One of the main courses offered in early childhood development programs is a general child development course, or in the case of some schools like Toronto's George Brown college, infant and child development. This class will focus on the development stages and milestones of children from infancy through entry into primary school at approximately six years of age, including physical development, language and mental faculties and the development of fine motor skills. Classes of this nature will teach students how to foster these skills and milestones in children in their charge.
Many college programs in early childhood development offer classes relating to fostering art education among young children. At the State University of New York (SUNY) Schenectady Community College, this class is called Engendering Creativity: Arts in the Classroom. The course description outlines a program of study in which students learn about various art forms, specifically visual arts and music, and analyze different techniques for teaching them to children. The course culminates in students presenting a variety of artistic activities to young children.
Early childhood development programs focus heavily on developing literacy and language in toddlers and young children. In addition to general development classes, many college programs have more specific literacy and language classes, like Language and Literature, offered at California's Solano College, which introduces students to children's literature and focuses more closely on the way children develop and acquire language and early reading skills, including storytelling, dramatic plays and dictating or retelling stories that were read to them.
Virtually every early childhood development program requires students to successfully complete a field placement in a daycare or kindergarten classroom. In such placements, students will interact with children, observe and shadow teachers as they go about their day in the classroom, and even lead some lessons and activities themselves. Field placements also have a seminar portion in which students report on what they are doing at their placements and receive feedback from the teachers they are working with. This practical experience is invaluable to students looking to enter the early childhood development field.