Choosing the best staff is a crucial part of any childcare organization. An extensive training program for your new childcare staff is worth a look at.
On-site training is often thought of as the best, but you might not have access to enough qualified people or resources to make it possible. That's why child care training online can be a great alternative.
Let's take a look at the truth about online training for child care providers.
1. Why Is Online Training Important?
Teaching new staff the basics of your childcare facility is vital to your children's safety. It can also prevent any legal liabilities. Online training can provide you with a more cost-effective way to do this.
Online training is convenient for employees. They can review lessons in their own time, which keeps them from missing work during scheduled training sessions and allows them to review lessons at their convenience.
That's ideal for child care employees since many themselves are mothers and fathers returning to work part-time while juggling their parental responsibilities.
Compulsory Training
Each staff member will enjoy having the proper training and knowledge to deliver the care that your organization’s children need. Think of compulsory training as the must-know information when looking after a child.
Child-Specific Training
There are often different skill sets required for the same age group of children, whether based on intellect levels or additional learning support. For example, toddlers are more focused on their development.
So it is best to train the adults who will be interacting with them on a day-to-day basis. This training occurs through classroom-based training or online instruction.
Child Care Certification and Licensing
Having staff partake in child care providers' training makes them qualified beyond the essentials, This extra care, and attention strengthen your team and you end up with an enjoyable workplace environment. Some areas may need extra qualifications and certifications as a legal requirement.
Curses like the Colorado Professional Credentials are one example of localized certification and training, even online. So it's always a good idea to take time and understand the laws to make sure your team has the right qualifications.
What Is a Refresher Course?
A Refresher Course is a short course provided for staff that refreshes their existing knowledge. For instance, any changes to legislation are communicated through a refresher course. Courses like the Early Childhood Education Credentials are worth a look.
2. Training for New Staff
Training new staff is a must. That said, as we highlighted earlier, providing extra qualifications can boost morale and provide you with a better work environment. The best way to look at training is as an investment.
Training as an Investment
Looking at training as investment increases the odds of employees coming to work happy, focusing on childcare conducive to children's growth. A happy team can lead to children being happier.
Larger attendance from staff also helps cover absences where they occur. Despite an initial outlay, the cost savings of focusing on high-quality online training at the very start will ensure a profitable business in the long run.
Online Child Care Training Courses
Online training is a great way to make sure that each employee has the same level of knowledge. Instead of spending money and time having many pieces of training, every employee can learn at their own pace. You can adjust your training depending on what level each staff member is at.
Child Care Staff Certification Program
Certification Programs such as the Child Development Associate can be a great way to improve the quality of training available to your childcare staff. These programs perform licensing and certification functions for employees to make sure they are qualified and ready for childcare.
Licensing is the process of determining whether the qualified staff are qualified enough to begin working in a childcare center or organization. To make this better, businesses can hire professional staff with the appropriate credentials unavailable otherwise.
3. Refresher Training for Existing Staff
Online training is an effective way for you to provide refresher training for staff who may need a little assistance in key areas. It requires minimal disturbance to the working week and people's lives.
What Is Refresher Training?
Refresher training is useful training for existing childcare staff looking to bring their knowledge up-to-date. Many childcare facilities aim to provide the best childcare services possible, so making sure that staff is trained and efficient is key.
Why Is Refresher Training Important?
With the rise in new legislation, it is more important than ever to make sure that staff is trained properly to provide their best care. When this happens, children can be protected, and children's needs are met.
Often the government advice or legal requirements change. So, refresher training will avoid any issues in the future and make sure that your existing staff don't become demotivated and distant from their job.
The Benefits of Refresher Training
That's why refresher training comes in handy for any child care facility. It gives current staff the chance to brush up on information that they may have forgotten over time and gives them ‘refreshers’ in areas they may wish to learn more about.
Signs Your Team Needs Refresher Training
Often, childcare staff may feel as though they are already ‘qualified,’ but that might be because they haven't been trained in the best manner.
By providing your staff with the extra training it needs, you can improve the overall atmosphere of your childcare facility and make it a happier workplace that is more conducive to children's wellbeing.
4. The Benefits of Online Training
Online training is a very efficient and productive training method since it reduces travel time and the amount of time staff are taken out of the workplace. Depending on whether the training is done in a virtual classroom or online eLearning, there are other benefits.
Virtual Classroom
Delivered by an instructor, but virtually, using web conferencing software. It maintains the interactivity between instructors and trainees. It allows employees to attend remotely from home or any other location.
The trainer may have access to additional interactive elements such as whiteboarding, surveys, and on-screen drawing to help spice up the sessions and retain engagement.
Online Courses (eLearning)
Online courses are best suited to refresher learning. The staff member has already proven competent and knowledgeable enough to undertake self-learning without an instructor present. It’s also easy to deliver self-paced training at a scale ranging from a handful of employees to 10,000.
Find the Best Online Training Child Care Today
The new regulations get handed down and the costs of caring for children high across the country go up. Thus, many child care facilities are searching for ways to cut costs.
Now you can train your teams with confidence. What's more, you'll know that your business is moving in the right direction. That's the most important thing for the children in your care. So get in touch with us today and let us transform your team!
Are you looking for more child care management information? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Child Care Management.
Our child care management system makes running your child care program simple and efficient. Get back to what's most important. You shouldn't have to spend more time on the administrative tasks than you do with children and staff.
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Do you run an early childhood association made up of child care providers? If so, check out our Ultimate Guide to Shared Service Alliance.
Header image courtesy of JumpStory.
