Early Childhood Care and Education

This certificate contains 33 credits, including 30 credits of Early Childhood Care and Education coursework for the Office of Child Development & Early Learning (OCDEL) career lattice at Level IV. This lattice encourages practitioners to obtain credentials and degrees, as well as plan their educational pathway.

The following must be completed (at the student’s expense) prior to enrolling in EDUC 110 or EDUC 111. They are also requirements for continuation in the program and field placements. Clearances will need to be updated every year per school district requirements. Requirements include three clearances (FBI Clearance, ACT 151: PA Child Abuse History Clearance, ACT 34: Request for Criminal Record Check - PA State Police) and TB testing. The student should consider these factors before enrolling. If the student has any questions regarding this, he or she should contact the program director.

General Education   
ENGL 101 English Composition I  3 
   Major Requirements   
EDUC 111 Fundamentals of Early Childhood Care & Education  3 
EDUC 120 Observation & Assessment of the Young Child  3 
EDUC 135 Health, Safety & Nutrition in ECE  3 
EDUC 140 Integrating the Arts & Play as Educative Process  3 
EDUC 145 Infant & Toddler Care & Education  3 
EDUC 185 Development & Behavior in Children  3 
EDUC 211 Early Intervention: Exceptional Children  3 
EDUC 261 Integrating Curriculum in Early Childhood Class  3 
*Electives  6 

In conjunction with National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Standards, this curriculum is designed to prepare students to:

Know and understand child development in order to promote healthy and challenging learning environments

Observe and assess children’s development and document their learning in order to develop appropriate curriculum and promote positive outcomes for each child

Use content knowledge to build meaningful curriculum

Use effective strategies to implement developmentally-appropriate teaching and learning

Know about, support and involve families and communities in their children’s development and learning

Uphold national standards for professionalism and ethics as well as participate in continuous professional growth

Use legal and ethical standards to locate professional literature in print and/or electronic format in order to make research-based decisions that inform teaching practices

Prepare and maintain an electronic portfolio that documents personal growth as well as scholastic and professional achievement through the course of the Early Care and Education certificate from entry point class to job search

Apply for a Full-Ride Scholarship

Are you a future student and ready to apply to HACC? 
By applying to HACC, you have the opportunity to apply for a full-ride scholarship! HACC will fund two years of your education – enough to complete your associate degree.

Thanks to the support of the HACC Foundation, the College is able to offer FREE money to support future students, like you, in reaching your educational goals. Six full-ride scholarships are available – one from each of the five campuses and one through HACC’s Virtual Learning Program. 

Please note that current students are not eligible for the full-ride scholarships. However, there are more than 250 scholarships available for current students.

What should you know about the full-ride scholarship?

The scholarship covers tuition, books and fees for a full academic year. 

The scholarship will automatically renew each term for up to six consecutive terms if you maintain your eligibility.

Once you apply to the College and receive a HACC ID and email address, you may apply for the full-ride scholarship. You do not have to register for classes before applying for the scholarship.

Are you eligible?

To be eligible, you must:

Apply to HACC

Take 12-15 credits each term for no more than six consecutive terms (two years)

Live in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Schuylkill or York county

Have a minimum cumulative high school GPA of 3.0

Provide a 480 SAT reading score, 21 ACT or comparable scores on the College’s placement test

Maintain a GPA of 3.0 while enrolled at HACC

Participate in at least two HACC student organizations