There are basic, minimum requirements by Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Licensing division for child care center staff, which includes the administrator, teachers, cook, and nurse (when applicable). The administrator needs to have completed a high school education and one of several requirements such as having had two years of course training in child development or two years experience in a child care center, or a pre-kindergarten associate certificate, or a combination of experience and training or a pre-kindergarten associate certificate or a Montessori pre-primary credential. If these requirements are not met, other options are available.
Employee and child care staff members have basic requirements, including that they must be eighteen years old with a high school education (there are few exceptions to this) and must provide certain medical forms. They must receive at least 45 hours of training in specific areas of early childhood. Other requirements include references, a criminal records check, and record of employment.
Administrators and staff in accredited centers may have higher academic degrees than licensed-only centers since they are working toward stronger quality. Administrators may have, for example, a bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education and 3 years experience in an early childhood setting and expertise in human resource and financial management. Teaching staff may have at least a CDA (Child Development Associate credential) or an associate degree in early childhood education or equivalent and at least and a minimum of three years of experience preferred. On-going professional development by all staff is one of the many criteria for meeting accreditation criteria.
There are a variety of requirements for working in a child care program depending upon whether you choose a director’s or teacher’s position, a Headstart or public preschool setting, a certified or home provider setting or whether you choose to work at a public agency that supports children and families (such as Action for Children, an advocacy agency, a licensing agency, an independent consultant, or in a public agency that works on legislative issues).
Child care centers differ in their requirements for entry level teachers to master or lead teachers; among licensed centers and among accredited centers; among Head Start centers and among public preschool programs. Minimum requirements include a high school education and 18 years of age.
Research has shown that children’s growth and development is positively impacted by adults who continue to participate in their own learning about early childhood development. Action for Children sponsors a variety of classes to serve the needs of child care directors and their staff and home providers caring for children from birth to 6 years old. Classes are also scheduled for Out-of-School Time specialists. Class topic areas include the 6 hour and 3 hour Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention classes with topic specifics to those areas, health and safety classes such as first aid and CPR, child development classes such as early literacy and early learning math content standards, children with special needs, designing your child care environment, and communicating with parents and well as a range of other topics. Click here to see a full listing of workshops.
Beside the listed workshops, Action for Children offers special programs for homes and centers who are interested in becoming accredited. For more information on these programs, please contact AFC.
There are other professional development opportunities for Ohio early childhood educators such as attending conferences sponsored by:
OAEYC (The Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children: www.oaeyc.org)
CAEYC (The Columbus Association for the Education of Young Children)
ODE (The Ohio Department of Education, Early Childhood: www.ode.state.oh.us)
Also, other organizations that offer workshops for early childhood include Children’s Hospital, COSERRC (Central Ohio Special Education Regional Resource Center), The American Red Cross, and the Ohio State University Extension (OSU Extension).
In the Columbus area many early childhood education classes are offered at The Ohio State University, Ohio Dominican College, Capital University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein College and Columbus State Community College.
The early childhood field is filled with opportunities for adults who have a passion for young children, a commitment to supporting children’s development and a desire to make a difference in a child’s life and in the lives of families. These opportunities vary depending upon a person’s education and experience.
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