Bachelor of Arts in Family Studies – Concentration in Early Childhood

Overview

We offer a major that is flexible in content and has an emphasis on practical application. Students have an opportunity to explore functional and dysfunctional family systems dynamics and to take courses focused on childhood and adolescence, trauma, familial relationships, and family counseling. Individuals who want to work with families, couples, or children will be set up for success with a Bachelor of Arts in Family Studies from Arizona Christian University.Arizona Christian University.

Mission Statement: Arizona Christian University’s Family Studies program prepares students to assist families through service and research by framing relevant knowledge and skills with a biblical worldview.

Vision Statement: The vision of ACU’s Family Study Major program is to graduate superior evaluators of family study research and theory, Christ-like practitioners, and agents of change in the lives of families.

Graduates are prepared to:

• Demonstrate methods to connect with their young learners’ families.
• Create family education programs for preschools and schools.
• Discuss benefits of early childhood intervention.
• Prepare and present resources for families who are seeking help.
• Integrate special education theory with lesson preparation for young children.
• Analyze and optimize the strategies currently in place in schools, classrooms, and other social service agencies.

Why Early Childhood at ACU?

In addition to a faculty to student ratio of 17:1 and a rigorous and biblically-integrated curriculum, ACU’s Family Studies program offers several unique advantages:

• Our unique department is staffed with clinically-active faculty, who are able to provide insightful information based on their vast professional experiences.
• Students will graduate as provisionally Certified Family Life Educators by the National Counsil on Family Relations.
• What is Family Life Education? (https://www.ncfr.org/index.php/cfle-certification/what-family-life-education)
• This is a terminal degree, therefore students are prepared to enter the workforce or their graduate studies with significant confidence in their educational experiences.
• For over 20 years, many of our graduates have continued their studies to pursue careers as licensed marriage & family therapists, counselors, and social workers.
• Early Childhood Fieldwork, Poverty and its Effects, Human Development of the Young Child, Early Learning Environments

What will I study?

Following completion of a Bachelor of Arts in Family Studies – Early Childhood from ACU, students will:

• Be able to identify and evaluate psychological, spiritual, physical, and social contributors to optimal human development
• Be able to evaluate families and their functioning using research and systemic theories
• Be able to design, implement, and evaluate family life education programs
• Explore and evaluate societal issues that impact families
• Explore career options

Undergraduate students are introduced to fascinating topics through mandatory and elective courses that are often preserved for graduate studies, including:

• Trauma and families
• Play therapy
• Family structure and dynamics
• Parent/child relations
• Gender studies
• Family resource management
• Grief and loss in families
• Public policy
• Transformational marriage
• Early learning environments
• Poverty

Career Paths

Graduates are well-equipped to continue their education to become licensed marriage and family therapists, children’s counselors, to pursue family law careers, or to advance their careers in social work, child life, or ministry. Students graduate prepared to pursue careers as a preschool teacher, childcare center director, family support specialist, early childhood case manager, parent aid, case manager, early childhood public policy advocates, children’s ministry leaders & pastors.

• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Children’s Therapists
• Trauma Therapists
• Social Workers
• Child Behavioral Specialists
• Case Managers
• Ministries (Family, Children’s, Women’s)
• Motivational Speakers
• Victim Witness Advocates
• Child Protective Services
• Public Policy and Lobbying (i.e., sex-trafficking, child protection)
• Coaching

Graduate education preparation for programs such as Human Development, Educational Leadership, Health Care Administration, Ministry, Public Policy, Counseling, Family Studies