Online Classes from the ChildCare Education Institute
Increasingly, child care providers are taking online classes to enhance their professional development.
Online classes allow child care providers to log onto their computer and learn about a variety of topics whenever they want. Topics range from child development, health and safety, nutrition, parent communication, staff management, positive guidance, child abuse, and much more.
Online classes offer the advantages of flexibility: they can be taken any time of day or night and can be completed in one setting or over a number of days. They are also more accessible to child care providers who live in rural areas.
Some online classes meet state licensing training requirements. Other classes allow providers to obtain a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. The majority of classes are geared towards those who work in child care centers.
There are few, if any online classes that cover the business side of family child care in any detail.
ChildCare Education Institute
A number of organizations* offer online classes for child care providers, and the most popular one is the ChildCare Education Institute.
They offer over 150 online classes, including ones to receive the CDA credential, meet Head Start standards, and meet many state licensing requirements. Many of their classes are also available in Spanish.
You can also take a free trial course.
However, they offer very few classes specifically directed at family child care providers. Their classes on child development and the CACFP Food Program are relevant to both homes and centers. A class on marketing, although geared to child care center directors, offers some good advice for family child care providers.
I completed one of their classes recently: Family Child Care Basics. It's a three hour class. Here are a few comments.
I found that the class would be most useful to people who are thinking about becoming a family child care provider or who have just started their business.
The class covers a lot of ground: the roles and responsibilities of a provider, parent communication, health and safety practices, positive guidance, recommended practices for early literacy, science and math development, and more.
Throughout the class, there are a number of useful quizzes that help reinforce how much you learned.
There was little, if anything, about record keeping or taxes, and other than a few slides about setting fees and establishing a contract, there was nothing else about the business side of family child care.
Online classes can be an efficient way for family child care providers to increase their knowledge and improve the quality of care they offer.
* Other organizations include: Child Care Lounge; Child Care Training; SafeGard Classes Online; Better Kid Kare Online Learning.
Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com
Image Credit: Child Care Education Institute
