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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>What is Your Educational Background?
permanentvacation 05:33 PM 01-20-2015
I'm just curious to know what type of education everyone has. I haven't completed any college degrees. But I have taken years of daycare related classes such as curriculum, health and safety, professionalism, etc. But those are just little one day classes required to maintain our daycare license.

I am:

CPR Certified
SIDS Certified
AED Certified
Certified Infants and Toddlers Teacher
Certified Preschool Teacher
Qualified to be a director of a center with up to 20 children (qualification includes numerous daycare classes (not college courses) and my years of experience as a licensed home daycare provider)

I started working on my A.S. degree in Early Childhood Education years ago and every time I start back to work on that, something happens in my family's life that makes me put it on the back burner.

I also started working on my A. A. degree in Accounting a while ago, but again, life threw a whole tool box full of wrenches at me which made me have to stop attending college.
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finsup 05:44 PM 01-20-2015
Associates in early childhood. 14 years professional experience working with kids (although the majorityof those were school age in the public school system as opposed to the birth-4 group in childcare.) As for trainings/certificates, too many to remember lol.
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Controlled Chaos 06:17 PM 01-20-2015
I have a bfa in modern dance with a minor in French

I also am a prek-8th grade licensed educator. I taught dance in middle and elementary schools for 5 years before opening a home daycare. I had worked in centers during college.
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Febby 06:34 PM 01-20-2015
High school, of course, and some college (I went for two years, but no degree).

I also have my Commonwealth Child Care Credential (it's basically half a CDA)

CPR and first aid certification

And ~20 hours of training on miscellaneous topics
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Annalee 06:50 PM 01-20-2015
On an iPhone so I hope this comes thru. AS degree early childhood, CDA in family child care, infant/toddler credential, FCC mentor, CPR/first aid certified
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DaveA 06:52 PM 01-20-2015
Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice
21 college credit hours in Early Childhood Education (IL Director's qualification)
Basic Life Support (Healthcare provider and Heartsaver) CPR/ AED Instructor
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jenboo 08:48 PM 01-20-2015
Bachelors degree in child and family development, specializing in child development.
Then all your typical trainings:
Cpr
First aid
Aed
Nutrition
Baby sign language
Curriculum
Blood borne pathogens
Behavior management
Motivating staff
Gross motor activities
Etc
Etc
Etc
We have to do so many hours a year.
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Annalee 05:43 AM 01-21-2015
Originally Posted by jenboo:
Bachelors degree in child and family development, specializing in child development.
Then all your typical trainings:
Cpr
First aid
Aed
Nutrition
Baby sign language
Curriculum
Blood borne pathogens
Behavior management
Motivating staff
Gross motor activities
Etc
Etc
Etc
We have to do so many hours a year.
Same here: To remain the highest star we have to have 28 per licensing year for a group home which is what I am as well and it has to be DHS approved....
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Indoorvoice 06:16 AM 01-21-2015
I have a bachelors in special and elementary education and a bachelors in psychology. I taught for 3 years in an autism classroom and 3 years in a cognitively impaired vlassroom before starting a daycare.
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jenboo 06:21 AM 01-21-2015
Originally Posted by Annalee:
Same here: To remain the highest star we have to have 28 per licensing year for a group home which is what I am as well and it has to be DHS approved....
Thankfully, they have many online options and I just skip to the quiz
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Annalee 06:26 AM 01-21-2015
Originally Posted by jenboo:
Thankfully, they have many online options and I just skip to the quiz
Some of ours are online as well.....
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midaycare 06:49 AM 01-21-2015
Bachelors in Elementary Education and Masters in K-12 school counseling. Plus a whole bunch of other early Ed certifications.

I'm also trained as a grief counselor.
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Givingthemgrace 07:04 AM 01-21-2015
2 years of college, no degree. My goal is to start working on my AS in Early Childhood Education once I can have more than one DCK. I can't afford it otherwise. I'll get my CPR done before I take on another kid too, but I have had training in resuscitation.
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AmyKidsCo 08:28 AM 01-21-2015
Bachelor in Music Education, Associate in Early Childhood Education.

When I was a kid I always said I wanted to be a teacher.
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daycarediva 10:29 AM 01-21-2015
SO CLOSE to my Bachelors in ECE, then on to club Med (masters in education).
CPR/FIRST AID/AED
CDA
All of those ridiculous trainings I take every year.
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melilley 10:41 AM 01-21-2015
I have my AS in Child Development
Had my CDA infant/toddler CDA for a center setting
15+ years experience. First I babysat and then I worked in centers from 1998-1012 and then opened my in home family child care in 2013
10+ hours a year for state required trainings
CPR/First Aid certified

I would love to get my Bachelor's Degree in CHDV, but it would be for personal reasons, unfortunately I wouldn't get paid more if I did have it.
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LysesKids 11:35 AM 01-21-2015
I have an AAS in Criminal Law, 2 certifications as a Postpartum Doula ( different certs , one is DONA, other Birth Arts), numerous trainings & retraining in Child Abuse, Music & movement, first aid etc etc, and I'm taking classes to be certified as an Infant Montessori Teacher
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e.j. 12:07 PM 01-21-2015
BA in Sociology/Social Work. Minored in Special Education. All else is typical for child care: CPR and First Aid certs as well as 10 hours of training in various child care subjects each year.
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Jack Sprat 12:35 PM 01-21-2015
Bachelors in Elementary Ed
Ass. in Art History
CPR/First Aid/IED
And yes all those other classes we are required to take each year.
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jenboo 12:53 PM 01-21-2015
Originally Posted by melilley:
I have my AS in Child Development
Had my CDA infant/toddler CDA for a center setting
15+ years experience. First I babysat and then I worked in centers from 1998-1012 and then opened my in home family child care in 2013
10+ hours a year for state required trainings
CPR/First Aid certified

I would love to get my Bachelor's Degree in CHDV, but it would be for personal reasons, unfortunately I wouldn't get paid more if I did have it.
I charge more than other daycares since I have my degree. All of my families appreciate my education. I also mention my degree when advertising.
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permanentvacation 01:11 PM 01-21-2015
We have a lot of very educated child care providers on this forum. I really need to finish my Early Childhood Education Degree.
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spinnymarie 02:39 PM 01-21-2015
BA in Early Childhood Education and SpEd certification
18 hrs toward M. Ed. in Language and Literacy
6 years Kindergarten Teaching Experience
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midaycare 03:16 PM 01-21-2015
Originally Posted by e.j.:
BA in Sociology/Social Work. Minored in Special Education. All else is typical for child care: CPR and First Aid certs as well as 10 hours of training in various child care subjects each year.
I don't know why but I read this as BA in Scientology!
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momofboys 03:23 PM 01-21-2015
Bachelor of Arts in English - other typical certifications such as First Aid & CPR.
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originalkat 03:36 PM 01-21-2015
-BA in Child Development and Human Services
-Enrolled in a MA in Early Childhood and Family Studies Degree (to start in the Fall)
-AS in Early Childhood Ed
-CDA
-Certified Center Director for up to 100 children
-CPR/First Aid
-Signs and Symptoms
-Head Trauma
-Etc...
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Snapdragon 03:58 PM 01-21-2015
BA in English, AAS in Early Childhood Development, some graduate work in linguistics, CPR.
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e.j. 05:17 PM 01-21-2015
Originally Posted by midaycare:
I don't know why but I read this as BA in Scientology!
I had to go back to my post to make sure I hadn't typed Scientology! It's been a long day for me so it wouldn't have surprised me if I had! lol:
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mduck 10:28 PM 01-21-2015
almost completed my k-4 teacher certification and then stopped just prior to last test and student teaching. I then switched career choices and got my Bachelors in business administration. Go figure.
Wow one of you said you were a doula! So cool!
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Sunshine74 10:48 PM 01-21-2015
Bachelor's in Early Childhood/Special Education with a minor in English. 7 1/2 million hours of training classes (at least that's what it feels like sometimes) and First Aid/CPR/AED.

Originally Posted by jenboo:
Thankfully, they have many online options and I just skip to the quiz
I wish we had those options for NY. But if they do, I haven't found them.
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LysesKids 03:06 AM 01-22-2015
Originally Posted by mduck:
almost completed my k-4 teacher certification and then stopped just prior to last test and student teaching. I then switched career choices and got my Bachelors in business administration. Go figure.
Wow one of you said you were a doula! So cool!
I actually was in training when my first grandchild was born... helping deliver him & all the crap that happened ( I was interning under the midwife that was to deliver my 1st grandson at the time, but my dd ended being rushed to hospital) made me decide not to go Labor, but certify as a Postpartum Doula... I did the first courses thru DONA 2003 - in 2008 I explored other options and decided to try Birth Arts as every place is different in their approach to care of the mother. I learned a lot more about the different cultures and how things were done training thru Birth Arts. I have been doing childcare since beginning of 2000, however with my added knowledge, I have gotten to care for babies much younger than what most states allow for full licensing - I have watched them Overnight at 48 hrs old and I have had them in childcare as young as 3 weeks
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jenboo 06:28 AM 01-22-2015
Originally Posted by LysesKids:
I actually was in training when my first grandchild was born... helping deliver him & all the crap that happened ( I was interning under the midwife that was to deliver my 1st grandson at the time, but my dd ended being rushed to hospital) made me decide not to go Labor, but certify as a Postpartum Doula... I did the first courses thru DONA 2003 - in 2008 I explored other options and decided to try Birth Arts as every place is different in their approach to care of the mother. I learned a lot more about the different cultures and how things were done training thru Birth Arts. I have been doing childcare since beginning of 2000, however with my added knowledge, I have gotten to care for babies much younger than what most states allow for full licensing - I have watched them Overnight at 48 hrs old and I have had them in childcare as young as 3 weeks
I've been looking into birth arts and DONA. I would love to get certified in a few different things.
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NightOwl 06:44 AM 01-22-2015
Degree in Early Childhood Education with a focus on child psychology and abnormal child psychology. I'm also director qualified for a center with up to 74 children. <<<< NOT fun.
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Starburst 08:31 AM 01-22-2015
AA in Organizational and Behavioral Social Science
AA in Liberal Arts: Multiple Subjects
Certificate of Achievement in ECE and CD (with over 40 credits in child development)
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ColorfulSunburst 09:00 AM 01-22-2015
I got my diplomas in Russia.So, US equivalent of my Educational Background according to US evaluation Service:
- Combined Bachelor and Master of Science Degree in Management Information System
- Combined Bachelor and Master degree in Elementary Teacher Education.
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daycarediva 09:03 AM 01-22-2015
Originally Posted by Sunshine74:
Bachelor's in Early Childhood/Special Education with a minor in English. 7 1/2 million hours of training classes (at least that's what it feels like sometimes) and First Aid/CPR/AED.



I wish we had those options for NY. But if they do, I haven't found them.
Texas A&M has free online trainings that are approved in NYS that I take all the time. I enroll, and typically just skip to the test. I've always gotten 90-100, they tell me which one I missed and which is the right answer, so I figure it's ok.
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Josiegirl 10:31 AM 01-22-2015
Wow, you all amaze me! I graduated high school.
33 yrs. parental experience and 31 yrs. family home daycare
Plus endless classes, e n d l e s s
I will be applying for my 4th STAR this year woohoo!
My friends tell me I should go back to school but I have no desire.
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Sugar Magnolia 11:14 AM 01-22-2015
Bachelor of Art. Anthropology, minor in History. Specialized in Historic Archeology. Enrolled in Masters program for Education, but never finished. $$ ran out.
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Ariana 02:10 PM 01-22-2015
Early Childood Educator currently studying for an undergrad in Child Studies (which is seriously taking me forever!)

Certified meditation facilitator for kids.
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mduck 07:39 PM 01-22-2015
I feel strongly that experience far out weighs a diploma. I'm sure you could teach me a thing or three about caring for other children. Plus my own are still very young. Mom in training. :
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daycare 07:51 PM 01-22-2015
I have an AA in early Ed
Studied 3 years of journalism but dropped out of college.
ACE certified personal trainer

Camp director 5 years with at risk youth
U.S. soccer head coach license all ages

Taught DARE program from 97-2003, youth at risk gang prevention

I'm all over the place. Lol.
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