Early Childhood
Career Lattice Core Content

The seven core content areas represent traditional subject areas in the early care and education field as well as related disciplines. They are:

• Child Growth and Development
• Health, Safety and Nutrition
• Observation and Assessment
• Curriculum Development
• Teaching/Learning Interactions and Environments
• Family and Community Relationships
• Personal and Professional Development

The Core Content remains the same for all levels of training, education, and role responsibilities and forms the foundation for training and education programs. In all seven content areas, three threads are embedded throughout.

children with special needs—children with diverse abilities and needs, due to developmental delays, disabilities, or other challenges that impact their abilities to learn and develop

culture and diversity—the cultural context of children and their families as essential to the creation of quality care and education experiences, and

individual and group guidance--supportive relationships with children to guide them as individuals and as part of a group

Rationale: Each Core Content area begins with an explanation of what is contained in that area and why the area is a significant part of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

Performance Areas: These statements identify the main ideas within each Core Content area and indicate what is expected for a practitioner to know and be able to do.

Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions: The statements in this section identify the specific competencies (of the related performance area) that are essential for all practitioners to know and be able to do.

knowledge—specific concepts and background grounded in empirical research, disciplined inquiry, informed theory, and the wisdom of practice in the field of early care and education

skills—ability to use content, professional, and pedagogical knowledge effectively and readily in diverse settings in a manner that ensures that all students are learning

dispositions— The values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors toward children, families, colleagues, and communities and affect children’s learning, motivation and development as well as the practitioner’s professional growth