Child Development

You can help young children grow with a Family and Consumer Sciences Business bachelor’s degree concentration in Child Development.

If you have an interest in helping young children reach their potential, SC State’s Child Development Program is what you need to succeed.

You will dive into the social, intellectual, physical, and emotional development of children from birth through age 5. Our program provides understanding for guiding development in both the home and educational settings. Child Development depends on far more than genetics and prenatal life. Environmental factors -- including home circumstances, nutrition, play, and adult connections -- have major roles in those critical formative years.

SC State’s Child Development Program is the only one in the state of South Carolina that is nationally accredited by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS).

Students enrolled in this program enjoy experiential learning experiences at the nationally accredited National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Child Development Learning Center located on campus and other local centers. Additionally, small classroom sizes afford the ability of personalized instruction in the Child Development related courses within the department.

All students Child Development Program are required to participate in an internship and pre-clinical experiences. Each opportunity allows them to gain knowledge in their selected field of study while acquiring real-world career experiences.

What will I study?

Courses in the Child Development concentration include:

• Child Development. A study of the social, intellectual, physical, and emotional development of the child from birth trough five years. It provides understanding for guiding development in home and educational setting. Observation and participation in a pre-school setting is required.
• Nutrition and Health of Infants and Young Children. This course includes basic information on personal, health and safety issues. Attention is given to the essentials of safe and healthful living in the home school and community. Materials and methods and techniques for teaching nutrition health, safety, including infant and child first aid and CPR, will be emphasized. Participation in a school setting is required.
• Advanced Child Development. This course is designed to provide experience and knowledge which will enable students to develop the necessary skills to assemble and organize information about themselves and the world of work to make career/life decisions.
• Guidance and Discipline. This course is an overview of developmentally appropriate, effective guidance and classroom management techniques for caregivers of young children. Constructive guidance and discipline bring together practical concepts to help young children become happy, responsible, and productive adults. A positive proactive approach is standard in the course.
• Creative Activities for Preschool Children. Emphasizes selected types of creative activities for preschool children, including art, music, literature, nature study and other educational play activities and materials. Opportunities for practical experiences in the preschool are provided.
• Pre-Clinical Experience in Preschool Teaching. This course is to provide individually supervised teaching experiences with preschool age (3-5 years) laboratory setting. Guidance towards buildings competencies in curriculum design and implementation, while recognizing biopsychosocial and nutritional needs, cultural diversities and maintenance of interpersonal relationships are included.
• Preschool Organization and Administration. This course emphasizes pre-school policy and legislative requirement, program planning and implementation, budgetary consideration, equipment, staffing, parent interchange, health protection, and record/documentation essential.
• Seminar in Child and Family Development. An overview of programs in Family and Consumer Science discipline, review of current policies and topic related to children and families, assessment of leadership style in preparation for the transition to professional roles.
• Education for Parenthood. An exploration and analysis of research theories and practices of parent-child-family-community interface. Emphases are placed upon the psychosocial dynamic processes involved in building strengths of human character.

Experience in the Child Development Learning Center All students in the FCSB: Child Development program are required to participate in an internship and pre-clinical experiences. You’ll gain knowledge in your selected field of study while acquiring real-world career experiences. The Child Development Learning Center is our on campus National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accredited learning, practicum, and research center for our students.

What can I do with a bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Business/Child Development?

• Child Care Center Director
• Child Life Specialist
• Early Intervention Specialist
• Family Life Educator
• Parent Educator
• Preschool Teacher
• Preschool Teacher Assistant
• Youth Services Coordinator

What about graduate school options?

• Master of Arts/Science: Child Development
• Master of Education: Early Childhood Education
• Master of Science: School Counselor
• Master of Arts in Teaching: Early Childhood Education

Scholarship opportunities.

• Marian Baxter Paul Endowed Scholarship. $500 awarded to two undergraduate Family and Consumer Sciences majors. Recipients must be South Carolina residents with a 3.5 GPA, above-average scholastic standing, the potential for success, outstanding character, and financial need.\
• Edna W. Harrison Scholarship $300 A junior, majoring in Family and Consumer Sciences Business/Child Development with a minimum GPA of 2.8, active member of a professional organization, and demonstrated leadership skills.
• Sara A. Waymer Scholarship. $200 Awarded to a Family and Consumer Sciences student with a GPA of 3.00 or better, active membership in a professional organization, and evidence of leadership ability.
• Family and Consumer Sciences Faculty/Alumni Scholarships $500 Scholarships awarded are presented to 3 students majoring in Family and Consumer Sciences who demonstrate academic excellence and who maintain membership in the professional organization. Three awards, one from each area.
• Leola Adams Leaders Scholarship in Family and Consumer Sciences $500.00
• Applicant must possess leadership potential, be in great standing in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, must be an active member of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences at the national and local levels, have a minimum GPA of 3.00, and be committed to pursuing graduate study in Family and Consumer Sciences.
• The Edna Worthy Kinard and Herbert L. Kinard Sr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship. $1,500/per year; $750/per semester. Recipients must be sophomores majoring in Family and Consumer Sciences (Concentration: Child Development), must have and maintain a minimum 2.8 GPA throughout the three years of study, must be an active member of the Family and Consumer Sciences Professional Organization, and demonstrate leadership skills, must have an unmet financial need not provided from other sources.

Organizations

Students in Family and Consumer Sciences have the opportunity to participate in such organizations as:

• FCS Student Unit/AAFCS
• Kappa Omicron Nu National Honor Society
• Fashion Merchandising Association
• Nutrition Association

Associated fields of interest

• Family and Consumer Sciences in Business: Multidisciplinary
• Early Childhood Education
• Psychology
• Social Work