Undergraduate Course Descriptions

This course provides an overview of child and family development as a profession and academic discipline. It focuses on the broader discipline and its specialty areas of study and practice, career opportunities available in the field and educational requirements for field entry, effective job and graduate program preparation strategies, and practical issues confronting child and family services and professionals in related occupations.

This course examines a variety of developmentally appropriate instructional strategies central to the education of children. Integrating a micro-systemic perspective that takes into account internal and external family dynamics, this course will focus on identifying theoretical and applied solutions to the choice of age-appropriate learning exercises

This course examines the fundamentals of infant and toddler development, including planning and implementing programs in group care. It emphasizes meeting physical, social, emotional, and cognitive needs; scheduling, preparing age-appropriate activities, health and safety policies, record keeping, and reporting to parents.

This course addresses the research and theory of child development from conception through the end of childhood. Topics include the child’s emotional, perceptual, and intellectual development, with attention to the social, cultural, and biological context in which children develop. Practical applications of theory and research will be emphasized.

This course is an overview of the biological, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of human sexuality and family life. The overall theme of the course focuses on attitudes and responsible sexual behavior. Key topics include how culture, society, and history have impacted our understanding of human sexuality.

This course examines the family during the latter half of the twentieth century. Topics include a diverse range of issues, including single mothers, fathers, disparities among families, child care and child well-being, cohabitation, and how these trends affect American family life.

This course is a study of theories, research and practical interventions concerning the psychological development of the child from conception to puberty. Course content focuses on biological, intellectual, emotional and social development, and the dynamics of family, peer, school and other environmental influences.

This course is an examination of physical, cognitive, emotional and social development in the first 3 years of life. Course topics include developmental milestones, abnormal development and disease, parenting, family dynamics and appropriate care practices and environments from infancy through 36 months of age.

This course stresses the need to respect the unique qualities that individual children and their families bring to the early childhood setting. It presents developmentally appropriate guidance strategies that help young children to become responsible, respectful, and productive members of the community.

This course focuses on theory and practical approaches to understanding and providing accommodations for students with special needs. Students will be presented with an overview of the characteristics of the most prevalent types of disabilities, as well as the laws that protect and best educational practices for children with disabilities. Students will examine the methods to teach, as well as the documents that provide the legal basis for meeting the needs for an appropriate education for this population.

This course examines the development of children in the grade school years, with attention given to the influence of emotional, intellectual, physiological, social, and cultural factors upon psychosocial growth and development. Family influences and exposure to other social and academic experiences are emphasized as they impact upon the development of the child.

This course examines factors influencing child rearing practices in families with an emphasis on developing practical skills for working with parents and children. Topics of study include family systems, communication dynamics, blended and culturally diverse families, conflict management, custody concerns, factors supporting healthy child development and resilience, challenges to positive parenting and models for effectively working with parents and youth

This course is a study of the dynamics of family interaction over the life cycle. Course content emphasizes the developmental, social, and cultural influences of the family in relation to a variety of personal and social experiences.

This course is a survey of human development across the life span. Course content includes terminology, principles, and theories related to genetic and environmental influences on physical, cognitive, emotional and social development.

This course guides students through an examination of the major theories and research findings related to healthy and effective marriages and families. Family dynamics associated with marital breakdowns and an introduction to family therapy are included.

The course offers a philosophical and historical perspective on family life education across the lifespan. Practice in curriculum development including content, objectives, and teaching strategies for diverse social groups and settings is stressed.

The course covers the management of a variety of resources most often found in family systems. Included is the interaction of families with other societal environmental systems in acquiring and using resources to meet goals and other demands.

This course focuses on psychopathology in childhood from biological, cognitive, social and emotional perspectives and the assessment and diagnostic tools and treatment approaches used with major childhood disorders. Environmental factors contributing to the development of child psychopathology, including family dysfunction, interpersonal violence and trauma and assessment of risk for child abuse and neglect, drug use and suicide will be examined. (Prerequisite: CHFD307) This course replaces CHFD410.

This course examines historical and current research related to, and practical applications for managing and reducing, childhood stress within home, school and community environments. The effects of separation, divorce, violence, crises and trauma both within and external to the home, and events impacting local and extended communities will be addressed with a prevention and intervention focus.

The course examines the interdependent patterns and relationships within families and the communication styles that directly correlate to family trauma and recovery. In addition, this course utilizes both theoretical and applied frameworks to review how family and individual development is impacted during traumatic events across the lifespan.

This course emphasizes the role of communications within the family relationship cycle. It examines how individual needs, perceptions, and self-concepts affect the quality of intra - and inter-familial communication, and integrates both theoretical and applied aspects of family research.

This course is the study of the multidimensional aspects of family law and policy, including child support enforcement, homosexual marriage, and surrogate parenting. Students will analyze case excerpts from court opinions on family policies and laws that apply at the federal, state, and local level.

This course covers major issues within the field of child and family development. Historical underpinnings of theory and practice, factors influencing family function and dysfunction across the lifespan, family education and guidance, law and public policy related to children and families, family resource management, and ethical and professional issues confronting practitioners in field are examined. Extensive research, reading and synthesis of scholarly and professional resources are required. Prerequisite: Student must have SENIOR standing to register.

The culmination of the student's program of study, the Internship in Child and Family Development consists of a minimum of 125 clock-hours in an CHFD program approved field setting and runs concurrent with an APUS online classroom seminar, weekly student and site-supervisor meetings, and regular APUS internship director and site-supervisor consultations to provide opportunities for the analysis, discussion, documentation and evaluation of the field experience. The internship requires the student to apply the knowledge base acquired during completion of degree coursework. Internship participation is required of students wishing to apply for certification with the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) as a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) after graduation. Students in the CHFD program not wishing to seek the CFLE also may complete the internship with the APUS internship director’s approval. Pre-requisite: Completion of all required BA in Child and Family Development coursework and approval from the internship director.