A competency-based 3-year program, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) program helps students master the skills required to enter a variety of educational career paths.

Graduates are able to design and develop curriculum for children up to 12 years of age. By consolidating a personal philosophy toward early childhood care and education, they are able to work effectively with co-workers in implementing developmental activities and become strong advocates for children and families. Additionally graduates will communicate effectively in English and adequately in French.

Fieldwork:

The ECCE program offers more than 500 child contact hours with various age groups from birth to 12 years of age. Practical fieldwork experience is a component in every semester.

Co-op Work Term

A key feature of this program is the co-op component, where qualified students are eligible to be placed in paid summer work terms after completing their first year (two semesters) and second year (four semesters) of study. Access to a professional setting provides students with practical, real-life work experience, greatly improving their ability to secure employment in their field after graduation.

For more information, please consult the Co-op section.

Special Projects

Guatemala Project 2012 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2oQFFxb2zg - In this video, a Cégep Heritage College Early Childhood student sings and plays with children at a rural Guatemalan daycare centre using felt pieces and a flannel board made back in Canada. This learning activity helps children build vocabulary while developing pre-math and counting skills in a fun play-based way. To learn more about this wonderful humanitarian project available to select Cégep Heritage College students check out: http://guatemala-nursingproject.webnode.com

Africa Literacy Project - Mozambique
Guatemala Nursing and ECCE project
Slideshow - ECCE-Nursing Guatemala Project 2012

Program Outcomes

Graduates are:

• Qualified as an Early Childhood Educator across Canada and around the world.
• Able to seek employment in a variety of early learning and care programs.
• Able to design early childhood care and education programs for children up to 12 years of age including childcare settings and elementary school programs.
• Able to continue studies at the university level, receiving credit or advance standing in many degree programs.
• Able to communicate with children, parents and co-workers effectively in English and adequately in French.
• Prepared for a wide variety of career options involving work with families and children, and demonstrate professional practice.

Career Opportunities and Education Path

Graduates hold national qualifications and are recognized to work with children from infancy to 12 years of age in a variety of early learning and child care settings, including family support programs and elementary school classrooms. Additionally graduates may choose to work in administrative positions that deal with children and their education and care. They may also teach internationally, work with children with special needs, and pursue further studies and careers in psychology, social work, education and others.

Graduates who wish to continue to pursue their education are able to receive credit at many Canadian universities. Heritage College has most recently developed articulation agreements with university partners that give graduates advance standing in related degree programs. Presently credits acquired from the ECCE program at Cégep Heritage College are recognized towards a concurrent B.A, B.Ed. degree at Bishops University in Sherbrooke Quebec and advanced standing in the Faculty of Education at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.

Admission Requirements

For General Admission Requirements please refer to the Admissions section of this website.

Please note that there are no ECCE-specific admission requirements.

Forms for New Students

The ECCE Program links your classroom learning with direct contact experiences in a variety of child care environments. Because of this interaction with children, there are several documents that we require be completed and returned to the ECCE Department. They include:

         1. Personal Information Form
         2. Medical Physical Certificate
         3. Off-campus Activities Form
         4. Application for Criminal Reference Check - Do not bring this form to the police
             station.

Please bring all of the above forms with you during the first week of class. All forms must be carefully completed and handed in to your Program Coordinator.

Vaccinations

ECCE students must be tested and vaccinated against Tuberculosis and Hepatitis B before interacting with children. Vaccination clinics can be found through this link: Appletree Medical Group.

For more detailed information about our program please contact the Program Coordinator Kathy Cumming at: kcumming@cegep-heritage.qc.ca