First Steps in Child Care: An Orientation
Course Overview
Begin your childcare journey with First Steps in Child Care: An Orientation, a foundational course designed for new childcare providers, educators and teacher aides.
Discover appropriate techniques for supervising and interacting with young children of all ages. Moreover, learn the standards for workplace professionalism in early childhood settings and appropriate ways to interact with parents.
Choose a course format (online or coursebook) today!
This course is also offered in Spanish.
Course formats
This course is offered in both our coursebook (with required online component/testing) and our fully online format. The online format of this course includes audio narration in most course sections. Click here to learn more about Care Courses' training formats.
Listen to this page narrated in a similar format to the online course:
Acceptance information
This course is accepted for annual state training requirements in most states, and for the CDA and for CDA renewal training requirements.
- In Maryland, this course is approved by the MSDE Office of Child Care for the 3 clock hour teacher aide orientation training requirement. This course is ideal for childcare providers and aides in childcare centers and large family child care homes. This course meets the Maryland 3 hour aide orientation training requirement as required by COMAR: 13A.16.06.12 and COMAR: 13A.18.06.07.
Ages addressed
This course applies to children of all ages including infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school age children.
Learning outcomes
After completing First Steps in Child Care: An Orientation you will be able to describe appropriate techniques for supervising and guiding young children in your care; identify components of professionalism in the workplace, including caregivers’ professional responsibilities to children, families, and coworkers; and describe ways to interact with parents that will create a positive experience for both the parents and their children.
Topics covered
- Appropriate techniques for supervising and interacting with young children
- Professional standards for early childhood professionals
- Appropriate ways for interacting with parents
Prerequisites
Must be able to fluently read and write English.
Instructional methodology
Read written material, view videos, listen to audio segments.
What our students say about First Steps in Child Care:
“I purchased the orientation course [First Steps in Child Care: An Orientation] and I was extremely satisfied with the content! I honestly have had a lot of success using the guidance from the course at my job, and I’ve had kids listen better. I am also a little less stressed when I have to handle behaviors, as I am confident on what to do. Thank you for the course!” - Milo from Crofton, MD
"Thank you so much. Everything has arrived and we love the course. I have looked over the courses that you offer and we will be ordering more courses. We loved the fact that we could do it at our own pace and were able to do them during the daycare children's down time (napping) in the afternoon and not have to take time out from our families during the evenings or weekends. Thank you again." - Skowhegan, Maine
“I love how it had an audio/or read-yourself option. I love all the detailed information with examples to really make the points stand out.” - North East, Maryland
First Steps in Child Care: An Orientation was easy to follow and got straight to the point with the information! Thanks for offering such a great course for such low costs!” - Gaithersburg, Maryland
Completion deadline
This training expires 12 months from the date of purchase. Courses must be successfully completed by their expiration date in order for the student to receive a certificate.
Care Courses® information
Care Courses® has free unlimited assistance! Call us: 1-800-685-7610, Monday through Friday, nine to five Eastern Time for help with your training or for billing and technical support questions. Or email us days, evenings and weekends: info@CareCourses.com, billing@CareCourses.com, or techsupport@CareCourses.com. Our friendly support team is here to help!
Care Courses® currently offers over 50 professional development courses and one non-credit training tutorial on the CDA process. All courses offer clock hours and an official online certificate of completion. The free CDA tutorial does not offer clock hours or a certificate.
Care Courses'® course tuition entitles one person to receive the clock hours granted by a course upon successful completion. Bundle pricing covers tuition for all the courses included in a bundle.
To receive the CEUs and Clock Hours for a course, you must adhere to and sign our honor code, follow directions on written assignments and show comprehension of the course content. You must make 70% or better on all course quizzes. Less than 70% will result in trainer review and evaluation. If review indicates the need for discussion, you will be informed that you must speak with a trainer. If you fail to get a 70% on your second attempt, we will ask you to contact us at info@carecourses.com. We will review your course and be in touch.
Clock hours and CEUs are documented on official Care Courses® certificates of completion which are accessed in the My Courses area of your account.
Please note: All course and certificate dates and times are on Eastern Time.
More information on how Care Courses® works can be found on our training process page. For a video tutorial of our online course portal, please visit our course navigation video.
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