Center For Inclusive Child Care - Online self-study Courses

CICC Self-Study Courses

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Course List

  • New (Anxiousness) Helping the Child Who is Anxious. description

    Childhood is often seen as a happy-go-lucky time when there are no worries or cares, just a long stretch of play, make-believe, and endless possibilities. However, the reality of childhood is that children experience times of stress and upheaval that leaves them feeling anxious and unsure. Because of this, children need a sense of safety and security from their primary caregivers. Some children will be anxious more than others and for different reasons. All children need consistency and nurturance by people close to them in order to feel secure in an often insecure world. Some level of anxiety is a normal part of growing up for most children.

  • Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder: Seeing the Disability Behind the Behavior. description

    Have you ever wished you had a map to use when caring for a child with AD/HD? Travel through this course in discovery of the myths and facts of AD/HD and successful strategies for inclusion of children with AD/HD in child care settings.

  • Asperger’s Syndrome: Characteristics and Supporting Success. description

    Asperger's Syndrome is a fairly new diagnosis, this course provides an overview and diagnostic information as well as basic intervention strategies for children diagnosed with Apserger's Syndrome.

  • Autism: Including Children with Social, Communication, and Behavioral Needs. description

    In this course, you will examine the key characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder and get the tools you need to more effectively include a child with Autism in your child care setting. Included in this comprehensive study are myths and facts about Autism as well as practical strategies to implement in your program.

  • BEAM (Bridging Education And Mental Health): description

    BEAM (Bridging Education and Mental Health) is an intervention model and conceptual framework developed for use by teachers/caregivers, with the assistance of a BEAM coach. It uses strategies from the educational (positive behavioral support) and mental health (therapeutic) perspectives to address social-emotional development on four different levels.

  • New Supporting Bereaved Parents description

    In this course, participants will gain an understanding of how the loss of a baby impacts the dynamics of the family. Also, participants will learn to identify guidelines for helping parents know how to support children based on their developmental ages.

  • Children's Behavior: The Importance of the Practitioner's Role. description

    Whether you've been in child care for one week or for 10 years, at some point you've had to guide a behavior that disrupts your daily routine. Join us in an interactive look at challenging behavior and your role in working through it based on your own experiences and background.

  • Children's Development: What to Expect and When to be Concerned. description

    Learning takes place throughout our lives, beginning at birth. Children learn and grow physically, socially, and cognitively. These areas of growth, and children's general health are important when monitoring overall development. Most developmental tracking and observation have focused on motor, language, and cognitive development. More recently, there has been a focus on the social, and emotional development of young children. Social reciprocity is a primary component of healthy development that includes joint attention, purposeful language, and pretend play.

  • Disability Law and Data Privacy, an overview. description

    This course on Data Privacy is about facilitating an understanding of what the ADA, Section 504, data privacy, confidentiality and releases of information are, and how they impact one's practice. It also identifies what areas of modification and/or improvement are needed in a practice and program to assure all legal aspects are met.

  • New Early Language Development - Birth through Three. description

    In this course, participants will explore the components of early communication and the processes of receptive listening skills. Participants will also recognize language pragmatics as young children develop early speech skills.

    • Participants will explore the components of communication: listening/comprehension, speech/sentence formulation and social interaction.
    • Participants will explore the processes of listening, hearing and processing and how they relate to receptive language skills.
    • Participants will describe the sequence of verbal communication development from cooing, babbling, vocabulary and sentence acquisition.
    • Participants will define "pragmatics" and how it pertains to the social function of language.

  • Inside the Child: Social and Emotional Development. description

    Ever wonder why children do what they do? This course will give you a chance to look at a child's behavior from the inside-out. You will examine children's temperament and emotional development in relation to their behavior. A must for all early childhood educators!

  • New The Meaning of Inclusion: Practical and Philosophical Implications : description

    This self study course examines inclusion as both a philosophy and a real-time practice. The course offers a look at the benefits and challenges to including children with special needs in community settings. Two families share their poignant stories of inclusion from early childhood through high school as a backdrop to the exploration of the meaning of inclusion.

  • Observation and Assessment: Strategies for Inclusion. description

    This two chapter course is contained within three self-study units.

    Chapter one is titled Observation: Finding the Function of Behavior
    Have you ever thought: They're doing it on purpose? Join us to discover how, through observation, we can see the clues children give us to the purpose behind their behavior. Once we understand the purpose, we can more effectively respond to children's needs.

    Chapter two is titled Tools for The Toolbox: Strategies to Meet Challenging Behaviors
    This workshop offers many tools for working with children who have challenging behaviors, including specific guidance strategies. This chapter has very practical information you can use in your program.

  • Prevention: It's All About Environment. description

    What does your environment say to children? In this self-study course you will look at how your physical and social environment affect children's behavior. Learn how to prevent and guide children's behavior through this comprehensive course.

  • Sensory Processing Disorder. description

    This course describes the characteristics of Sensory Processing Disorder and how it may impact young children in child care programs.

    Children have unique sensory preferences and sometimes those preferences can interfere with learning, social growth, and may result in challenging behaviors.

    Strategies for inclusion will be presented as well as resources to share with parents.

  • Successful Inclusion in School Age Programs. description

    This course will explore the philosophies of successful inclusive school age programs.

    Designing program strategies that enable participants with special needs to be successful requires individualized, focused attention. Building an inclusive program is an ongoing process, one that demands communication, creativity and partnerships.

    Inclusive programs share many common traits, among them the attitudes of the staff and participants. Attitudes about the equity of all program participants and their inherent worthiness must be the foundation for all program decisions. Programs that strategically address personal growth and set individual goals contribute to viable outcomes for all program participants.

  • What is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004? description

    Through this course you will examine the Individual with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 and its implications for schools and child care settings.

    Included are the important principles of Least Restrictive Environment, Natural Settings, and the IEP process. You will learn the differences between important disability laws and resources for further information.

  • Why Don't They Like Me: A Look at Bullying description

    This course will define harassment as well as examine common views about bullying and the types of bullying. The course will look at ways to talk to children about harassment and effective methods for responding to bullying behavior. The course will also examine how bullying can impact a child´s self esteem and how intervention strategies can be used.

College Credit now Available Through Concordia University, St. Paul

Concordia LogoAs of May 1 these trainings will be available for credit through Concordia University St. Paul’s School of Continuing Studies. An extra fee for credit enrollment is required. Continuing Studies direct phone: 651-603-6268 .

What to expect:

  • You will need internet access with a Flash enabled web browser on your computer.
  • In addition to visual learning modules, you can download the audio version in MP3 format or listen online.
  • There is no time limit for course completion.
  • All courses are FREE to access without restriction. A $25.00 CEU per course processing fee only applies to those who need CEU clock hours.

CEUs, Position Paper, and Course Development Research

  • All courses are available free of charge to anyone who visits the self-study Learning Center.
  • CEUs (clock hours) are available for a nominal processing fee of $25.00 each which includes CDA Competency Standards. CEUs for the Self-Study Courses are not intended to be used for the first 8 hours of inservice training required under Minnesota Licensing Rule 2.
    Position paper on the Standards Governing the Use of Continuing Education Units for Child Development Associates.
  • Self-Study interface and instructional design
    research position paper.


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