The Liberal Studies B.A. with a concentration in Child Development/ Elementary Education is designed for students who wish to become elementary school teachers in grades K-6. Students take courses in traditional disciplines taught in elementary schools alongside courses focusing on developmental characteristics of children. Students begin working directly with children in their sophomore year and continue with progressively more responsibility for instructional practices throughout the program. All students start out in the non-integrated concentration and may be admitted to the integrated credential concentration in their junior or senior year if they meet all admission requirements.<br><br>The Child Development/Elementary Education concentration has several distinct features including:<br><br>a focus on the developmental characteristics of children<br>how the classroom, school, home, and community impact the child and the learning process<br>courses that explore different philosophies of education, but emphasize those that see children as active learners<br>career exploration to help students clarify their professional goals<br>multiple supervised classroom experiences