Family & Consumer Science

CAREER EDUCATION COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Child Development I: Students will study the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional growth of children from birth to preschool years as well as an introduction to education. Students will have the opportunity to learn about family and parenting roles, fetal development, meeting the needs of newborns, and explore the physical, intellectual and emotional development of infants and toddlers. Students will begin to explore various learning styles, learning theories, and the psychology of young children.  Students will also be introduced to lesson planning and have an opportunity to plan engaging activities and read-alouds for preschoolers. This course is especially for students considering a teaching career or a child-related profession and will complete the 3 year CTE course work. This is a semester course that is available to 9th, 10th and 11th grade students and is a prerequisite to Childcare Honors for the students in the class of 2027 and after.

Childcare Honors: This ten (10) credit honors course is designed to prepare high school seniors for a career in education, or a related profession that involves the ability to work with young children. This course includes the study of child growth and development, techniques in child guidance, preschool education management, preschool curriculum and lesson planning, and related career options. Students will also explore how to integrate technology into a preschool classroom, and how to positively interact with parents. Additionally, students will create a teaching portfolio, showcasing their exemplary work and reflection of their performance and growth throughout the year. Up to six (6) Fairleigh Dickinson University credits are available for those achieving a "C" or better.
Offered by application process and acceptance to 12th grade students in the class of 2025 and 2026, or students in 11th or 12th grade who have successfully completed Child Development I.

Culinary Arts 1*: The purpose of Culinary Arts I is to introduce students to the fundamentals of cooking through activity based learning. Students will be exposed to many issues of meal preparation. Techniques and skills are applied and used in classroom instruction and activities which provide students with a valuable life skill or potential career. Useful consumer choices and career topics are presented, helping students understand the role food and cooking impacts their everyday life. Students will be introduced to safety and sanitation techniques, time management, critical thinking, teamwork, problem solving used in a variety of scratch cooking units done by students, guided by teacher and the New Jersey State Student Learning Standards. Three (3) Fairleigh Dickinson University credits are available for those achieving a "C" or better.
Offered to 11th and 12th grade students

Culinary Arts 2: The purpose of American Regional Cuisine is to go on a food related learning journey around the United States. Students will develop an appreciation for and an understanding of our country’s past and present by preparing foods from around the country. Students will recognize that food choices, availability, and preference are influenced by cultural, ethnic, historic and geographic factors. This course will show how environmental circumstances, geography, food supply and creativity altered foreign immigrants’ traditions, eating and food patterns to form a new American cuisine. Students will prepare many representative dishes and meals from the six regions of the United States. The purpose of International Cuisine is to study the history culture, customs and geography which influence the cuisine around the world. This course will develop an appreciation of new and unusual food and help identify how global food choices are interrelated.
Offered to 12th grade students