Agrilife Extension Resources

Teachers encourage children to participate in experiences that actively engage them in communication, creativity, and problem solving. These core skills are critical in children’s cognitive development. Strategies for effective verbal interactions, encouraging problem-solving, and integrating the creative arts are explored.

One of the most challenging aspects of child care is deciding upon a style of discipline that is appropriate, effective, and in the best interest of each child. Students will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of various disciplinary styles and explore strategies for setting and enforcing healthy limits.

Infants and toddlers engage in challenging behaviors as a way of communicating that they have unmet needs. Enroll in this online course to learn how to recognize, understand, and develop responses to these types of behavior as well as working with a team to fully assess and address challenging infant and toddler behavior.

Early childhood educators strive to establish warm and secure relationships with children in their care. Unfold strategies for building strong relationships with families while supporting social and emotional development. Recognize the importance of responsive interactions, positive guidance, exploration, and play.

Why and how to strengthen language through responsive and effective interactions with infants and toddlers helps teachers understand the importance of early language experiences. Learn ways to promote infants’ and toddlers’ language development. Multiple strategies for effective, responsive communications are given.

In this course, you will learn all about infant care. We discuss foundations of infant development, the importance of a loving caregiver, infants’ amazing abilities, and best practices for supporting their development. Through an emphasis on daily activities we show how you can build relationships and promote development.

Learning centers provide early childhood classrooms the perfect environment for children to actively plan, try, pretend, and make new discoveries. Effective centers help children develop through play, by themselves and with peers. The purpose and process of how to develop, build and manage a center are discussed.

When educators partner with children’s families, children are empowered to learn and grow. Discuss the growing complexity of families. Gain specific strategies for building trusting relationships and creating collaborative partnerships with families to build a solid educational foundation for children.

Research indicates that the first three years of life are critical for physical, social-emotional, and intellectual development. You will learn about developmental patterns, the domains of development, practical strategies for encouraging optimal development, and how to recognize signs of potential developmental delays.