Child Growth and Development - ECME 105 (3 credit hours)

Instructor

Office Hours

Tuesday 12:30-3:30
Wednesday 1:00-4:00
Thursday 1:00 - 5:00

Class Meetings

This class meets for 3 hours from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. every Saturday from January 18 through May 10, 2002, except for March 29, 2002 which is during spring break for the college.

Required Text Trawick-Smith, J. (1999) Early Childhood Development -A Multicultural Perspective , 2nd Edition. Saddle River, N.J.: Men-ill.

Open Access Policy

UNM-Gallup is committed to providing an open and accessible educational environment to all individuals regardless of special needs. Any student who requires special accommodations to successfully participate in and complete this course should contact Jeanne Knight, 863-7520, in Student Services.

Student Conduct PolicyStudents are expected to act respectfully and responsibly in their interactions with me and their colleagues. It is important that each one of us respects the exchange of ideas that will occur as part of class discussions and activities and that we all practice professional behavior regarding information shared in this setting. Breaches of confidentiality, cheating, pla»rizing or other irresponsible actions will be dealt with in accordance with the policies outlined in the Student Handbook.

Attendance Policy

Attendance and participation are a large part of the grade in this course. Classes will be structured to be active and interactive - attendance cannot be 'made up'. If you know in advance of a class for which you will be absent, it is important to inform the instructor. This does not imply that you are excused from the class, or that you will not lose points for missing the class.

The Early Childhood Multicultural Education Program has a strict policy concerning attendance. Every absence will have an impact upon how much you learn in the course. Therefor absences are closely connected to your final grade.
The way the policy will be implemented for this course is as follows:

• The first missed class will result in a loss of 20 points from attendence;
• The second missed class will result in a loss of 25 more points from attendence and could make the student ineligible to receive more than a B in the course;
• A third absence will result in the student losing 30 more points and could make the student ineligible to earn more than a C in the course.

A student who is in the position of missing 3 classes needs to arrange to meet and discuss the situation with the instructor. Any further absences will provide cause for the instructor to counsel the student to drop the course or take an incomplete, rather then fail the course. A pattern of late arrivals or leaving class early could be considered as an absence and will result in the loss of at least some points for attendance.

Grading Policy

Grades will be based on attendance, completion of reading and written assignments, and quizzes.

Letter Grades

I do not usually give plus or minus grades. 1 reserve the right to do so for those students who show exceptional effort or lack of effort throughout the course of the semester.

Grading for Individual Activities

All assignments need to be turned in on time in order to receive full credit."On time" for the purpose of this course means on the day specified, at the start of the class session. It is not okay to work on homework during the class session and turn it in at the end of class. If you do not have the assignment completed by the start of the session, turn it in incomplete or hold it and turn it in the following week.

Any work which you wish to have graded for this course must be turned in to the instructor by May 3, 2003.

Attendance - Attendance means arriving on time and staying for the full length of the class session. There are no excused absences. A student who has difficulty arriving on time or staying for the entire class session needs to be aware that they will be losing points toward the final grade. Attendence will be recorded, and late arrivals, delayed return from breaks or leaving early can all add together to equal one or more absences.

Reading and Written Assignments - Students are expected to have completed reading and writing assignments before class starts. The written assignments will focus on the material covered in the text and help you to prepare for class discussions and quizzes. I will not grade any assignment that is more than 1 week late.
I would like you to use a computer or word processor for homework but that is not required. Handwritten work must be done in ink and double
spaced on lined paper. Assignments will be graded on the following criteria:
on time, complete, legible, correct + (5-10 pts.)
late, incomplete, illegible, inaccurate - (1-4 pts.)
really late, poorly written 0 (no points)

You will have many opportunities to do homwork. It is your responsibility to make sure that you have done enough work to get the required points for the grade you want. By the midterm each student needs to have turned in at least 5 assignments in order to continue in the course.

Essay on Growth and Development - In this paper I expect you to write about what you have learned about how children grow and change in the first 8 years of life. 1 will be giving you questions to respond to and you will develop the answers to those questions into a 2 page essay. The essay will be graded in two parts, once as a draft, due before the midterm and the second time in final form, due at the end of the semester.

Quizzes and Final

These will be short answer tests focusing on the reading, vocabulary and concepts covered in the text. The quizzes will be given throughout the semester after a review of 2-3 chapters from the text. Quizzes will be given at the start of the class session and will take no more than 30 minutes of class time.