Do you want to work in the child care field but don't know where to start? Maybe you are trying to decide if you want to start your own child care business or work in an existing center? Or maybe you want to take your certification to the next level? Our courses provide continuing education and training geared to help you acquire, maintain, and advance in the child care field.
When considering a career in child care there are a couple of easy questions to ask yourself first:
- Do I want to run a Family Child Care with eight or fewer children in my home?
- Do I want to own or work in a Child Care Center and need my 90-Hour certificate?
The answers will help you determine which courses you should take!
Family Child Care
Requires a license from the Office of Child Care, and is classified as watching up to eight children in your permanent residence. If you are interested in this career path, you may choose one of two training paths:
- 24 hours of Family Child Care pre-service modules (DCR-510) or
- 90-Hour Child Care Pre-School Certification (DCR-303 and DCR-531)
90-Hour Child Care Certification
This certification is required to be a Lead Teacher in a child care center. The 90-Hour Certification is made up of two 45-hour courses:
- Child Growth and Development (45 hours): covers child development for ages birth through twelve (DCR-303)
- Curriculum development for a specific age group. You must take at least one curriculum course to complete your 90-hour certification. You may be be certified to work with more than one age group by taking multiple curriculum courses:
- Infant/Toddler: ages birth through two years old (DCR-315)
- Pre-School Curriculum/Activities: ages three through five (DCR-531)
- School Age Curriculum: ages six through twelve (DCR-456)
- To qualify as Lead Teacher, you must also complete the nine hours of Communication Skills for Child Care Providers class (DCR-455), unless you have taken previous college course work for credit. NEW- Students must also take Including All Children in the ADA (DCR-573). This is a new 3-hour training.
Program Requirements
- Successful completion of the reading placement test prior to the start of all Certification courses. This is given on campus at our Testing Center.
- Child Growth and Development is a prerequisite for all curriculum courses.
- Perfect attendance is required to pass the courses.
- Many of our classes are offered as traditional classroom courses and online/hybrid courses.
About Our Courses
DCR-303 - Child Growth and Development
DCR-531 - Pre-School Curriculum/Activities
DCR-315 - Infant and Toddler: 45 Hours
DCR-456 - School-Age Curriculum Dev
DCR-455 - Comm Skills:Child Care Profsn
DCR-573 - Including All Children in the ADA
DCR-466 - Child Care Admin: Directors
Many courses have prerequisites that must be completed prior to the start of the course. We offer evening, daytime, weekend and online/hybrid courses to fit many different schedules.
Visit Owl Link to see our course options online.
Contact Information
Marcella Celestine, ECE Program Coordinator
Phone: 301-546-7545
Email: ChildCare@pgcc.edu
- Choose question