Early Childhood
Ready to Lead and Educate the Next Generation!
Turn your passion for educating young children into a purposeful career with a degree in Early Childhood at Southern Miss. The fully online bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood prepares students to teach, lead, and advocate for children from birth through age 8 and qualifies you for Mississippi Pre-K/Kindergarten teacher licensure. Whether you are drawn to teaching, program administration/evaluation, or advocacy, this program equips you with the skills to make a lasting impact in children’s lives. Through engaging coursework in curriculum development, classroom management, and child behavior, you will gain the tools to support children and families in educational and community settings. Graduates are equipped for roles in teaching, program leadership, and child advocacy.
Accredited by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, this program allows students in Early Childhood to pursue Special Licensure (pre-k/kindergarten) through the Mississippi Department of Education once they’ve earned their degree and passed the required Praxis exams. For detailed test information, please visit . The University of ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï cannot determine whether this program leads to licensure in any state other than Mississippi. For assistance with out-of-state licensure questions, please refer to the Professional Licensure Disclosures webpage.
The Early Childhood B.S. to Human Development and Family Science M.S. Accelerated Master’s Option (AMO) allows eligible students to complete the B.S. and M.S. degrees in HDFS in as few as 5 years. Students choosing the AMO may complete up to 7 hours of 500-level coursework, which will count toward both the B.S. and M.S. degree programs.
The School of Child and Family Sciences has 14 school-specific scholarships available for students each year. All university scholarship opportunities can be found at: .
What Will I Learn?
Early Childhood majors learn how young children grow, learn, and thrive by examining the systemic relationships among individuals, families, and communities. All students take foundational courses in individual and family development across the life cycle, interpersonal relationships and family dynamics, and parent-child interactions. Students then take courses specific to early childhood such as curriculum design, early literacy development, and child-centered teaching strategies.
Early Childhood courses:
- Developmentally appropriate curriculum, methods, and materials
- Early childhood literacy and assessment
- Child guidance and behavior strategies
- Childcare program administration
- Family and community partnerships
Early Childhood B.S. students take three lab courses where they spend two-hours per week in a clinical setting with children 6 weeks to 6 years old in various settings. These lab courses assist students in gaining professional skills with supervision that progressively prepares them for various responsibilities of teaching.
Student teaching experiences occur in a pre-kindergarten or kindergarten MDE approved setting for approximately 40 hours a week for 14 weeks. Students are allowed to complete lab courses and student teaching courses in their work setting upon approval.
Graduates of the Early Childhood B.S. may pursue an educator license to teach pre-kindergarten through kindergarten in the public school system. To do so, students must pass the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching - Early Childhood exam (5621) and the Praxis II Education of Young Children exam (5024). Additionally, students with an ACT below 21 must pass the Praxis Core exams (5713/5723/5733). This program is designed to meet the professional competency standards for licensure in Mississippi. The University of ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï cannot determine whether this program leads to licensure in any state other than Mississippi.  It is recommended that students who intend to seek licensure in another state verify that this program of study meets the desired state’s licensure requirements. To review institutional determinations as to program licensure/state certification, see the Professional Licensure Disclosures webpage. &²Ô²ú²õ±è;
Availability
| Degree Plan | Availability |
|---|---|
| Online 100% |
- Licensed Pre-K Teacher
- Family Support Specialist
- Early Childhood Center Administrator
- Licensed Kindergarten Teacher
- Family Child Care Educator
- Professional Development Trainer
- Early Intervention Specialist
- Early Education Coach
- Curriculum Coordinator