Early Childhood Education (Intensive)

The Early Childhood Education Ontario College Diploma program, delivered in an intensive format over 34 weeks, prepares you to become an educator of young children in a variety of early learning settings. As a student in the Intensive program, you have relevant prior education and experiences that allow you to complete the coursework in an accelerated time frame. As a result, the program is fast-paced with frequent assignments.

This program provides you with the ability to create, implement and assess play-based curricula while building stimulating child-centred environments.

Benefit from both theoretical and hands-on learning opportunities. You have two field placements during the program that focus on children from birth to age 12. These real-world experiences allow you to integrate theory with professional practice in early learning programs.

You assist in providing guidance to children while planning, implementing and evaluating programs. Through your placements, you gain valuable hands-on skills and experience to help you understand the diverse roles, settings and responsibilities of an Early Childhood Educator.

Upon graduation, you are eligible to register with the College of Early Childhood Educators (CECE). Registration with the CECE is required to be eligible to work as an Early Childhood Educator in Ontario.

What You’ll Learn

• Create learning contexts to enable, build and maintain caring, responsive relationships in partnerships with children, families and communities that value and respect social, cultural and linguistic diversity including Indigenous peoples’ worldviews and Francophone identity.
• Co-create, facilitate and reflect upon inquiry and play-based early years and child care programs and pedagogical approaches to support children’s learning, holistic development and well-being following children’s capabilities, interests, ideas and experiences.
• Co-design and maintain inclusive early learning environments to value and support equitable, accessible and meaningful learning opportunities for all children, their families and communities in a range of early years and child care settings.
• Collaborate with children, families, colleagues, agencies and community partners to create, maintain, evaluate and promote safe and healthy early learning environments, to support independence, reasonable risk-taking and healthy development and well-being.
• Use observation strategies to identify children’s strengths and challenges and to ascertain when children and families might benefit from additional support or community resources.
• Use professional communication in interactions with children, families, colleagues, employers, the regulatory body, government authorities and children’s service agencies, to meet legal and ethical standards of the early years sector.
• Act in accordance with relevant legislation, regulations, College of Early Childhood Educators Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, agency policies and procedures and principles of evidence-informed practice and reflect upon their impact on one’s own role in early years and child care settings.
• Identify, report and document when a child is in a situation of perceived risk for, or actual neglect or abuse, in accordance with legislation, the College of Early Childhood Educators Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, policies and procedures.
• Create and engage in partnerships with families, communities, colleagues, inter-disciplinary professionals, authorities and child service agencies, to advocate for quality early years and child care programs and services.
• Engage in reflective practice and continuous professional learning, in accordance with principles of lifelong learning, evidence-informed practices in the early years sector and requirements of the College of Early Childhood Educators.
• Engage with Indigenous children, families and communities to co-create, implement and evaluate Indigenous early years and child care and child and family programs and environments, that are culturally sensitive and culturally relevant to the communities they serve.
• Identify and apply discipline-specific practices that contribute to the local and global community through social responsibility, economic commitment and environmental stewardship.