Early years collage course?

Question

H, I wonder if you could help, im currently volenteering at a special needs nursery, and im looking into courses i was advised an early years course (10 weeks).
Could you tell me what it involves

Im 37 ,ive brought my kids and one of them is autistic, now for a little ME time, i would very much like to be a special needs nursery assistant.

Answer 1

It sounds like a level 1, Introduction to Pre-school/Early Years practice. I have just got a job tutoring one of these courses in February. They are quite short, and give you an insight into Early Years. They are ideal for newly appointed unqualified staff, volunteers or parents. They don't actually give you a recognised qualification at the end, but lead nicely into a Level 2 course.
They will touch on management, what and how children learn, what you can do to support this learning and how you can keep the children safe, etc. Nothing too heavy

Answer 2

OK - if you are looking at becoming qualified to obtain paid employment then the normal entry routes for nursery work is either NVQ training (usually to NVQ level 3 in childcare & education), which is usually done on-the-job and paid for by the employer (although in theory you could continue doing the work on a voluntary basis and enquire about NVQ assessment at your local college of further education)
or
Level 3 Diploma in Childcare & Education - this is usually a 2 year full-time course, but most colleges of further education offer it as a part-time course too. You'd need to contact your college about what charge, if any, there would be for the course (as a mature student). This course tends to be very popular (often with young school/college leavers) so courses may already be full for September '07.

It would be worth asking at the nursery where you work whether they might be looking to recruit an NVQ trainee in the near future and whether they would consider you if an opportunity arises.

Best of luck!

Answer 3

I'm not familiar with it, but I'm guessing it probably teaches about early childhood development, including the development of thought and learning processes as well as physical development. You might want to discuss it with the teacher in the classroom you've been volunteering in to get her recommendations.