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Overview

If you love working with children and have considered working in a childcare or pre-school environment - or perhaps even dreamed of opening your own daycare center - the Center for Professional Development can help make your dream a reality.

From early childhood education and stages of child development to health, nutrition and discipline, the Center provides you with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop a career in childcare.

Our Childcare Assistant Training program is the first step. We offer the full 120-hour program necessary to obtain the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential through the Council for Professional Recognition. The nationally recognized CDA is a requirement at most licensed childcare facilities within the state of Connecticut.

The training program covers a broad spectrum of educational topics and combines theory and practice in an interactive classroom. Sample topics include: Learning through Play, Managing Behavior, Nutrition, Providing a Safe and Healthy Environment and Childcare as a Business. All workshops are approved by Connecticut Charts-A-Course, the state's professional development system for early care and education providers.

Benefits of our Childcare Assistant Training program include:

• The development of skills to improve your childcare practice
• Learning ways to improve communication with parents and promote child development
• The opportunity to share ideas and create a network of connections with other childcare providers in your area

Upon completion of your CDA credential, you will be eligible to convert training hours into college credit. Please visit www.charteroak.edu for more information.

Everyone interested in entering the Childcare Assistant Training program is required to participate in an entrance interview. To schedule an interview or learn more about the program, please call Cheryl Cabaniss, director of the Childcare Assistant Training program, at (860) 768-5629.