There are an estimated 170,000 family day care providers in Canada.  Approximately 15,000 caregivers participate in a regulated family child care system while an estimated 155,000 provide unregulated family day care. Source: Our Child Care Workforce, table 4

    The Family Child Care Training Project is presently seeking funding to undertake Phase Three of our work.  Phase Three will involve the development, production and dissemination of Intermediate (Level Two) and Advanced Level (Level Three) training programs for caregivers; a Train the Trainer package and training program; and a community development component to develop capacity to deliver caregiver training.

Our Steering Committee:  Marg Rodrigues   Marie Rosset   Mary Edwards   Cindy Helman   Kitty Brennan   Diana MacDonald   Dianne Bascombe   Alla Ivask   Jocelyne Tougas   June Pollard   Andrew Taylor

Our Level One Development Team:  Linda Leckie   Cindy Helman    Mary Edwards   Arlene Ross   Lise Crousette-Beachemin   Lee Dunster

Our Principal Researcher:  Andrew Taylor,  PhD Centre for Research and Education in Human Services

Our Translator: Jocelyne Tougas, Maison de Shoto inc

Our Editor: Bela Dunleavy

Our Printers: Allegra Printers

From our Pilot Test process: The nine sponsoring organizations,14 facilitator/instructors and
the 164 participants

Our staff:  Lee Dunster, Project Director    Nancy DiSalvo, Clerical Support
and the wonderful staff of the Canadian Child Care Federation for all of their help.
 

    And last, but by no means least, our funders, the Visions Program, Human Resources Development Canada.  The contribution being made by the Visions Program and Human Resources Development Canada in supporting the efforts of the child care community to enhance the quality of care for all children is immeasurable.  Our sincerest thanks to HRDC and in particular to Penny Hammell and Carol Levesque for their support and guidance.
 

Level One of the Family Child Care Training Program consists of twelve units.  They are:

UNIT ONE    YOUR CHILD CARE HOME
UNIT TWO   SAFETY
UNIT THREE  HEALTH
UNIT FOUR   NUTRITION
UNIT FIVE    CHILD DEVELOPMENT
UNIT SIX    CHILD GUIDANCE
UNIT SEVEN   HELPING CHILDREN GROW AND DEVELOP
UNIT EIGHT   THE CHILD CARE DAY
UNIT NINE    THE BUSINESS OF FAMILY CHILD CARE
UNIT TEN    STARTING OFF RIGHT
UNIT ELEVEN   PARTNERSHIPS WITH PARENTS
UNIT TWELVE  CONNECTING WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

In each unit you will find:
Learning Objectives - Identifying the key subject matter covered in each unit.

The Basics - The core content/information of the unit.

Activities - Suggested activities to encourage participants to link the issues being discussed to daily practice.

Chatter Boxes - Vignettes of caregivers’ own perspectives and experiences.

For More Information - Suggestions for sources of additional information.

Evaluation -  Each unit offers options for participant evaluation, if desired.  Options offered are an assignment, or a choice of assignments, and a quiz.   The quizzes might be used as a group exercise to review information at the end of a session.

Each unit is designed to equate to approximately 3 hours of class time.  Each of the assignments for evaluation require an average of 2 - 4 hours of independent work.  Completion of Level One, with an evaluation component, would equate to approximately 60 - 80 hours of training.

Based on our research and confirmed by the experiences of our pilot test site participants and facilitators, we offer the following suggestions:

17) If at all possible ensure that facilitators/instructors have real knowledge of, and preferably experience in, family child care.  If this is not possible, consider partnering the facilitator with an experienced caregiver to deliver training.  In our research, and in our evaluations of the pilot tests, the importance of facilitators having a comprehensive knowledge of the day to day life and experiences of caregivers was reiterated again and again.

18) Networking, that is connecting with other caregivers and sharing their experiences, is as important to the training experience as anything contained in the training program.   If training is being offered in classroom, workshop or small group format, offer many opportunities for discussion and sharing (the Activities suggested will help).  If you are delivering or taking the training through distance education, or are a self-directed learner, partner up/or facilitate partnering with one or more other caregivers to work through the units, the Activities suggested, and even the Assignments, together. Partners could ‘meet’ in person, via telephone or email.

19) Self-reflection is an important part of learning new skills and information and applying them to daily life.  The purpose of the Activities in each unit is to encourage caregivers to reflect on their own experiences as they relate to the information being discussed.  A technique which further enhances reflection is the use of a journal to write about experiences, about feelings about the information being provided, and about how that information applies to your own situation.  Many people who have not used journals before, find it easier to talk things through first with a partner or small group and then write their thoughts.  We strongly encourage the use of journalling for all participants, most especially for those participants involved in self-directed or distance education learning.

20) As the training program was developed for use across Canada, we have not attempted to provide information specific to any province, territory, system or program.  We therefore encourage you to access and/or provide such information at appropriate times in the training program.  For example, in the Business of Family Child Care Unit, access/provide information on your provincial/territorial regulations.  In  Connecting With Your Community access/provide information on resources in your community.   Throughout the training program, where information/consent forms, policy related issues (eg. guidance, administration of medication) are discussed, if there are specific regulations that apply, use those policies/regulations to guide the discussion.

21) The For More Information section in the units suggests some related resources.  Seek out other resources through your local public library and/or child care resource library.  The internet is also a great source of additional information as are government departments, public health units, fire and police departments and community organizations.  If you are facilitating a class or workshop, provide resources on-site for participants to browse through at breaks (or preferably to borrow).  If you are in a small group, perhaps participants could bring any related resources they have with them to sessions, and one or two could take a turn each session to visit the public library and other sources to gather additional resources. Two resources which we provided for the pilot test sites that both participants and facilitators felt were very useful were Home Child Care: A Caregiver’s Guide (available through Home Child Care Publications, 2085 Alton Street, Ottawa, Ont. K1G 1X3, Phone 613-731-1991, Fax 513-731-7975) and Little Well Beings A Handbook on Health in Family Day Care (available through Canadian Paediatric Society, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1).  While neither is a required text for the training program, both are an excellent resource for participants.

22) For organizations offering training, putting in place a tangible form of recognition for participation and/or successful completion of training is important to caregivers. As part of this resource we offer sample acknowledgment and certificate forms that are appropriate to different circumstances.  For example, if you are offering a course where participants must complete assignments or quizzes for evaluation purposes, you would likely issue a certificate for successful completion of the training.  If you offer a single workshop or a series of workshops without a participant evaluation component, you might provide an acknowledgment of participation in the training.  Such evidence of completion/participation helps caregivers build their professional portfolios and can be used for prior learning assessments if the individual wishes to pursue further learning opportunities.

23) Participant and facilitator feedback of the training experience, is important to assist in planning and delivering future training opportunities.  Whatever delivery method is used, both facilitators and participants should have the opportunity to provide feedback on what worked well and what didn’t.  Your feedback process can be as simple as taking a few minutes for group discussion at the end of a class or workshop, a written evaluation that is completed by participants and facilitators, or follow-up phone or in-person evaluation interviews.  Some important questions to ask include:
What did you like about the experience?
What did you gain from the experience?
What would you change about the experience?
Would you recommend participation to others? Why? Why not?

For self-directed learners, and distance education participants:
    As in all things, the more you put in to your participation in the training program, the more you’ll get out of it.  That is true no matter what kind of training you engage in, but self-directed learning and distance education require even more self-discipline and motivation. In addition to the suggestions above, we offer the following:
­ Set goals for yourself regarding the training.  Decide if you will complete one unit
per week, one every two weeks, etc. and develop a written schedule for completion.  Revisit your schedule periodically to see if it needs to be revised.
­ Take your own needs seriously.  Set up a comfortable work area for yourself with good lighting, a comfortable chair and table work space.  Schedule your work time with a coffee break at midway point.
­ Use your journal to record your thoughts, ideas, experiences and questions.
­ Find a partner to work through the units with or to share your experiences as you both work through the units independently.  If you can’t partner with another caregiver through your personal contacts, a child care agency, resource and referral or family resource program, ask a friend or family member to be your sounding board as you work through the units.
­ Challenge yourself to find at least one additional resource for each of the units.  Resource centres and public libraries have many written resources, but also provide video and audio tapes on loan.  As mentioned earlier, the internet is also an excellent source of resources and information.
­ If you are taking the training program through distance education, make good use of contact with your tutor/facilitator.  Make notes in your journal about questions you would like clarified, resources you have been unable to access, or other issues that have come up for you in working through the units.

For facilitators/instructors of distance education
    Participants learning through a distance education model require considerable time and effort from a course facilitator.  Experienced distance education facilitators share the following advice about the important tasks of the facilitator:
­ Familiarize yourself with the materials before distributing to participants and include program (or system) specific information where appropriate.
­ If possible, provide additional resources (books, journal articles, video and audio cassettes) on a loan basis to students.
­ Introduce yourself, via phone if necessary, to each participant, either before or immediately after course materials are sent out.  Ensure that participants know that you are there to support them and provide them with your contact information.
­ Make every effort to connect participants with others. One way of encouraging connections between distance education students who have not met would be to set up a three-way telephone call with you early in the course to talk about ways the two participants might connect and work on assignments or activities together.  The experiences and information caregivers share make for richer learning experiences.  If connecting involves costs (eg. long distance charges) seek out ways that your organization might assist with these costs.
­ Work with participants to develop a reasonable schedule for completion of the units and respond promptly when assignments are received.  (Pilot test facilitators reported time requirements of approximately 20 - 45 minutes per assignment marking and comments)
­ If at all possible, maintain regular contact, at least via telephone or email, with participants.  Prepare specific questions/prompts for your contacts that relate to the units being studied.   Encourage participants to stay in touch with you but don’t wait for them to do so - take the initiative!

For facilitators/instructors of a course, workshop or small group model
    Much of the success of training efforts relies not only in the content, but in the preparation before-hand, and in the delivery.  In addition to the work involved in securing a time and place for the training, advertising and registration, follow-up reminders with participants, and organizing car-pooling before the event, there are other important matters to consider.  For those of you new to the world of delivering adult education, experienced facilitators share the following advice:

­ Depending on the size of the class/group, the number of Activities undertaken, the length of time spent on warm-up and refreshment breaks (you should allow at least 10 - 15 minutes for each), pilot sessions took between 2 1/4 and 3 hours per unit.

­ Pilot test facilitators spent anywhere from 2 hours to a full day on preparation for each of the units.  Time variations depended on the unit content, the facilitators familiarity with same, whether guest speakers were to be invited, etc.. Preparation activities included, review of the material, gathering of additional resources, preparation of overhead, flip charts and materials for activities, identifying, booking and briefing speakers.  Note: Many pilot sites used co-facilitators to help share the work load.

­ Before the session begins:
Make the environment as comfortable, friendly and welcoming as possible (eg. adequate light, comfortable seating and temperature).
If you are in a large building, or one that is not familiar to participants, post signs to help them find you.
Ensure you or a volunteer are on-hand to greet people as they arrive and to introduce them to others.
Provide name tags (with large print!) for everyone.
Plan breaks with refreshments.  If the organization can’t afford to provide refreshments, consider charging a small fee to cover costs or ask participants to take turns providing refreshments for the group.

­ During the session:
Start the first session with introductions.  Have participants introduce themselves, and share information about their experience in child care, the number and ages of their own children, etc..  Try to start each session with a warm-up of some kind to bring the group together and help everyone relax.  Some suggested warm-up activities are offered in the Resources section.
Use the training materials as a structure for your session, but as far as possible draw on caregiver’s own experience and expertise to bring information forward.  For example, in Connecting With Your Community, the Basics section talks about how children and caregivers benefit from outings.  Have participants share what they feel are the benefits, record on blackboard or flipchart - then fill in the blanks if there are any.
Use the Activities suggested to further encourage caregiver participation. Activities can be undertaken in pairs, small groups or as a large group.  Depending on circumstances (the time available, the size of the group, and the group’s tendency towards lengthy discussion) you may select only a few Activity suggestions for each session, or you may prefer to use activity ideas of your own design.
Provide variety in presenting information.  Lecturing should be limited to 15 or 20 minutes intervals, alternated with a group discussion or activity, a brief, relevant video, or a hands-on activity.  If you are offering the full course or a series of workshops, you may want to bring in guest speakers on specific subjects.  Make sure your speakers are well-briefed on their audience and the special concerns and interests that caregivers will bring to the session.
Work with the participants at the first session to set ground rules to ensure that the sessions are a ‘safe place’ for caregivers to discuss their concerns, issues and questions (eg. everyone should have an opportunity to share, so that one or two people should not dominate discussion; no question is a stupid question).
Remember that for many of your participants, this may be their first time back in an educational setting in some time, so work at keeping a friendly, informal and respectful atmosphere, and remain alert to those who may need a little extra encouragement.

WARM - UPS

Alliterations:
    Have everyone sit in a circle.  The first person introduces themselves using a descriptive alliteration with their first name (e.g. Lucky Linda).  The next person introduces themselves and reintroduces the person(s) before them (e.g. I’m Mystical Maria and this is Lucky Linda).  The process continues until the whole group has been introduced.  (The notion is that the whole group helps out once you have too many names to remember.)

My name is:
    Have everyone sit in a circle and introduce themselves, providing their names and something interesting about themselves (e.g. My name is Yolanda Nedd and I was born in Bermuda).  The next person introduces themselves and the person(s) preceding them (e.g. My name is Susan Smith and I have two year old twins and this is Yolanda and she was born in Bermuda).  Again the process continues until all have been introduced, with the group helping out with any memory gaps.

Find me:
    Before the session, make a list of 10 characteristics that might apply to the group (e.g. has provided care for more than 5 years; has provided care for less than 1 year; has teenaged children; has an infant in care; changed the most diapers today; started a new family this week).  Copy the lists to hand out to each participant.  Allow 10 - 15 minutes to allow everyone to mingle and find as many names as possible to fill in for each of the characteristics listed.
.
Match-up
    Before the session compile a list of common pairs (e.g. shoes/socks, comb/brush, peanut butter/jam, salt/pepper).  Using paper or index cards, fold in half and write one word on each side.  Cut paper or cards in half.  At the session give each person one half of a card; the object is to find the person with the missing half without using the actual word (physical gestures and word hints are allowed).

And don’t ignore the obvious
    If this is your first session together, a very nice way to begin is to have everyone sit in a circle and introduce themselves, tell how long they have been providing care, the ages and number of their own children and the children they care for, and what they hope to learn from the session.  Or have the group split into pairs.  Allow five to ten minutes for the partners to get to gather information from each other and then have each person introduce their partner.
 

SAMPLE CERTIFICATES/ACKNOWLEDGMENT FORMS

Where units have been offered as single workshops, or a series of workshops, without an evaluation component, the following form might be appropriate.

Where a participant has successfully completed one or more units with an evaluation component the following form might be appropriate.

Where a participant has successfully completed all twelve units of Level One of the program with an evaluation component the following form might be appropriate.

1. All caregivers must have access to high quality learning opportunities that are affordable and appropriate to their needs and that enable them to provide quality care.

2. Training must be broadly defined to meet the needs of caregivers, incorporate the best practices in adult education, recognize and build on caregivers’ knowledge and experience, and include a range of learning opportunities responsive to the needs of the individual learner.

3. Training must support and enhance the caring, nurturing role of the caregiver.

4. Training must provide opportunities for networking and mutual support.

5. Training must be responsive to community needs, reflect the diversity of the communities served and be inclusive of natural community partnerships.

6. Training must provide opportunities for caregivers to play an active role in the development and implementation of training programs.

7. Training must provide mechanisms for individuals to assess their learning and provide recognition for achievement.

8. Training must include opportunities for both participant and trainer evaluation of the program’s effectiveness.

9. Training must provide a vehicle to develop the skills necessary to work towards strengthened professional identity.