Introduction: Welcome to the Child Psychology Telecourse. Development is a life long process. This course focuses on the critical aspects of development in our earliest years of life. By understanding human development we are better able to understand our own experiences and those of others. The understanding of child and adolescent development is essential for anyone who works with children or is or plans to be a parent.

1. Text: The Developing Child, Helen Bee, 9^th Edition, 2000.
2. Telecourse Guide by Betty Sunerton that accompanies the text.
3. Video Cassettes which are needed to record from your VCR the televised programs on PBS/WHYY.

Course Instructor: Brina Friedman, M.Ed, CAC, ICADC, CCJS

Voice mail #: 215-619-7460 ext. 4385# or 610-718-1920 ext. 4385#
I can't be reached directly at these numbers but you can leave a message and I will return you call shortly. These are the best numbers for contact.

Mailing Address Brina Friedman Parkhouse Hall, Social Sciences Montgomery County Community College 340 DeKalb Pike Blue Bell PA 19422-0796

Important: Make certain all correspondence is addressed to my attention. Postage paid envelopes will be available.

Email: Assignments may be sent via email. Mailing a hard copy is not necessary. If you choose to do so please mark COPY at the top of the paper. Assignments may also be hand delivered to my mailbox in Parkhouse Hall. I use my personal email for this purpose. Please do not email me at the college. If you have AOL my email address is Brina Gwen. If you use another ISP email me at BrinaGwen@aol.com. Important: If you email your assignment to me please make certain to give reference to the Child Psychology course. I get more mail than I could ever read and I don't want to miss your mail.

1. Weekly assignments serve to integrate the course materials. The 24 lessons in the Telecourse Guide correspond directly to the 12 televised programs. The textbook chapters provide additional information. Thus, it is suggested that for each lesson the student should:

1. Read the Telecourse Guide concentrating on the Learning Objectives.
2. Read the textbook material.
3. View the videocassette taking notes where necessary for the written assignment.

2. Important instructions for your assignments are as follows:

1. Review the syllabus and the units to be covered. Determine the topic areas that are of greatest interest to you. Of the 24 possible units select four to write a reaction paper to during the semester. You are only required to complete four reaction papers. See below for reaction paper content.

3. A final examination will be given in the Learning Lab in the Library of College Hall, 3^rd floor, Room CH 320. The exam will be available for students to take during Learning Lab hours. The Learning Lab is open Monday - Thursday from 7:30 am-9:30 pm, Friday 7:30 am-5 pm, Saturday 10 am-4 pm and Sunday 1 pm-5 pm. Please note: The learning assistance lab may change their scheduled hours of availability without notice. It is strongly recommended that you call in advance to confirm their schedule. Identification will be required to take the final exam. Students who would prefer to take the exam in the learning lab of the west campus must notify me of your preference and an appointment must be scheduled with the west campus learning lab. The Learning Lab closes at the times indicated. It is recommended that students allow at least two hours for completion of the exam. The final exam consists of 50 objective questions. Two or three questions are taken from each chapter. The questions are based upon the major points of the materials.
4. Grades are based upon the student's ability to conceptualize theory and integrate course content demonstrated by written reaction papers. The final exam is worth double the value of the written assignments. To limit subjective grading, grades for papers are determined as follows:

A	=	Assignments receiving an A demonstrate an ability to conceptualize the material beyond what is normally seen at an introductory level.
B	=	Assignments receiving a B are those that are complete and accurate.
C	=	Assignments receiving a C contain inaccuracies and/or are incomplete.
D & F	=	Assignments receiving a D or an F are those which appear to have been given little consideration and/or seem to have been written without review of the unit materials.

5. The official start of the semester begins with the WHYY airing of the first two broadcasts.

Please select four chapters from the text that are of greatest interest to you and submit a one to two page reaction paper. Please write about the main ideas of the chapter and any comments you have regarding it (agree or disagree; what was most interesting to you; a similar experience you have had with a child). Do not just make notes or an outline of the lesson. Demonstrate you have thoughts about the materials presented.

1. All assignments must be typed (double-spaced) or done on a word processor.
2. All assignments must include your name and lesson title.
3. All assignments should be brief (a page or two) and focused.
4. All assignments should reflect examples from the course materials to support your viewpoints. You may interject personal experiences when they are relevant to the topic and material. Independent and critical analysis may help your assignment grade.
5. Keep copies of all your work in the event that a paper is lost in the mail or misplaced. In the event I do not receive a student's paper, the student is responsible for sending me a duplicate copy.
6. All written assignments must be post-marked timely. All late papers will be penalized one letter grade per week.
7. Please allow a two-week turn around time for the return of all assignments. It is not unusual for mail to arrive at the college over a week after mailing. In order to assure attention to each paper and provide adequate feedback, this time is required.
8. In the event an assignment is not returned to you, please contact me to make certain it was not lost.
9. It is the student's responsibility to inform me of any address changes. I can not be responsible for assignments not returned due to unreported address changes.

Important: Falling behind in this course may be detrimental. The assignments are manageable if you develop your own working pace and complete them on time. This also enables me to give you necessary and regular feedback.

Syllabus for The Child Psychology Telecourse
Please reference the attached schedule for broadcast dates.
Topic	Chapter	Televised Lesson #

Basic Questions	1	N/A
Prenatal Development	2	N/A
Birth and the Newborn	3	1, 2
Physical Development	4	3, 4
Perceptual Development	5	5, 6
Cognitive Development I	6	7, 8
Cognitive Development II	7	9, 10
Language	8	11, 12
Personality	9	13, 14
Self-concept	10	15, 16
Social Relationships	11	17, 18
Social Cognition	12	19, 20
Ecology of Development	13	21, 22
Impact of the Broader Culture	14	23, 24
Putting it all Together	16	N/A

The student code of conduct is a binding part of this syllabus in academic and disciplinary matters. Any student requiring accommodation for a disability should contact the counseling center and also speak to me to assure a successful semester.

Thank you for taking the course.

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