Our DD is a junior and will likely pursue an early childhood education degree. We think this is right career for her as she genuinely loves little kids. She has worked at summer camps the last 2 years and will be working at a daycare center summer camp this year.
She will also have an internship her senior year where she leaves school for 2 periods a day and works at a local elementary school.
She has also been taking child development classes for the last 3 years at her HS.
Initially, we were reluctant to let her go this route but we have also told her to find something is passionate about since she will be doing it for the rest of her life. Not all decisions should be based on future earnings.
The debate now is how much to pay for this education since MD in-state options are not that appealing (UMD likely not an option).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll not join in the piling on

In my opinion, OP is correct

It's very important for her DD to not close doors at this stage in her life

If she majored in math and econ she could teach 5th grade math

The reverse will not be true if she picks the easy major

Really try to help her understand the concept that you don't always understand the value of your studies until later in life when you realize how many doors it opens

Exactly.

To teach at, say, a good private school you need a good education. Private school teachers rarely have ‘education degrees’ they have masters and PhD’s in subjects like math, science, history, etc, then they have work experience in that field and then they teach. Please explain to DD.

Perhaps she is just reaching for something more meaningful then just ‘earning money’ now, which you don’t seem capable of understanding. Now is the time to try so that you can help her broaden her options for her future.

You are not going to get a job teaching elementary school with "just" a math/English/Science degree. You need to take the early childhood education courses to teach elementary school.

Yes you are for the private schools. At my kids’ schools virtually no one has education degrees, they have degrees in strong subjects.
Go and look at some teacher bios for private schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Early childhood education is a specialized area of expertise just like Math/English/Science/History are.

I just disagree with this model.

It puts all the risk on the future early childhood educators. If the career works out, great. If you find out you don't enjoy teaching young kids as much as you thought, you're screwed because your education doesn't help you in any other way.

The school systems themselves should be able to train people with degrees in math, science, etc to be able to teach young children.

1st graders don't care if their teacher has an in depth knowledge of Calc 3. They care that their teacher knows how to lead circle time, gets their classmates to share, keeps them safe on the playground, knows when to schedule their potty breaks, knows when to refer them for special ed, knows how to teach them basic math and language arts, etc.

Teaching a HS kid AP BC Calc is a whole other ballgame.

Yeah I understand completely. I just think it's asking a lot for students to learn this all on their own before their first job offer and before they know for sure how much they like the career considering that the profession itself is not really high paid and the degree won't be good for much else if it doesn't work out.

That being said, how much of those things you said apply to 5th math in the OP's case?

It's a steady job with decent benefits. Students should be encouraged to look at the 8 semester plans for the majors they are interested in. If they want to keep their options open they are going to need to knock out some prerequisites. Ex: Early childhood education might have a minimal math requirement but nothing is preventing an EC major from taking Calc if they place in to Calc. Nothing is preventing them from taking General Chemistry instead of Intro to Science - if they place into Gen Chem/have the prerequisite math for Gen Chem.

But nothing is preventing them from taking the lighter science/math/English/History courses, either, if they know that what they want to do is focus their time/energy/talent on EC courses. Like I said before, passing those courses is not the same thing as being to able to apply what is learned during fieldwork. That is where the gifted EC teachers shine.

5th grade*

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Early childhood education is a specialized area of expertise just like Math/English/Science/History are.

I just disagree with this model.

It puts all the risk on the future early childhood educators. If the career works out, great. If you find out you don't enjoy teaching young kids as much as you thought, you're screwed because your education doesn't help you in any other way.

The school systems themselves should be able to train people with degrees in math, science, etc to be able to teach young children.

1st graders don't care if their teacher has an in depth knowledge of Calc 3. They care that their teacher knows how to lead circle time, gets their classmates to share, keeps them safe on the playground, knows when to schedule their potty breaks, knows when to refer them for special ed, knows how to teach them basic math and language arts, etc.

Teaching a HS kid AP BC Calc is a whole other ballgame.

Yeah I understand completely. I just think it's asking a lot for students to learn this all on their own before their first job offer and before they know for sure how much they like the career considering that the profession itself is not really high paid and the degree won't be good for much else if it doesn't work out.

That being said, how much of those things you said apply to 5th math in the OP's case?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Early childhood education is a specialized area of expertise just like Math/English/Science/History are.

I just disagree with this model.

It puts all the risk on the future early childhood educators. If the career works out, great. If you find out you don't enjoy teaching young kids as much as you thought, you're screwed because your education doesn't help you in any other way.

The school systems themselves should be able to train people with degrees in math, science, etc to be able to teach young children.

1st graders don't care if their teacher has an in depth knowledge of Calc 3. They care that their teacher knows how to lead circle time, gets their classmates to share, keeps them safe on the playground, knows when to schedule their potty breaks, knows when to refer them for special ed, knows how to teach them basic math and language arts, etc.

Teaching a HS kid AP BC Calc is a whole other ballgame.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Early childhood education is a specialized area of expertise just like Math/English/Science/History are.

I just disagree with this model.

It puts all the risk on the future early childhood educators. If the career works out, great. If you find out you don't enjoy teaching young kids as much as you thought, you're screwed because your education doesn't help you in any other way.

The school systems themselves should be able to train people with degrees in math, science, etc to be able to teach young children.

There would be nothing preventing you from taking your love of working with children into another field, though. Having an early childhood education degree means that you are instantly recognized for your ability to work with young children.

OP, calm down, you're overreacting because you've been spoiled by your ever-obedient DD for the past 19 or 20 or so years. For every kid that changes major at a TOP 10 school, I can tell you more than a handful of kids who totally flunked and messed up their lives while in college. Be grateful that your kid has her head and heart in the right place while she's pursuing something that is motivated by her passion rather than intermediate future "success". If she is as smart and as you say she is, she'll turn out absolutely fine and will live a comfortable life (and financially independent if that's your worry) as she sees it. Also, if she is as intellect as you say she is, she can still land in a good grad program (B-school or law school if that's what you want to hear) even with a "crappy" job like being a teacher.

At this point, there's no reason to pout in front of her and be grateful that she's trying to make an actual difference in people's lives rather than being a cog in the machine in the private sector.

Anonymous wrote:^Early childhood education is a specialized area of expertise just like Math/English/Science/History are.

I just disagree with this model.

It puts all the risk on the future early childhood educators. If the career works out, great. If you find out you don't enjoy teaching young kids as much as you thought, you're screwed because your education doesn't help you in any other way.

The school systems themselves should be able to train people with degrees in math, science, etc to be able to teach young children.

^Early childhood education is a specialized area of expertise just like Math/English/Science/History are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll not join in the piling on

In my opinion, OP is correct

It's very important for her DD to not close doors at this stage in her life

If she majored in math and econ she could teach 5th grade math

The reverse will not be true if she picks the easy major

Really try to help her understand the concept that you don't always understand the value of your studies until later in life when you realize how many doors it opens

Exactly.

To teach at, say, a good private school you need a good education. Private school teachers rarely have ‘education degrees’ they have masters and PhD’s in subjects like math, science, history, etc, then they have work experience in that field and then they teach. Please explain to DD.

Perhaps she is just reaching for something more meaningful then just ‘earning money’ now, which you don’t seem capable of understanding. Now is the time to try so that you can help her broaden her options for her future.

You are not going to get a job teaching elementary school with "just" a math/English/Science degree. You need to take the early childhood education courses to teach elementary school.

Show me a link about this?
Wouldn't school systems help train people on this?

If this is really true, that's pretty bad

Wonder how many people took a highly specialized early education educational track to realize they can't handle teaching young kids and have a degree that isn't good for much else

I still recommend studying math and then doing whatever early education training a school district requires if she wants to do 5th grade

Pick a good teaching college of your choice and look at the different teaching tracks. Elementary school education majors are on a different track than MS/HS teachers with a specialized area of expertise (math/science/English/History, etc).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll not join in the piling on

In my opinion, OP is correct

It's very important for her DD to not close doors at this stage in her life

If she majored in math and econ she could teach 5th grade math

The reverse will not be true if she picks the easy major

Really try to help her understand the concept that you don't always understand the value of your studies until later in life when you realize how many doors it opens

Exactly.

To teach at, say, a good private school you need a good education. Private school teachers rarely have ‘education degrees’ they have masters and PhD’s in subjects like math, science, history, etc, then they have work experience in that field and then they teach. Please explain to DD.

Perhaps she is just reaching for something more meaningful then just ‘earning money’ now, which you don’t seem capable of understanding. Now is the time to try so that you can help her broaden her options for her future.

You are not going to get a job teaching elementary school with "just" a math/English/Science degree. You need to take the early childhood education courses to teach elementary school.

Show me a link about this?
Wouldn't school systems help train people on this?

If this is really true, that's pretty bad

Wonder how many people took a highly specialized early education educational track to realize they can't handle teaching young kids and have a degree that isn't good for much else

I still recommend studying math and then doing whatever early education training a school district requires if she wants to do 5th grade

I think you should be supportive of the career switch, but ask her to stay in her current major. She could start a masters in education immediately after finishing undergrad in business or math and come out of school with her pick of teaching jobs.

The business background and a masters can prep her for school administration -- if that is a path that she wants to follow eventually. She will get a higher salary with a masters almost everywhere.

She will never lack employment as a math teacher.

I assume you are paying for her degree? I think it is fine to tell her that you won't pay if she switches her major. She is not an independent adult supporting herself. If she wants your monetary help, she needs to consult you and accept that you would like a say in her major and education plans while you are paying for it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And I wish my parents would have given me more info on career options that come from different degrees

I'd guess lots of parents have no idea of the career options that come from different degrees.

Yeah, when my kid is high school age I'm going to explain all the career options I know about

When I was in high school, I knew nothing

It took me many years to get a fuller sense of what careers are available and how much money some people make

I'll also say that there are some really smart HS math/science/English/History teachers that would not last even ONE day in an elementary school classroom.