6 Free Online Childcare Training Courses To Get Certified
Want to make a difference in a child's life but don't have the tools you need yet? Try these free online childcare courses for certificates and credit hours.
Working in childcare can be a challenging but fulfilling career choice. But there are quite a few regulations, certifications, and education requirements to consider before you begin working.
Many childcare degree programs and states require minimum training hours and specific courses to be taken for licensure and certification. While this would normally be costly, there are many organizations that offer free resources and programs to help childcare workers succeed.
So, if you're ready to get certified as a childcare professional, you should consider these free online childcare courses that provide the credit hours and certificates of completion you need to get certified.
Top Free Online Childcare Courses for Certification
From federal departments and state colleges to nonprofits and professional organizations, here are places you can find free online childcare courses and programs to help you get your Child Development Associate (CDA) Certificate.
1. The CDC's Free Online Training Course
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has a free online training course called 'Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns.'
It's a one-hour course that teaches early care and education providers how to monitor the development of children in their care and talk about the positives and negatives of this development with their parents.
By following the steps included at the end of the course, you can get continuing education credits for your workplace and certification renewal.
2. First Aid for Free Courses
Firstaidforfree.com is a website that provides free online first aid, CPR, and AED training courses with certificates. These courses are helpful for anyone working in public, but especially for adults working with children.
The courses of particular interest to educators are the basic, advanced, and pediatric first aid units. These will teach you everything from how to treat a burn or dog bite to how to perform CPR and monitor chronic illnesses like asthma in children.
3. ProSolutions Training Courses
ProSolutions Training is a company dedicated to training Early Care and Education (ECE) professionals — it's accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and has courses recognized by all 50 states.
Two of the courses ProSolutions Training offers are free: 'Recognizing and Reporting Suspected Child Abuse' and 'Trauma-Informed Care & The Pyramid Model.' They provide 0.2 and 0.5 continuing education credit hours, respectively, and are approved for use in early childhood training.
Both courses provide certificates of completion and one year of free access to related course materials for free.
4. Care Courses' Free Online Training Course
Care Courses, a company that provides distance learning training for early childhood professionals, has a free online childcare training course called 'Playing Outdoors.'
It's a one-hour training course aimed at teaching educators how to create outdoor play environments that encourage a child's passion for spending time outside. It also suggests good outdoor activities for fun and learning and ways to engage in indoor activities outside.
The course is worth 0.1 continuing education credit hours and provides a certificate upon completion. It can be used for the CDA Credential, meets CDA renewal training requirements, and is accepted as part of annual state training in most states.
5. Classroom WISE
Classroom WISE is a free three-part training program designed to help K-12 educators and school staff recognize and support the mental health of students in classrooms. It provides evidence-based strategies and skills that let teachers engage with and support students who are experiencing adversity and distress.
A video library and digital collection of resources are also available for educators and school staff who take part in the free training program.
The program has a companion program, Cultural Inclusiveness and Equity WISE, that teaches about how inequities in education can impact a student's mental health and how a teacher's implicit bias influences their perception of and response to students.
The companion program also has three parts: a two-hour online course, a video library, and a digital collection of related resources.
6. Texas-Specific Online Training Opportunities
Texas A&M's Agrilife Extension has a Promoting Early Education Quality (PEEQ) program that provides up to 20 clock hours of free online childcare training with certificates to early childhood educators who live and work in the state of Texas.
The PEEQ program's Texas Annual Training suite has online childcare courses that are designed to meet the annual professional development requirements from Texas Child Care Regulation.
The 12 free online childcare courses offered as part of the Texas Annual Training suite are:
- Brain Development, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and Abusive Head Trauma: Shaken Baby Syndrome
- Child Growth and Development from Infancy to School-Age
- Child Maltreatment: A Guide for Child Care Professionals
- Supporting Children's Social and Emotional Development
- Infection Control in Child Care Settings
- Injury Prevention and Child Safety in Child Care Settings
- Medication Administration in Child Care: Ensuring Children's Safety
- Managing Common Childhood Illnesses in Child Care
- Poison Prevention and Safety in Child Care Programs
- Emergency Planning for Child Care Providers
- Positive Guidance and Discipline 2022-23
- Supporting the Establishment of Strong Peer and Adult-Child Relationships in the Inclusive Child Care Environment
Free enrollment for eligible educators is funded with federal Child Care and Development Funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Find the Training You Need to Get Certified Today
Now that you know about the different free online childcare courses you can attend and use for continuing education and CDA certification credit, it's time to begin the training you need to become a certified childcare professional today and start making a difference in the lives of children tomorrow.