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Spotlight on Heather McCutchen
Heather McCutchen, a senior from O’Fallon, Mo., says getting involved on campus directly resulted in her great experience here at Southeast. With over 150 student organizations to get involved in, Heather says she had a hard time choosing what not to do rather than what to do.

Southeast Missouri State University


Why Should I Study Child Development at Southeast?

  • Child development students at Southeast study new ways of thinking about children.  Research suggests that an essential factor in determining positive outcomes for a young child is the education of the person who cares for or teaches that child.
  • A background in child development prepares you for helping children reach their highest potential. Studying how children grow contributes to an understanding of how intellectual, language, social, emotional and motor behaviors change over time. Child development study examines individual differences among children, as well as familial, social and cultural developmental contexts. With all of these understandings, you can observe children, then thoughtfully describe, interpret, and take action based on what you have seen and what you know. And because you have a deeper understanding of children and their families, you can be a stronger professional, whatever your field.
  • You will receive “real world” experience through Southeast’s nationally accredited Center for Child Studies and the University Child Enrichment Center. Both centers are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Both provide education services to families and children between the ages of six weeks and six years.  In addition, they provide you with observation and other research opportunities for your academic program.
  • Your degree will provide you with numerous career opportunities in child development.  The child development program prepares you to become a professional in settings that include health and human service agencies, children’s hospitals, resource and referral agencies, state departments of family and child services and Parents as Teachers programs. 
  • Child development interns are placed in the Southeast Community and beyond. Child development students have participated in internships at the Cape Safe House for Women, the local Division of Family Services, the Cottonwood Treatment Center, Educare, Child Care Resource and Referral, Head Start and Pre-K Programs in the community. 
  • You can join the Child Development Club.  This student organization is open to all Southeast students.  You will participate in public and university service activities related to children, their parents, and caregivers, make friends and have fun. 
  • Southeast’s child development students reap the benefit of learning within a smaller environment with a low faculty-to-student ratio. Our faculty are knowledgeable, committed practitioners who value young children, their families, their caregivers and their teachers. They serve as advocates, scholars, and leaders in the Southeast community and region.

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