The Early Childhood Education degree is offered by the Teacher Education unit  at Hostos Community College. It is designed to prepare students with the background, knowledge, and skills for employment in schools, child-care centers, and other agencies providing programs for infants and young children from birth through age 8.

The course of study combines classroom instruction with workshops, seminars, and field experiences. Students have an opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge through first-hand experiences in the methods and materials of instruction and by observing of and participating in early-childhood activities.

There are two paths for students considering a career in teaching  or child care. The Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) has a required core of nine Education courses, which provides a solid background in early-childhood education. The Associate in Arts (A.A.) with the concentration in Teacher Education gives students majoring in Liberal Arts the opportunity to see if a future major in Education is of interest to them.

The program offers an optional concentration in bilingual education for those interested in working, and also prepares students for future studies in elementary and/or special education.
EDU 226 Introduction to Instructional Technology can be taken as an elective. This course meets the New York State guidelines for developing the ability of future teachers to include computational thinking and computer literacy into their lesson plans and activities.

All required Education courses are typically offered in multiple, rotating modalities (on campus, online, and hybrid) to meet the scheduling needs of our students.  We also schedule classes during the day, evening, and on Saturdays, and have four courses that have writing-intensive (WI) sections.