Obtaining an Internship Placement
Early childhood internships encourage students to master best practice when working with diverse groups of children and their families. Each student must successfully complete an internship in order to apply to earn the early childhood credentials including a two year Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education and a Certificate of Early Childhood Education. The early childhood internship is meant to be a capstone experience for each student providing a enjoyable learning relationship between an instructor, a site mentor (called a coordinating site teacher), and the student. The course outcomes provide an opportunity for students to be able to apply concepts learned in classes. The course outcomes are based on the community college standards for quality created by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accrediting and advocacy organization. Typically, the internship is taken during one of the last two semesters prior to graduation.
- Internships are offered during three semesters: Summer, Spring, and Fall.The summer semester internship course is scheduled for approximately 8 to 10 weeks. The fall and spring internship course is approximately 14 weeks. Each student must complete a minimum of 275 clock hours of approved field experience regardless of which session the student chooses. This may be an issue for students who plan to work or volunteer in programs part-time. General guidelines for the minimum number of clock hours needed to be earned on a weekly basis include:
Fall/Spring (a minimum of 14 weeks) 275 / 14 weeks or 20 clock hours a week*
Summer (a minimum of 8 weeks) 275 / 8 weeks or 35 clock hours a week*
*Students are accountable for any clock hours lost due to illness or other types of absenteeism during the internship. Hours may vary depending on length of class.
- The Nature of an Early Childhood Internship. Each student selects a site based on guidelines which are provided by the KCC Early Childhood and Teacher Education office (ECTE). Students are required to teach children a minimum number of hours even if they are working in an administrative position. Students with questions on this aspect of the internship and guidelines for sites should contact the KCC Early Childhood office for an appointment.
- Prerequisite Information. Students must receive Department Approval to take this course. Prerequisite courses must be complete with a minimum grade of "C". These courses are: ECE 201, ECE 210, ECE 215, ECE 224, ECE 232, ECE 233, ENGL 151. Students must meet the ECE Program Guidelines and are subject to an ICHAT Criminal Background Check (Internet Criminal History Access Tool). For more information on these guidelines, you may access the KCC Web Page at: http://www.kellogg.edu/ece/pdf/ProgramInformationGuidelines.pdf; or call the ECTE office. Note: The KCC ECTE Office reserves the right to not accept intern student candidates who cannot pass legal State of Michigan licensing regulations for child care centers, group or registered home care providers, and for school employees or volunteers.
- Final Program ReviewEach student needs to schedule a final program review (does not replace graduation audit completed by the Kellogg Community College Registrar’s office) with the Early Childhood and Teacher Education Director. Students can make an appointment to complete the final program review by contacting the ECTE office at: 269.965.3931 Ext. 2109, or by emailing the office at: education@kellogg.edu. At this appointment, each student will be given a form packet which is used to demonstrate the student’s intent to register for an internship (more information about the form packet can be found below). The following schedule guides the scheduling of final program reviews which take place in the semester PRIOR to when a student would like an internship:
If you desire an internship in the:
Fall semester: Your program review should take place in December through February.
Spring semester: Your program review should take place in August through October.
Summer semester: Your program review should take place in October through December.
Please note that there may be a limited number of seats available for this course. Each student is responsible for notifying the ECTE office during the timeline listed above, however, if a student misses this schedule, he or she should still contact the office immediately. - Locating a Site to Complete Internship
- Read the Kellogg Community College Early Childhood Education (ECE) Internship Guidelines PRIOR to selecting a field experience site. Contact the ECTE office or the Internship Faculty Instructor to receive permission to use the field experience site. The office has a letter you may use to introduce the internship to potential sites. If you desire the letter, please notify the office. If you need suggestions for potential sites, please contact the ECTE office for an appointment.
- Once the site has been approved by the ECTE Director or the Faculty Instructor, you may contact the site to discuss further details. You will need to review the guidelines with the site and obtain a signature from the Site Director on the Site Permission form. Once the Site has given you written permission to participate bring the Site Permission form to the ECTE Director or to the Faculty Instructor to obtain final permission to register for the course (more information on the form packet is below).
- Registering for the ECE 221 Early Childhood Internship Course: You must register in person for this course unless you have made arrangements with the Early Childhood office. This course will always show zero seats available due to the nature of the course. You cannot register online for this course.
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Form packet: During the graduation review, each student will be given a form packet which asks the student to declare the intent to register for the internship. The packet is made up of three forms:
Intent to Register form
Coordinating Site Teacher Credentials (guidelines)
Site Permission Form