Child Development

The child development concentration is an excellent option for students interested in studying and providing developmentally-appropriate practice in their work with children. The goal of this concentration is to provide students with a study of children’s development from conception through emerging young adulthood, with an emphasis on early childhood.

Students in the child development concentration experience a curriculum uniquely crafted to prepare them for working with children and families in a variety of settings. For more information, here is an example of the child development concentration degree plan. Courses in this concentration include:

• Infant and Toddler Development
• Adolescent Development
• Children and Families with Special Needs
• Children’s Literature

Beyond classroom instruction, students in the child development concentration gain over 60 hours of skills-based practice at the Piper Center for Family Studies and Child Development, our NAEYC-accredited lab environment for developmentally-appropriate best practices. In addition, all Child and Family Studies students complete a 150-hour practicum in a field setting suited to the student’s professional goals.

Students who successfully complete the child development concentration degree plan will be able to:

• Identify typical development across developmental domains,
• Consider the implications of atypical development in children and families, and
• Apply developmental best-practices in early childhood settings.

Graduates from this concentration are prepared for roles in early childhood, nonprofit, ministry, healthcare, and many other organizational settings.