MSDE Required Courses (Self-Paced)
Child Care Aide Orientation—3 Hours (Self Paced)
COK Hours: 3 (1 Professionalism, I Health, Safety & Nutrition, & 1 Community)
Through this course, participations will learn about proper supervision, professionalism, and parent engagement. This course is required for all classroom aides who have not completed 90-Clock Hours of training. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 3 (1 Professionalism, I Health, Safety & Nutrition, & 1 Community)
- Define and explain proper child supervision.
- Define workplace professionalism.
- Discuss strategies for parent engagement
9-Hour Communication Class (Self-Paced)
(COK) Hours: 9 (Professionalism)
9-Hour Communication Class: This course is designed for childcare professionals to introduce the basic concepts of developing strong communication skills when working in the early care and education field. Topics include verbal, non-verbal, written communication, reading strategies, interpersonal communication strategies, and objective listening skills, focusing on communicating with parents, co-workers, and the community, and communication issues within a typical childcare day. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 9 (Professionalism)
Learning Outcomes
- Develop effective communication skills for the early care and education environment. (2 Hours)
- Identify and demonstrate effective listening skills. (1.5 Hours)
- Demonstrate reading strategies that will increase retention and comprehension (1.5 Hours)
- Develop writing strategies that will assist with the successful composition of documents related to early care and education. (1.5 Hours)
- Demonstrate an understanding of and use for a variety of tools used to record and communicate critical child information. (1.5 Hours)
Director Focused Training (Self-Paced)
Conducting Performance Evaluations—2 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2 (Professionalism)
Through this workshop, participants will learn the purpose of a performance evaluation and how to effectively complete the process. Participants will also learn biases that are common to the evaluation process and how to avoid them. Finally, this course includes strategies for dealing with marginal performances and strategies for fairly distributing performance awards.
Facilitating Effective Staff Meetings: Eleven Strategies for Better Meetings:—2.5 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2.5 (Professionalism)
Facilitating Effective Staff Meetings: Eleven Strategies for Better Meetings: Meetings are an important way to keep your team in sync and your initiatives running smoothly. Through this workshop, participants will learn how to facilitate a staff meeting effectively. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2.5 (Professionalism)
Sensitivity Training for Early Childhood Directors—8 Hours (Self Paced)
COK Hours: 8 (Professionalism)
Through this workshop, participants will learn about workplace discrimination, gender stereotyping, ageism, disability discrimination and religious discrimination. This course provides a good overview for newly hired directors.
Core Knowledge Hours: 8 (Professionalism)
Continuing Education Unites: .80
Learning Outcomes:
- Define sensitivity training.
- State the benefits of sensitivity training.
- State the consequences of unchecked stereotypes and biases in the workplace.
- Explain and identify strategies to combat workplace discrimination, gender stereotyping, ageism, disability discrimination and religious discrimination.
- Identify the elements of a HR policies.
- State steps in the complaint's investigation process.
Time Management For Child Care Directors: Take Charge of Your Day—4 Hours (Self Paced)
COK Hours: 4 (Professionalism)
Having proper time management in place lets you work smarter rather than harder. Through this workshop, participants will learn strategies to improve time management.
Core Knowledge Hours: 4 (Professionalism)
Continuing Education Unites .40
Learning Outcomes:
1. Define Time Management.
2. State why time management is essential.
3. Identify strategies to improve time management.
Core Knowledge Hours (Self-Paced)
Anti-Biased Practices In Early Childhood Education (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2.5 (Professionalism)
An anti-bias curriculum is an approach to early childhood education that sets forth values-based principles and methodology to support respecting and embracing differences and acting against bias and unfairness. Through this intermediate-level training, early childhood educators will learn the four goals of anti-bias education. Participants will also learn strategies to ensure effective implementation.
Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2.5 (Professionalism)
Building Resilience In Young Children--2 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2 (Child Development)
Building Resilience In Young Children: Life can be challenging—even for children. Children need to learn coping skills to address setbacks. Through this workshop, participants will learn ten strategies for helping children build resiliency. Prerequisite knowledge required: understanding of the concept of resiliency. Competent Level Training. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2 (Child Development)
Learning Outcomes:
1. Define resilience.
2. State how resilience is developed.
3. Identify ways early childhood educators can children become more resilient.
Developmentally Appropriate Practices—2 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2 (Special Needs)
Developmentally Appropriate Practices: Early childhood professionals are decision-makers—making many decisions about the children in our programs daily. Understanding DAP – its meaning and intentional practices – is essential in guiding those decisions. Learn the three core components of DAP and guidelines of effective teaching. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2 (Special Needs)
Creating A Community of Learners--2 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2 (Community).
Creating A Community of Learners: A community of learners is a group of people who support each other in their collective and individual learning. They are cooperative and can work productively together. In a community of learners, teachers, parents, and students together construct a culture that values the strengths of all participants and respects their interests, abilities, languages, and dialects. This course examines how to build and sustain a real community of learners. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2 (Community).
Family Style Dining in the Early Childhood Program—2 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2 (Health, Safety, and Nutrition).
Family Style Dining in the Early Childhood Program: Family-style dining is an opportunity for teachers and children to sit together during mealtime. This course provides instruction on maximizing this time together to advance the curriculum, social development, and manners. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2 (Health, Safety, and Nutrition).
Learning Outcomes:
- Define family-style dining.
- Identify the benefits of family-style dining.
- List adult roles in family-style dining.
- Plan for a well-facilitated family-style meal.
- Express the value of interactions during family-style dining.
- Identify curricular goals that can be accomplished during family-style dining.
Four Key Child Development Concepts Every Early Childhood Educator Should Know—3 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 3 (Child Development)
Through this workshop, participants will learn how brain architecture, serve and return, stress, and resilience impact child development. Participants will explore the concept of trauma-informed care. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 3 (Child Development)
Including Technology in The Early Childhood Program—2.5 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2.5 (Curriculum)
Including Technology in The Early Childhood Program: Technology is a tool. When used correctly, technology can support and advance children’s learning. Participants should take this workshop to learn strategies for integrating technology into the early childhood program in developmentally appropriate ways. Prerequisite Knowledge Required: An understanding of the importance of using a variety of developmentally appropriate activities that support a child’s knowledge of technology and computer skills. Competent Level Training. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2.5 (Curriculum)
“Magic 8” Early Childhood Practices: Eight Key Educator Actions To Positively Influence Development And Program Quality (Self-Paced
COK Hours: 2.5 (Child Development)
“Magic 8” Early Childhood Practices: Eight Key Educator Actions To Positively Influence Development And Program Quality: Through this workshop, participants will learn eight actions early childhood educators can take to influence children's development positively. These eight actions will also improve the overall quality of the early learning program. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2.5 (Child Development)
Managing The Early Childhood Classroom—4 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 4 (Curriculum)
Classroom management creates a set of expectations used in an organized classroom environment. Effective classroom management paves the way for the teacher to engage the students in learning. Through this workshop, participants will learn the importance of a daily schedule and established routines, strategies to promote smooth transitions, effectively select developmentally appropriate learning materials, and considerations for physical space/arrangements.
4 Hours Curriculum
More Than Counting--Developmentally Appropriate Math Concepts for Young Children (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 3 (Curriculum)
More Than Counting--Developmentally Appropriate Math Concepts for Young Children: Early childhood teachers must challenge their students beyond the minimal expectation of rote counting. This course provides a foundation for expanding mathematics in their classroom. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 3 (Curriculum)
Moving Right Along…Strategies for Smooth Transitions in the Early Childhood Program (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 3 (Curriculum): Transitions occur throughout the day in all early childhood programs. Sometimes, these transitions can be challenging. This course examines strategies for ensuring smooth transitions.
Multi-Age-Groupings: Seven Benefits of Mixed Aged Grouping in Early Childhood—2 Hours (Self-Paced)
(COK) Hours: 2 (Curriculum)
A multi-age classroom is not merely a group of different-aged students placed in the same class. Instead, it is a well-organized and thoroughly thought out program designed to take advantage of the natural diversity created. This course is designed to highlight the benefits of mixed-age grouping. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2 (Curriculum)
Purposeful Conversations With Parents—2 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2 (Professionalism).
Offers strategies for communicating with parents. Strategies include: using the 9Ps of Communication, direct and indirect communication, and a three-step communication tool to solve problems. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2(Professionalism).
Learning Outcomes:
- Learn the 9 Ps of Good Communication
- Identify the differences between direct and indirect communication
- Explore a three-step communication tool to solve problems
Teacher Talk: Language Modeling and Conversation—4 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 4 (1 Hour Child Development & 3 Hours Curriculum)
Teacher Talk: Language Modeling and Conversation: Conversations help young children develop and learn new skills. Through this workshop, participants will learn to utilize “thick” conversations, expanded conversations, questions, and novel words. These skills will help teachers build and extend children’s vocabulary; assist children in learning how to communicate more clearly and accurately; provide opportunities to learn new concepts and skills, and foster children’s ability to communicate their feelings and ideas verbally. Prerequisite knowledge required: Knowledge of developmentally appropriate stages of language development. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 4 (1 Hour Child Development & 3 Hours Curriculum)
Ten Strategies Accepting Feedback and Using It As A Tool For Growth—2.5 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2.5 (Professionalism).
Ten Strategies Accepting Feedback and Using It As A Tool For Growth: Constructive Feedback is vital for ongoing professional growth. Feedback motivates, provides direction, and clarifies expectations. Through this course, early childhood educators will learn how to effectively receive feedback. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 2.5 (Professionalism).
The Seven Assets of Social Competence—2.5 Hours (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 2.5 Hours (Child Development)
Social competence enables children to interact and maintain mutually satisfying relationships with peers. Children can better engage in play and other interactions with their peers with strong social competence skills. In this workshop, participants will learn the seven assets of social competence and support them in the early learning environment. Core of Knowledge Hours: 2.5 Hours (Child Development)
Tuning Into Play: Using Schema Theory To Plan More Engaging Activities (Self-Paced)
COK Hours: 3 (1.5 Curriculum/1.5 Child Development)
Teachers often become frustrated with children’s repetitive behaviors such as dumping out toys, playing with the same toys repeatedly, knocking down other children’s block towers, etc. This course helps early childhood educators to understand these actions through the lens of schema theory and how to respond to repetitive behaviors in developmentally appropriate ways. Core Of Knowledge (COK) Hours: 3 (1.5 Curriculum/1.5 Child Development)