Professional Development for Child & Youth Educators
The ³Ô¹ÏÍø offers seven professional development tracks, providing both comprehensive foundational training, and more advanced, or specialized training with in-depth content and resources. The Foundational Tracks (Infant & Toddler, Preschool, School-Age, Training & Curriculum Specialist, Management, and Family Child Care) each contain 15 courses that align with the CDA competencies and NAEYC, NAFCC, and CYD-AYD standards. The Focused Topics Track provides an expanding array of courses tailored to particular needs, from building caregivers' resiliency to strengthening food service workers' knowledge of key practices in child care settings.
The Infant & Toddler track is intended for early childhood professionals serving children ages 6 weeks through 3 years in center based programs. This track offers training and professional development resources, including written narrative, video, skill building activities, and classroom tools. The Infant & Toddler track consists of courses that mirror the core Child Development Associate (CDA) competencies plus a course on preventing child abuse and one on recognizing and reporting child abuse.
The Preschool track is intended for early childhood professionals serving children ages 3 through 5 years in center based programs. This track offers training and professional development resources, including written narrative, video, skill building activities, and classroom tools. The Preschool track consists of courses that mirror the core Child Development Associate (CDA) competencies plus a course on preventing child abuse and one on recognizing and reporting child abuse.
The School-Age track is intended for early childhood professionals serving children ages 5 through 12 years in center based before- and after-school as well as summer-based programs. This track offers training and professional development resources, including written narrative, video, skill building activities, and classroom tools. The School-Age track consists of courses that mirror the core Child Development Associate (CDA) competencies plus a course on preventing child abuse and one on recognizing and reporting child abuse.
The Training and Curriculum Specialist track is intended for T&Cs serving in center based child development and school-age programs. This track's approach is designed to aid and support T&Cs in their role as trainers and coaches for staff in their programs. The track offers training and professional development resources, including written narrative, video, skill building activities and tools. The T&C track consists of courses that mirror the core Child Development Associate (CDA) competencies plus a course on preventing child abuse and one on recognizing and reporting child abuse.
The Management track is intended for beginning Managers serving in center based child development and school-age programs. This track is designed to aid managers and provide best practices for implementing program policy and supporting staff members in their centers. The track offers training and professional development resources, including written narrative, video, skill building activities and tools. The Management track consists of courses that mirror the core Child Development Associate (CDA) competencies plus a course on preventing child abuse and one on recognizing and reporting child abuse
The Family Child Care track is intended for early childhood professionals serving children birth through 12 years of age as home-based child care providers. This track offers training and professional development resources, including written narrative, video, skill building activities, and program tools. The Family Child Care track consists of courses that mirror the core Child Development Associate (CDA) competencies plus a course on preventing child abuse and one on recognizing and reporting child abuse.
In addition to the 15 Foundational Courses available within the ³Ô¹ÏÍø’s six primary Tracks, we also offer a number of Focused Topics courses. These courses are centralized around specific themes, offering in-depth content and resources to help staff members and administrators strengthen their knowledge and practices relevant to specific subject matter – such as, identifying stress-reduction techniques, best practices in food service, supporting diverse languages, sexual development and behavior, gender expression, challenging behavior, trauma-informed care, and more.