SUNY Orange

Early Childhood Program

SOCIAL SCIENCES MAJOR

OCCUPATIONAL SUMMARY

The SUNY Orange course of study prepares students for employment in positions ranging from aide to head teacher in a variety of early childhood settings such as daycare centers, preschools, and other child care facilities. Child care workers do more than keep an eye on someone's children while they are at work. Child care workers assist teachers and center directors with activities that build on children's abilities and curiosity. These workers must be attentive to the individual needs of each child in order to adapt activities which will stimulate the growth and development of those children. The child care workers care for toddlers, infants, and prekindergarten children; therefore, different kinds of instruction are required. Depending upon the size of the daycare center, the worker may be expected to work with a particular age group, or they may work with a mixed age group.

Workers in a daycare center have multiple responsibilities in addition to giving lessons and instruction. A good portion of the worker's day is providing comfort to children who are away from home and need adjustment to that fact in order to play with other children. The children who feel frightened or homesick might need reassurance from the workers. The worker is also responsible for keeping track of children's belongings, dressing them for a trip outside; they must also supervise their snack time and teach the young children how to eat properly and clean up after themselves.

Employment for child care workers is expected to increase faster than the average through 2008. There is a high turnover rate, however, because the rate of pay is quite low in both the private and the public sectors. It is expected that more child care centers are going to open up because of the demand for child care as more mothers take jobs outside the home.

REPRESENTATIVE JOB TITLES RELATED TO
EARLY CHILDHOOD MAJOR

Teacher Teacher's Assistant
Teacher's Aide Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Assistant Teacher Head Teacher

REPRESENTATIVE EMPLOYERS LOOKING FOR
SUNY ORANGE EARLY CHILDHOOD MAJORS

KinderCollege at SUNY Orange IRC Preparatory School
Butterhill Day School Tutor Time Learning Center
Enlarged City School District of Middletown Milford Hill Learning Center
Prime Time Early Learning Center Tri-State Children's Center
Pea-Wees in a Pod Family of Woodstock
Newburgh YMCA Kelly's Day Care
Hilltop Children's Center Children's Safe Stay
Kaplan Educational Center Family Empowerment Council
Turtle Dove Christian Daycare  

SOURCES

*Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U.S. Department of Labor

*America's Top Job for People Without a Four-Year Degree. Fifth edition by J.Michael Farr. 2001 JIST Works, an imprint of JIST Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

*150 Great Tech Prep Careers. Andrew Morkes, Managing Editor, Career Publications. 2001 Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois

*Orange County Community College - College Catalog 2002-2003.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL (845) 341-4444

HOURS OF OPERATION

8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri

8:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Wed