5 Child Development Terms

Terms to Know

Here’s a handy glossary of some terms that you may encounter during your time in the Child Development & Education Department at Palomar College:

• Advising: There are two types of advising that we recommend all CHDV students obtain: General Education advising from the counselors on your GE requirements for your AS degree, and CHDV advising from one of the full-time faculty members (Laurel, Jenny, Diane, or Gina) on your CHDV program and courses. Please DO NOT get advising from the counselors on your CHDV coursework!
• APA Format: All CHDV courses require that you use APA 7th edition format for your writing. This is standard across all CHDV courses. More details and requirements are included in this guide.
• Associate of Arts (AA) Degree: Prior to the 2013 catalog year, CHDV students earned AA degrees if they completed the appropriate CHDV and GE coursework.
• Associate of Science (AS) Degree: Beginning in the 2013 catalog year, CHDV students earn an AS degree if they complete the appropriate CHDV and GE coursework. This name change from AA to AS does not change the content or status of the degree, but rather reflects a system wide change for all STEM and vocational programs to lead to the AS degree.
• California Early Childhood Mentor Teacher Program: The Mentor Teacher Program is a CA program designed to offer stipends for advanced teachers in the early childhood field for mentoring new teachers and students in early childhood education. Please contact Tanessa Sanchez for more information.
• Canvas: Canvas is the online platform used for Palomar’s online classes. Many in-person classes also maintain Canvas sites to house syllabi, documents, discussion boards, and other announcements.
• Certificate of Achievement: Certificates of Achievement are issued by Palomar College for programs over 18 units, leading towards the AA or AS degree or transfer.
• Certificate of Proficiency: Certificates of Proficiency are issued by Palomar College for programs under 18 units and cannot be combined with GE for an AA or AS degree. These certificates indicate completion of basic workplace competencies and job readiness.
• Child Development Training Consortium: This program is run by the state of CA and provides partial reimbursement for education costs for students who are working in early childhood programs. Stipends are based on successful completion of units, and the program runs each fall and spring semester. Please contact Jenny Ferrero for more information.
• Core Classes: Core classes are those that make up our Associate Teacher Certificate. After completing these 12. units core units plus CHDV 99 (.5 unit), you will earn your Associate Teacher Certificate and have the 12 units needed to start as a preschool teacher. The Core classes include CHDV 100, 115, 104 and then one curriculum class from this list: CHDV 105, CHDV 106, CHDV 182, CHDV 184, or CHDV 185.
• Counseling: This term refers to the Counseling department at Palomar College, as well as the GE counseling/advising that is available for students working on transfer and/or their AA/AS degree. The CHDV department provides discipline-specific advising, but not counseling.
• Credential: The state of CA requires that teachers working within the public-school districts for K-12th grade have a CA teaching credential. There is not a credential required for teaching preschool, early childhood, or caring for children birth to 5 years old in CA, except for teachers who might be teaching preschool for a particular district or special-education program. The teaching credential in CA is earned through a post-baccalaureate program (you enroll after earning your bachelor’s degree). We recommend contacting the Education department at the 4-year school you plan on attending for more details about their credential programs. Please see Permit below for related information.
• Disability Resource Center (DRC): The DRC, formerly DSPS, is a campus resource available to Palomar students with learning and other disabilities. The DRC can provide assessment, accommodations, and support for students who qualify for assistance with accessing their education at Palomar.
• FCCP: Family Childcare Providers include individuals licensed to provide childcare from their homes.
• GE: This term refers to General Education, or the courses needed from other disciplines to make up the requirements for an AA/AS degree. Some CHDV courses are accepted as GE courses, as well.
• Licensing (Community Care Licensing): The state of CA uses Community Care Licensing to set standards for facilities and care providers working with young children in the state. Licensing requirements for employment are not the same as certificate or degree requirements, nor are they the same as the permit requirements.
• NAEYC: The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the professional organization for our field, working on providing training, research, and advocacy in the field of early childhood education.
• Palomar College Early Childhood Education Lab School: The Palomar College Early Childhood Education Lab School has two locations- on the main campus in San Marcos and at the Escondido campus. The ECELS serves as the laboratory site for our CHDV students in their observations and student teaching, while providing an exceptional child-directed, play-based toddler and preschool program to children ages 6 months through kindergarten of faculty, staff, students, and community members. If you need infant/toddler care, preschool, or kindergarten for your child, please contact the ECELS directly at 760-744-1150 x2575 or visit their website.
• Permit: The state of CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing issues a Child Development Permit to applicants who have completed appropriate coursework and employment requirements. These permits take the place of a credential for early childhood education and are separate from the certificates and degrees issued by Palomar. The full-time faculty in our department are authorized to provide permit advising and Verification of Completion on permit applications.
• PITC: The Program for Infant/Toddler Care works to set standards for quality care for children ages birth to three, as well as provide training, advocacy, and research in best practices for our youngest children.
• Service Learning: An opportunity to engage in community-based active learning related to course content. Many of our CHDV classes have service-learning options for assignments, and all students in our CHDV 115 course are expected to engage in service learning opportunities.
• Student Learning Outcome (SLO): These learning outcomes have been designed for each course in our department and indicate the basic skills and knowledge that students should possess after taking that course. SLO’s are assessed in our department each semester on a rotating basis and the SLO’s for each course are included in the course syllabi.