Learning doesn't stop once you've grown up. Everyone can benefit from learning new skills, especially those working with children. Childcare training programs help your staff improve their skills, become better educators, and help you build your best childcare program. In addition, childcare staff training allows your staff to earn the health and safety credentials they need to ensure children stay safe and your business remains open.

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What is childcare staff training (and why is it important?)

Childcare staff training teaches early childhood educators the essential skills to properly care for and teach the children in their programs, such as CPR, nutrition, emergency preparedness, and child development. In addition, training keeps the children in your program safe, and your childcare center in compliance with federal and state rules and regulations.

Your staff benefits from regular and frequent training to ensure they are up-to-date with the most recent and available information on child safety, so they can easily recall and put into practice their training in case of an emergency. In addition to training and certifications being beneficial to your staff, they can also be a good selling point for your childcare center. Families want to ensure that their children are properly and safely cared for, and you can potentially draw in new clients by marketing your staff's credentials. It can also help to keep current families abreast of administrative updates by including and celebrating your staff’s new certifications and training in your center’s newsletter.

Furthermore, your staff should stay abreast of best practices in childcare and early education to support children in meeting their developmental milestones. It is well established that in the first few years of life a young child’s brain is growing and changing rapidly. Childcare professionals should be well-versed in how to nurture children’s development across all developmental domains including social-emotional, cognitive, language, and motor development during this critical time of growth.  

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Federal law requires that childcare staff complete health and safety training on topics including:

• Pediatric first aid and CPR
• Safe sleep practices
• Child abuse recognition and prevention 
• Child development 
• Nutrition and food allergies 
• Handling, storage, and disposal of hazardous materials
• Prevention of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma
• Emergency preparedness for natural disasters and other events
• Water safety
• Transportation and traffic safety
  
  

In addition to federal requirements, each state has licensing and health and safety training requirements for childcare staff. Consult the National Database of Child Care Licensing Regulations to learn about your state's childcare staff training requirements.

Childcare staff training and certification programs

Childcare staff can receive training from several early childhood education certification programs. The Online National Administrator Credential (NAC), Child Development Associate Associate (CDA), and Certified Childcare Professional (CCP) certification are credentials that childcare staff can earn. Each certification program has specific requirements.  

Online National Administrator Credential (NAC)

The Online National Administrator Credential (NAC) is a certification offered by the NECPA Commission. The Online NAC certification is accepted in thirteen states. 

NAC consists of 10 professional development competencies for administrators of early childhood education programs. Competency topics include professional development, regulations, staff management, marketing, financial management, operations, and leadership. 

The Online NAC is a self-paced 45-hour online course for childcare center professionals and directors. You must complete the course within 180 days.  

Child Development Associate (CDA)

The Child Development Associate (CDA) is a certification the Council for Professional Recognition offers in collaboration with educational institutions nationwide. The CDA teaches early childhood educators how to foster young children's social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth.

To receive CDA certification, you must pass an exam that tests your knowledge of basic early childhood best practices and complete a verification visit with a CDA professional development specialist. 

CDA certification costs $425 for online applications and $500 for paper applications.

Certified Childcare Professional (CCP)

The Certified Childcare Professional (CCP) certification is offered by the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA) Commission. It’s designed for early childhood educators and is accepted in 13 states.

A CCP certification course covers topics such as: creating an optimal and culturally responsive learning environment, promoting children’s development, classroom management, child development theory and practice, and assessments. 

The CCP certification course costs $375. The certification course is a self-paced program that can take from six months to a year to complete and includes an exam and a field counselor performance-based observation. The CCP award needs to be renewed every two years.

Professional development training for childcare staff

Professional development training helps early childhood educators learn about advances in child development research and early childhood education practices. Pursuing ongoing professional development training will help you provide your children with an education that is supported by the newest research.

Ongoing professional development training will help you and your staff improve your skills, build your professional knowledge, grow your career, and create the best learning experience for the children in your childcare program. The requirements for ongoing professional development training for childcare staff vary by state. 

The Childcare Education Institute

The Childcare Education Institute (CCEI) is the industry leader in online professional development for early childhood educators. The CCEI offers an online catalog of over 300 online professional development courses that teach childcare staff how to manage their classrooms, care for and teach the children in their program, and engage their community. The CCEI adds 30 hours of new course content to its course catalog each year.

The CCEI provides professional development courses on the following topics: 

• Administration and management
• Diversity and inclusion
• Curriculum and assessment
• Child development and learning
• Family and community engagement
• Guidance and classroom management
• Infant and toddler care
• Preschool care
  
  

Educators can purchase hourly access to individual CCEI professional development courses starting at $15 per hour or purchase an individual annual subscription to the CCEI’s entire professional development course catalog for $99. Administrators can also purchase an annual childcare center-based subscription for $499 for 20 users or $999 for 50 users. 

Ongoing staff evaluations are opportunities to check in on your teachers' progress and partner together to achieve their growth goals. Our free preschool staff evaluation and self evaluation forms will help you develop engaged and competent staff. 

Help your staff improve their skills by enrolling in childcare staff training today

A childcare center is only as good as its educators. Help your staff reach their full potential by enrolling your center in childcare staff training. 

With quality training and professional development, your staff will have the skills to ensure children’s health and safety while creating a safe, accepting environment that fosters their physical, social-emotional, and cognitive development.

Brightwheel is the complete solution for early education providers, enabling you to streamline your center’s operations and build a stand-out reputation. Brightwheel connects the most critical aspects of running your center—including sign in and out, parent communications, tuition billing, and licensing and compliance—in one easy-to-use tool, along with providing best-in-class customer support and coaching. Brightwheel is trusted by thousands of early education centers and millions of parents. Learn more at mybrightwheel.com.