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Whatever your future in childcare, OCC has you covered
The students in Oakland Community College’s Early Childhood Development programs are on track for success even if each person has different goals and career paths in mind. Whether the goal is to quickly gain employment in this growing field, or to continue on to get a four-year degree, OCC can help you lay the foundation for your future.
Shelly Moss Brooks, author, nationally known speaker and head of OCC’s Early Childhood Development program, explains that the college’s program is "very practical and very concrete. Classes are taught by people who have worked in the field."
The degree involves 62 hours of course work and a 240-hour internship. That makes a winning combination, according to Professor Brooks, and gives OCC grads a real edge when seeking a job, since they already have significant on the- job experience. "Our graduates are in demand and often are hired over individuals who have a four-year degree from another institution," she says. Graduates from the Early Childhood program meet state licensing requirements to become directors of day care centers, but many go on to complete four-year degrees in early childhood development, education, psychology or mental health. Through transfer and articulation agreements, OCC makes it easy to transfer the credits earned for an associate degree to a senior institution to complete a bachelor’s degree.
There’s another advantage to the OCC program. "Since many of our students want to open their own day care centers, we also teach them about the challenges and business aspects of running a day care center." Professor Brooks speaks from experience, having owned a day care center for 18 years. She’s also run a day care center in her home for eight years.
Don't think you have to be a certain age to enter the Early Childhood Development program. At OCC students range from recent high school graduates to "empty-nester" moms who still want to be involved in shaping the future by caring for little ones.
Professor Brooks, who joined OCC in 1981, is excited to watch the job prospects — and the salary ranges — improve for people in the field of early childhood development: "Many recent studies confirm that children’s brains need stimulation from infancy in order to learn as much as they can throughout their lives. People who work in early childhood development used to be considered babysitters; now we’re viewed as brain builders."
Little Ones Learn in OCC Child Care Centers
OCC offers students a lot of benefits from a quality education with reasonable tuition costs to outstanding day care with flexible hours for their own kids.
Each OCC campus has a licensed, on-site child care facility, available for the children of OCC students. The centers are staffed with professional teachers and care givers and offer a wide range of experiences for the children who attend. The centers strive to meet the needs of the whole child, including cognitive and language skill development. The centers also provide training sites for students in OCC's Early Childhood Development program.
Child Care Centers are a long-standing OCC tradition. Throughout its history, the college attracted large numbers of mature students and women, and play care centers began at several OCC campuses. In January 1991, a new Child Care Center at the Auburn Hills Campus opened and earned the distinction of being the first OCC center to be licensed by the Department of Social Services. It remains the only one of the OCC child care centers that accommodates children from 6 months to 2 years of age, as well as preschoolers up to age 5. By October 1992, OCC's four other centers received their state licensing as child care centers.
In 1992, OCC's child care facilities were among 18 organizations recognized for special achievement by the Michigan Child Care Challenge Awards sponsored by the State House Republican Task Force. For more information about OCC child care programs, call 248-341-2346.