Do I need to take all the general classes to become a teacher aide? Or can I take just child development class

Question

Do I need to take all the general classes to become a teacher aide? Or can I take just child development class

Answer 1

Actually, I would recommend that you take two child development classes to start your career in child care, as you need to have at least 6 units to start working in a center and be a Teacher's Aide level.  Take the basic two... Principles of Child Development, and Child Development first.  After that, start working on taking Child & Community and a curriculum class.  That will give you your basic 12 units that will allow you to be an Associate Teacher (at this level, you can sometimes even be a Teacher in private settings, such as at church-based preschools).  However, any school that receives state or federal funding will require that you have a minimum of 24 child development units prior to being a Teacher in a preschool classroom.  Theoretically, you could only take child development classes to be a preschool teacher- without any general ed needed.  However, in order to get a degree in child development, or a certification from a teacher credentialing agency in your state, you would have to take general education classes.