Do you dream of shap­ing the future by work­ing with chil­dren? Are you won­der­ing what train­ing is best for child­care? With many online and offline options avail­able, select­ing the best child­care course that aligns with your goals can be a daunt­ing task.

This blog high­lights some of the many child­care course options, pro­vide advice on choos­ing the right course, and share some first­hand expe­ri­ences from stu­dents and ear­ly child­hood professionals.

Clarifying Your Goals

When you are choos­ing a child­care train­ing, first clar­i­fy your ulti­mate objective.

Let’s start with train­ing for those look­ing to start out in the ear­ly child­hood field.

How Do I Become a Childcare Provider In …

Before you can answer how you can become a child care provider, you must first answer these ques­tions:

1. Do you want to run your own fam­i­ly child­care busi­ness or work as a teacher in a center?

2. What state do you work in? 

3. What age chil­dren do you want to work with?

The answers to these ques­tions will dic­tate the type of train­ing cours­es that will help you reach your goal.

Whether you are just start­ing out or have spent years in the field, the most impor­tant part of choos­ing a course is to ensure it is accept­ed by your state’s licens­ing author­i­ty. What require­ments do they have? What train­ing will they accept?

State Training Requirements

On our Care Cours­es web­site we main­tain a page for every U.S. state with child­care train­ing require­ments, infor­ma­tion, and each state’s con­tact infor­ma­tion. Check it out!

For Example … in Texas

To become a child­care provider in Texas you must meet cer­tain train­ing require­ments. The spe­cif­ic require­ments can vary depend­ing on the type of child­care facil­i­ty you plan to oper­ate or work in.

Here are some gen­er­al guide­lines for the state of Texas, includ­ing train­ing and oth­er pre-ser­vice requirements:

1. Basic Train­ing: Child­care staff are required to com­plete a min­i­mum of 24 hours of pre-ser­vice train­ing. This train­ing cov­ers var­i­ous top­ics relat­ed to child devel­op­ment, health and safe­ty, nutri­tion, and child care reg­u­la­tions. The Texas Depart­ment of Fam­i­ly and Pro­tec­tive Ser­vices (DFPS) offers an approved pre-ser­vice train­ing cur­ricu­lum that providers can follow.
2. SIDS Train­ing: SIDS (Sud­den Infant Death Syn­drome) train­ing is required for providers car­ing for infants. This train­ing focus­es on reduc­ing the risk of SIDS and pro­mot­ing safe sleep practices.
3. CPR and First Aid Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion: Child­care providers must obtain and main­tain a cur­rent cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in CPR (Car­diopul­monary Resus­ci­ta­tion) and First Aid. This train­ing equips providers with essen­tial skills to han­dle med­ical emer­gen­cies and pro­vide imme­di­ate assis­tance until pro­fes­sion­al help arrives.
4. Back­ground Checks: All child­care providers in Texas must under­go a crim­i­nal his­to­ry back­ground check. This involves fin­ger­print­ing and sub­mit­ting the nec­es­sary forms to the Texas Depart­ment of Pub­lic Safe­ty (DPS) and the DFPS. The back­ground check helps ensure the safe­ty and well-being of chil­dren in care.

[Note: these require­ments are based on gen­er­al guide­lines. We advise con­tact­ing your local child care licens­ing office for the most up to date infor­ma­tion regard­ing Texas child­care train­ing requirements.]

For Example … in Maryland

In Mary­land the require­ments to become a child­care provider are reg­u­lat­ed by the Mary­land State Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion (MSDE) Office of Child Care (OCC). The spe­cif­ic require­ments can vary depend­ing on the type of child­care facil­i­ty you plan to oper­ate or work in. Here are some gen­er­al guide­lines includ­ing train­ing. Note that a degree or cre­den­tial is not required:

1. Ori­en­ta­tion Train­ing: Child­care providers are typ­i­cal­ly required to com­plete an ori­en­ta­tion train­ing pro­vid­ed by the MSDE OCC. This train­ing cov­ers essen­tial infor­ma­tion about licens­ing require­ments, health and safe­ty reg­u­la­tions, and pro­gram standards.
2. Pre­ser­vice Train­ing: Providers are required to com­plete a min­i­mum num­ber of hours of pre­ser­vice train­ing before start­ing their child­care pro­gram. The num­ber of required train­ing hours can vary based on the age group and type of care pro­vid­ed. For exam­ple, providers offer­ing infant and tod­dler care gen­er­al­ly need more hours of train­ing com­pared to those pro­vid­ing school-age care.
3. Med­ica­tion Admin­is­tra­tion Train­ing: If you plan to admin­is­ter med­ica­tion to chil­dren in your care, addi­tion­al train­ing in med­ica­tion admin­is­tra­tion may be required. This train­ing cov­ers prop­er pro­ce­dures for admin­is­ter­ing med­ica­tions safe­ly and accurately.
4. CPR and First Aid Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion: Child­care providers must obtain and main­tain a cur­rent cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in CPR (Car­diopul­monary Resus­ci­ta­tion) and First Aid. This cer­ti­fi­ca­tion ensures that providers have the nec­es­sary skills to respond to emer­gen­cies and pro­vide imme­di­ate care.
5. Back­ground Checks: Child­care providers in Mary­land must under­go a com­pre­hen­sive back­ground check, includ­ing state and fed­er­al crim­i­nal his­to­ry checks, child abuse and neglect reg­istry checks, and fin­ger­print­ing. This require­ment helps ensure the safe­ty and well-being of chil­dren in care.

[Note: these require­ments are based on gen­er­al guide­lines. Spe­cif­ic reg­u­la­tions may dif­fer depend­ing on the type of child­care facil­i­ty and the age group you plan to serve. It is advis­able to con­tact the Mary­land State Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion (MSDE) Office of Child Care (OCC) or con­sult local licens­ing agen­cies for the most accu­rate and up-to-date infor­ma­tion regard­ing the train­ing require­ments for child­care providers in Maryland.]

Do I need a college degree to be a childcare provider?

The require­ments for col­lege degrees or high school diplo­mas for child­care providers can vary depend­ing on the state and the type of child­care facility. 

Let’s look at our two exam­ple states again.

Here are some of the require­ments for child­care providers in Texas and Maryland:

In Texas, child­care providers are not required to have a col­lege degree or high school diplo­ma to become licensed. How­ev­er, they are required to meet cer­tain min­i­mum edu­ca­tion require­ments, which typ­i­cal­ly include com­plet­ing the required train­ing cours­es and ori­en­ta­tion pro­vid­ed by the Texas Depart­ment of Fam­i­ly and Pro­tec­tive Ser­vices (DFPS). The focus is pri­mar­i­ly on the com­ple­tion of the nec­es­sary train­ing and obtain­ing the required cer­ti­fi­ca­tions rather than for­mal edu­ca­tion­al qualifications.

In Mary­land, the edu­ca­tion­al require­ments for child­care providers may vary depend­ing on the type of child­care facil­i­ty. For licensed fam­i­ly child care homes, there is no spe­cif­ic require­ment for a col­lege degree or high school diplo­ma. How­ev­er, the Mary­land State Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion (MSDE) Office of Child Care (OCC) may con­sid­er edu­ca­tion as part of the over­all qual­i­fi­ca­tions for a provider.

For child­care cen­ter direc­tors and staff mem­bers work­ing in licensed child­care cen­ters, the MSDE OCC requires a high school diplo­ma or equiv­a­lent. Addi­tion­al­ly, cen­ter direc­tors may need to meet addi­tion­al qual­i­fi­ca­tions, such as hav­ing expe­ri­ence in ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion or a degree in a relat­ed field.

Types of Childcare Training

The child­care cours­es avail­able dif­fer in time com­mit­ment, cost, and intensity.

Cre­den­tial Train­ing: Cre­den­tial train­ing — like that tak­en to get a Child Devel­op­ment Asso­ciate (CDA) Cre­den­tial — serve as an excel­lent edu­ca­tion­al base. A CDA Cre­den­tial will help you gain a broad under­stand­ing of the child­care field in a time­line of 6 months to a year. Cre­den­tial train­ing is a per­fect fit for those seek­ing flex­i­bil­i­ty in their sched­ules and a fast-track intro­duc­tion to the field.

Diplo­ma or Degree Pro­gram: With a dura­tion of 1–4 years, these pro­grams pro­vide a com­pre­hen­sive insight into child­care. Typ­i­cal­ly offered through a col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty, they are best suit­ed for those with the time and mon­ey to pur­sue the degree, and those seek­ing an in-depth under­stand­ing of ear­ly child­hood devel­op­ment and education.

Pro­fes­sion­al Devel­op­ment Pro­grams: Rang­ing from an hour to sev­er­al weeks, these pro­grams cater to child­care pro­fes­sion­als eager to refine their skills or climb the career ladder.

Training Methods and Formats:

Syn­cro­nous: Live learn­ing where the instruc­tors and stu­dents inter­act in real time. Syn­cro­nous train­ing can be in-per­son or vir­tu­al and requires that the par­tic­i­pant attend the train­ing at a spec­i­fied time and place. 

Asyn­chro­nous: Self-paced train­ing where stu­dents access mate­ri­als and com­plete activ­i­ties on their own sched­ule with­out live inter­ac­tion with the instruc­tor. Asyn­chrnonous train­ing often includes online train­ing and can also include train­ing through the mail. 

Some cours­es blend both syn­cro­nous and asyn­chrnonous train­ing meth­ods. For exam­ple, a col­lege course may be an in-per­son syn­chro­nous course and include some asyn­chro­nous components. 

Care Cours­es offers asyn­chro­nous train­ing in a ful­ly online for­mat as well as a blend­ed book and online for­mat. We also offer unlim­it­ed live train­er sup­port over the phone. This offers the flex­i­bil­i­ty of asyn­chro­nous train­ing with the ben­e­fits of ask­ing ques­tions direct­ly from the trainer. 

Course Content:

When sift­ing through child­care cours­es, the course con­tent is an essen­tial fac­tor. Ensure that the course syl­labus aligns with your goals and will equip you with the skills required to achieve them.

Credentials, Accreditation, and Approval:

When select­ing a course, pri­or­i­tize those that are from an accred­it­ed insti­tu­tion and approved or accept­ed by your state. Com­plete approved or accept­ed cours­es to guar­an­tee that your cer­ti­fi­ca­tion will be rec­og­nized by your state’s licens­ing office. This will give you the best oppor­tu­ni­ty for your career progression. 

Make sure that the cours­es you are tak­ing can be used towards any cre­den­tial or require­ment you are work­ing towards. Some cre­den­tials like the CDA require clock hours or CEUs (con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion units). Cer­tain licens­ing require­ments might require col­lege cred­its or col­lege semes­ter hours instead of clock hours or CEUs.

Cost and Accessibility:

As most child­care cours­es come with a price tag, it’s essen­tial to con­sid­er if the course aligns with your budget.

Care Courses Students’ Testimonials:

Danielle in Wis­con­sin shares, “This online class was a breeze for me. Even as a novice com­put­er user, I could nav­i­gate and com­plete the course accord­ing to my schedule.”

Cher­rie from Michi­gan, a home child­care provider, appre­ci­ates the con­ve­nience of the cours­es, say­ing, “I enjoy learn­ing at home, at my own pace. Over the last 10 years, I’ve almost com­plet­ed all the courses.”

Susan in Neva­da appre­ci­ates the sup­port say­ing, “Thank you for the excep­tion­al cus­tomer ser­vice and sup­port dur­ing my year­ly cours­es in my decade-long jour­ney as an ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tor. The course con­tent was engag­ing, prac­ti­cal, and easy to navigate.”

Benefits of Care Courses’ Training:

Enrolling in our child­care train­ing cours­es can unlock mul­ti­ple ben­e­fits for your pro­fes­sion­al and per­son­al growth:

1. Expand­ing Job Oppor­tu­ni­ties: Our thor­ough cours­es equip you with the nec­es­sary skills and cre­den­tials to stand out in the com­pet­i­tive job market.

2. Career Pro­gres­sion: With a robust foun­da­tion in child­care and reg­u­lar pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment, you can access high­er-lev­el posi­tions, such as lead teacher, pro­gram coor­di­na­tor, or even launch­ing your child­care business.

3. Ampli­fied Earn­ing Poten­tial: Advanced train­ing and qual­i­fi­ca­tions often lead to increased earn­ing poten­tial with­in the child­care industry.

4. Per­son­al Sat­is­fac­tion: Work­ing with chil­dren offers intrin­sic rewards. Our cours­es deep­en your under­stand­ing of ear­ly child­hood devel­op­ment, enabling you to pos­i­tive­ly influ­ence chil­dren’s lives.

5. Accred­it­ed Train­ing: Our IACET accred­it­ed cours­es ensure qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion and rec­og­nized cer­ti­fi­ca­tions, adding cred­i­bil­i­ty to your qualifications.

6. Approved Train­ing: Our cours­es are accept­ed for con­tin­u­ing edu­caiton require­ments in near­ly all 50 states and some Cana­di­an provinces. Our cours­es may be used for CDA or CDA renew­al as well. 

Conclusion:

Nav­i­gat­ing the many child­care cours­es out there can be over­whelm­ing. When select­ing train­ing, con­sid­er your goals, cre­den­tials, cost and acces­si­bil­i­ty, and course con­tent. With the right resources, you will reap invalu­able rewards along your learn­ing journey.

Get start­ed with our free 1 clock hour course on out­door play. Play­ing Out­doors cov­ers many strate­gies to help sup­port young children’s out­door explo­ration. Check out our blog on the course’s topics.

So what are you wait­ing for? Chart your path with Care Cours­es today!