childcare setting. This requires the recognition of risk situations, the application of hygiene rules, the use of first-aid techniques, the supervision of children, and the application of measures designed to safeguard their physical and mental health and that of others. The course also trains students on the detection of indications of child abuse and neglect.
322-724-RL - Professional Communication Skills
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to receive and transmit information using conventional and electronic means of communication with various people (adults and children) in a childcare facility and observe the rules of the language of communication. They must actively participate on a regular basis in teamwork with their colleagues. To this end, they must develop their ability to communicate effectively and in a professional manner, both orally and in writing, and assess the quality of their communication. This job function requires a strong ability to create meaningful bonds with others and to assert oneself while remaining respectful of others. It also requires dynamism, openness, and a strong sense of professional ethics.
350-704-RL - OVERALL CHILD DEVELOPMENT FOR 0 TO 5 YEAR OLDS
Course description:
At the end of this course, students will know and understand children in terms of all the dimensions of their physical, motor, emotional, cognitive, language, social-emotional, moral, and sexual development.
The course focuses on the ability to observe, analyze and interpret the behaviors of children 0-5 years of age, in order to assess their needs with respect to their overall development. It also teaches methods to communicate one’s reflections in an appropriate and respectful manner in accordance with the rules of the profession.
322-843-RL - PEDAGOGICAL Aims
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to define the pedagogical model and approach to be applied in an educational childcare service. This implies that students are able to identify:
- The objectives and the basic principles of Québec’s Educational Program for Childcare Services (objectives, foundations, and basic principles)
- The characteristics of various types of pedagogical approaches taken with children
- The conditions for implementing such models
- The competencies required to apply these models and approaches
322-714-RL - OBSERVING CHILDREN
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to make observations of children in different age groups (0 to 12 years) using the appropriate methods and tools for observation. The gathering of information is based on knowledge of the subjects (parents, child, educator, educational program, environment) and on the observation content in educational childcare services as well as the available methods and tools.
The course focuses on recording observation information that is objective, meaningful, and precise. It requires analysis of this information (establishing connections between facts, identifying constants and variables) to formulate a logical explanation of an observed behavior. It also enables students to conduct a thorough critical analysis of the observation process for the purpose of making appropriate modifications. This competency is the cornerstone of the educational process in intervening with a child in one’s group.
Session 2
350-714-RL - Overall Child Development 5 to 12 years
Course description:
At the end of this course, students know and understand children in terms of all the dimensions of their physical, motor, emotional, cognitive, language, social-emotional, moral, and sexual development.
The course focuses on the ability to observe, analyze and interpret the behaviors of children 5-12 years of age, in order to assess their needs with respect to their overall development. It also teaches methods to communicate one’s reflections in an appropriate, respectful manner in accordance with the rules of the profession.
322-823-RL - Autonomy in Children
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to perceive and evaluate a child’s needs for support, intervene with the child, and evaluate the relevance of their interventions with the child.
The course teaches students to take into consideration the child’s stage of development and the specific characteristics of the situation in order to grasp the child’s expressed or unexpressed needs and to determine whether they can meet the child’s needs or establish the nature and degree of support to provide to the child.
Students must make choices about methods based on the type of support required to meet the child’s need for autonomy, use strategies that allow the child to take part in a problem-solving process, adopt supportive attitudes that foster a child’s development of self-esteem, and share information with colleagues and parents. It also teaches students to identify the observed results and reactions, review the methods used, and complete the consultations conducted with parents and colleagues, etc.
322-773-RL - Meaningful Relationships with Children
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to establish a meaningful emotional relationship with children. The course will enable students to understand and consider the emotional needs of children in order to create bonds that maintain an emotional relationship on a one-on-one basis and in a group.
The course focuses on social-emotional development and personality traits. Students will learn to choose strategies that take into account factors likely to promote or undermine the establishment of unconditional, equitable emotional bonds with each of the children.
Students will apply their course knowledge in a real context, which will enable them to observe, gather and analyze the strategies in place and to verify the relevance of the interventions undertaken with a child or a group of children.
322-734-RL - Educational Activities for Children 0 to 2 years of age
Course description:
At the end of the course, students are able to design, organize and lead a variety of life activities for children 0 to 2 years of age, taking into account their needs and interests and the orientations of the educational program.
322-793-RL - Child Health
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to evaluate the needs of children 0 to 12 years of age in terms of their physical health. Students will learn to use sound judgment in determining the interventions required with respect to children’s health and well-being (providing hygiene-related care, toilet training, providing care to meet children’s needs for comfort, relaxation, and sleep, administering medication, undertaking interventions with health agencies and services, recording information about a child’s state of health and interventions undertaken.) All such interventions are to be undertaken in collaboration with the appropriate persons and agencies as required in each case.
Session 3
322-709-RL - Stage I : Initiation
Course description:
Hours: 135
At the end of this course, students are able to confirm their choice of profession with respect to the requirements of the profession, to safeguard the safety of children and themselves, to establish emotional bonds with each of the children and with the group, to provide basic care to children and to demonstrate professional attitudes in the workplace.
322-744-RL Educational Activities for Children 2 to 5 years of age
Course description:
By the end of the course, students are able to design, organize and lead a variety of educational activities for children 2 to 5 years of age, taking into account their needs and interests and the orientations of the educational program.
322-813-RL Children With Special Needs
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to understand adaptive, behavioral, and developmental problems in children, along with difficulties associated with multi-ethnicity as well as with physical and intellectual disabilities.
Students will learn to take into account meaningful elements when analyzing situations involving a child’s special needs in order to allow the child to successfully integrate into the childcare service and to identify responses that meet their needs.
Lastly, students will learn how to observe and analyze situations involving children with special needs in order to determine the underlying reasons for behaviors as well as the needs necessarily associated with the developmental dimensions of these children.
Session 4
322-824-RL - Guidance Interventions
Course description:
In this course, students will learn to master a complex intervention process concerning a child’s (or children’s) behavior, in collaboration with a variety of partners. To do so, students will learn to take into account the special needs, the age, and the context of the social and family life of the child or the children.
In addition, students will learn how to plan a fair, strategic intervention that abides by professional ethics. They will then implement the chosen intervention strategies and methods and evaluate the quality of their interventions by identifying connections and gaps. They must also ensure to record and transmit information concerning the interventions undertaken in compliance with professional ethics.
322-754-RL Educational Activities for Children 5 to 12 years of age
Course description:
At the end of the course, students are able to design, organize and lead a variety of educational activities for children 5 to 12 years of age, taking into account their needs and interests as well as the orientations of the educational program.
322-833-RL - Professional Partnerships
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to establish a partnership, first of all with a child’s parents and then with the resource persons who intervene with the child. Students will learn how to adopt strategies, methods, and attitudes to facilitate the welcoming of new parents, establish cooperation with them and ensure educational coherence and continuity.
322-803-RL - Healthy Nutrition
Course description:
At the end of this course, students are able to create environments that foster healthy nutrition. Students learn to use educational strategies that promote the development of healthy eating habits and the pleasure of eating, providing an environment for meals conducive to healthy nutrition and the discovery of new foods, and preparing varied menus (snacks and meals) containing highly nutritional food in adequate quantity.
Students will also learn to identify and prevent situations that could undermine health and to process information concerning a child’s nutrition in order to facilitate follow-up with the family.
Session 5
322-70F-RL - Stage II : Workplace Integration
Course description:
Hours: 240
At the end of the course, students are able to demonstrate their ability to define the pedagogical model to be adopted and to design, organize and lead all life activities by implementing the educational process. In addition, they are able to demonstrate their ability to analyze the needs of a child or a group of children and to intervene to promote the children’s overall development in collaboration with the partners involved in the educational childcare service. They also demonstrate professional attitudes in the workplace.
Updated: March 11, 2022
