You Are Required to....???

[Little Star75]

I have seen a few threads talking about what you are required to have as far as classes.... Classes required by licensing? Or who? Or is it depending on what you offer For example Preschool?

Im in California and I'm NOT required to have ECE units, etc I'm only required to have over 1-yr EXPERIENCE in this field.

So I'm wondering what everyone else is required to have.

[Crystal]

It is different for every state. California, IMO, is behind the curve and there NEEDS to be some sort of training requirement, other than CPR/First Aid. I cannot tell you how many providers I know that are HORRIBLE at this job, and it is because they have no basic understanding of child development. It makes me sick.

I know it isn't the case for ALL providers who have no education in Child Development....there are certainly many, many providers who are simply naturals at working with and being with children, but there just as many who are not and I think basic training, at the least, could really make a difference in the stae of child care.

[Little Star75]

Well I have never taken a child development class but only psychology classes. I have a AA degree in Psychology and Communication Studies, have over 15-yrs experience working with children in schools, centers, and personally. However I always try to take classes offered by the food program that pertain to children, food, taxes, etc.

I was just curious to find out what everyone else is required to have

[BumbleBee]

In Michigan, for a family home daycare license (6 kids) you are required to have 10 hours a year. This is a licensing requirement here.

[snbauser]

Here in NC it ranges based on the number of years in the field and your education level. Right now I am required I think 10 hrs/year. I don't normally keep track of it because I am almost always taking at least one college class and it more than covers the number of training hours I need each year.

[Crystal]

Originally Posted by Little Star75

Well I have never taken a child development class but only psychology classes. I have a AA degree in Psychology and Communication Studies, have over 15-yrs experience working with children in schools, centers, and personally. However I always try to take classes offered by the food program that pertain to children, food, taxes, etc.

I was just curious to find out what everyone else is required to have

Oh, please don't think I am being offensive. Honestly, I think psychology can be a "close second" in understanding the development of a child's cognitive, as well as social-emotional development. I also think training doesn't really need to be college coursework.....I'd like to see ANY type of training requirement and think that there are MANY, MANY wonderful opportunities to gain knowledge about child development and developmentally appropriate practices through workshops/conferences, etc!

[Blackcat31]

Do you mean what classes/courses we are required to take each year or what requirements we need to get a license? Here is the requirements for before and after licensing in MN

Before You Can Become Licensed

These classes must be taken in person
•CPR –Can be less than 4 hours
•First Aid training- Can be less than 8 hours
•SIDS training
•Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) Training

Training certificates for these courses must be provided prior to licensing.

In addition, before you transport any child you must take an approved Child Car Restraint System Training course approved by the State Dept. of Safety. An approved course is offered through AAA and Resources for Child Caring. This course must be repeated every five years.

Within the First Year of Being Licensed
•After you become licensed, you must take 8 hours of training during the first year. Your initial training does not count toward this 8 hours.
•Two of the training hours must be in child development in the first year

Second Year and Beyond•You must take 8 hours of child related training per year.*
•The Shaken Baby Syndrome video must be viewed on years training is not taken (this does not count toward your 8 hours)
•The CPR course must be updated every 3 years and counts toward the 8 hours.**
•The SIDS/Shaken Baby Syndrome training must be updated every 5 years and counts toward the 8 hours.**

[Little Star75]

Originally Posted by Crystal

Oh, please don't think I am being offensive. Honestly, I think psychology can be a "close second" in understanding the development of a child's cognitive, as well as social-emotional development. I also think training doesn't really need to be college coursework.....I'd like to see ANY type of training requirement and think that there are MANY, MANY wonderful opportunities to gain knowledge about child development and developmentally appropriate practices through workshops/conferences, etc!

Oh not at all!

[Little Star75]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

Do you mean what classes/courses we are required to take each year or what requirements we need to get a license? Here is the requirements for before and after licensing in MN

Before You Can Become Licensed

These classes must be taken in person
•CPR –Can be less than 4 hours
•First Aid training- Can be less than 8 hours
•SIDS training
•Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) Training

Training certificates for these courses must be provided prior to licensing.

In addition, before you transport any child you must take an approved Child Car Restraint System Training course approved by the State Dept. of Safety. An approved course is offered through AAA and Resources for Child Caring. This course must be repeated every five years.

Within the First Year of Being Licensed
•After you become licensed, you must take 8 hours of training during the first year. Your initial training does not count toward this 8 hours.
•Two of the training hours must be in child development in the first year

Second Year and Beyond•You must take 8 hours of child related training per year.*
•The Shaken Baby Syndrome video must be viewed on years training is not taken (this does not count toward your 8 hours)
•The CPR course must be updated every 3 years and counts toward the 8 hours.**
•The SIDS/Shaken Baby Syndrome training must be updated every 5 years and counts toward the 8 hours.**

Sorry should of been more specific.... I was referring to classes. Yes here in California we need CPR, first aid, and health and safety course before we apply for the license. CPR must be renewed every 2 years and that's all we are required.

[sharlan]

Other than the mandatory health and first aid/CPR classes, I have no formal education.

I would love to take some workshops, but have no desire to go back to school and start over when I will only be doing this for a couple more years. Our local CCR&R office is really less than informative.

[LK5kids]

In Wi you need 3 credits of broad-based early childhood training ( or a non-credit approved training) such as child dev., intro to early childhood Ed etc.
A non- credit course in operating a child care business, CPR/First Aid and 15 hours of continuing education each year. Providers who serve children under 2 must also obtain 10 hours of training in the care of infants & toddlers along with shaken baby syndrome prevention.

I think WI does a good job with it's reqiurements. I have a a BA in early childhood/ elementary education and have many years working with kids in many capacities. It still took the state registry a few months to approve my courses and waive the above requirements.

For awhile I thought I was going to have to take these entry level classes even though I taught them for a few years for providers entering the field!

[Laurel]

Here are our requirements. Our counties are different though. I have to be licensed in my county in Florida. However, other counties don't.

Licensed Family Child Care Home
65C-20.009(2), Florida Administrative Code

Family Child Care Home Operator

Must complete:

1.30-clock-hour Family Child Care Home Training, prior to licensure
2.5-clock-hour (or .5 Continue Education Units) Early Literacy and Language Development, prior to licensure
3.10-clock-hours Annual In-service training during licensure year
4.First Aid Training, prior to licensure
5.Infant and Child Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), prior to licensure

Laurel

P.S. Our ten hours per year can be anything regarding children or the business side of our child care business really. There are no requirements on what we decide to take a class in.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Crystal

It is different for every state. California, IMO, is behind the curve and there NEEDS to be some sort of training requirement, other than CPR/First Aid.

I totally agree. It doesn't even have to be a degree or certificate or anything but at least classes or workshops close to what age groups you are working with- like if you take children under 3 maybe take infant and toddler care classes. If you will be teaching preschoolers then maybe taking a class on different approaches to preschool curriculum (creative, play-based, child lead/teacher lead, reggio, walden) or how to create you own curriculum. Or if you watch B4/AS kids maybe a class on discipline/guidance for older children or activities/craft ideas that aren't too easy but not too challenging. Or even just a class on child care business administration (record keeping, setting up contracts/policies, rules/regulations/rights, what to do during an interview)

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Little Star75

Well I have never taken a child development class but only psychology classes. I have a AA degree in Psychology and Communication Studies, have over 15-yrs experience working with children in schools, centers, and personally. However I always try to take classes offered by the food program that pertain to children, food, taxes, etc.

About 3 of the classes at my school that are child development double as psychology classes. One on development of infancy to late childhood (basically milestones), another on mental development of adolecences, and child/family in a diverse society (all are core classes for CD AA but the last two also count towards general ed requirements). Some classes cross over for more than one subject, I also took a class for art with SACs that counted for my GE art requirements.

Who knows maybe if your local school does offer CD/ECE degrees or certificates or if you wanted to get a CD/ECE teaching permit, you may need less classes then you think. The only problem would be if you have to take a student teaching course because I know my school is very picky and requires that you do it for a child care center where you have a supervisor that has at least a master's teaching permit and it's not just total hours clocked in but total amount of days. The same for the teaching permits->

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/leaflets/cl797.pdf.

This has pretty much the same info but it's is easier to follow:
http://www.childdevelopment.org/cs/c...f?x-r=pcfile_d

[Childminder]

Originally Posted by Trummynme

In Michigan, for a family home daycare license (6 kids) you are required to have 10 hours a year. This is a licensing requirement here.

The hours are increasing to 24 per year, or so I have heard from an inside source.

[nanglgrl]

In Iowa we have to take 12. I participate in Childnet so I have to take 16. At least 6 of the hours have to be in a group setting and CPR/1st Aide/MANDT do not count towards those hours.

I don't think the classes help most of the people that really need it. People are only required to show up, they don't have to actually understand the material or follow it. I'm not saying they don't help anyone. I'm sure there are some providers that still have no idea that babies are supposed to sleep on their backs, without blankets, etc. but seriously unless these providers live in a shack without electricity in the middle of nowhere they probably just aren't fit to be a provider. It's just common knowledge these days.

I find the classes incredibly boring and sometimes insulting. They talk to the providers like they are children. They teach the classes at an 8th grade level because that's where they think most providers are intellectually. At a recent class I took my seat and there was a binder, some pamphlets and a piece of blue paper folder in half. I asked the person next to me what the paper was for and the instructor overheard and replied, "that's for you to write your name on and fold in half in front of you, I know it's all pretty confusing isn't it?" -She said this with a sing song voice as if she were talking to a child confused about the obvious and it took all I had not to walk out.

I'm sure some states have awesome trainings and trainers. The ladies that do our trainings are nice and educated but most of them have never done daycare and have no idea what we do all day. Some of the trainings aren't horrible but for the most part they are just common sense.

I've sat through trainings where there are providers that have been in business 10, 20, 30 plus years. They've taken over 100 hours of training in that time on child development and they still have no idea.
The people that are on this board are seeking information and therefore being educated. Who better to get information from than other providers? I've been in classes where people say outrageous things but no one calls them out on it they just move on to the next thing...here if you say something ridiculous you end up with a 5 page thread....I hope I didn't just put myself into one of those moments. Sorry, I'm just feeling a little beat up by this job right now. Not the kids or even the parents but I just wish there was a way to weed people out of this profession who had no business getting into it in the first place. Sigh.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by nanglgrl

Sorry, I'm just feeling a little beat up by this job right now. Not the kids or even the parents but I just wish there was a way to weed people out of this profession who had no business getting into it in the first place. Sigh.

Well some people just want to do this profession not because they like working for kids but because they think it is an easy way to make money; IMO if any type of job seems too easy than they are probably forgetting something or doing something wrong, though there are some people who are just born naturals and are very organized. But the good thing is that most of the people who think this is a get rich quick type of job usually fade out after a year or two because they were not prepared for the stress of dealing with kids or parents or the actual work involved in the maintenance of the home/license and the work after hours to set up.

[slorey]

In NY we have to have 30 hours if training every 2 years for both family child care as well as center employees. The first 15 hours need to be in the first 6 months of employment someplace new. After that, you can space it out however you want. When I had my ds 2 years ago I procrastinated on doing the training and ended up having to do almost all 30 hours online over the course of a weekend right before my license expired! It wasn't fun and I probably would not do that again, but it worked for the time.
We also have 9 areas and have to have training for each area:
1. Business Record Maintenance and Management,
2. Child Abuse & Maltreatment Identification & Prevention,
3. Child Day Care Program Development,
4. Identification, Diagnosis & Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome,
5. Nutrition & Health Needs of Children,
6. Principles of Child Development,
7. Safety & Security Procedures,
8. Statues & Regulations Pertaining to Child Abuse & Maltreatment,
9. Statues & Regulations Pertaining to Child Day Care.
It sounds worse than it really is because we only have to make sure our training covers all topics, but many classes cover more than one area. Our local Child Care Council offers many classes throughout the year and usually do a pretty decent job with them, although after being in childcare for almost 15 years, most of it is just review of information for me. But, still helpful to have a refresher course. Forgot to mention, family child care providers are also required to have current CPR and First Aid, but those training hours can count towards to total training hours needed so it's not that bad.