In Nevada, thousands of individuals become professional early childhood educators, and Extension is helping to ensure these individuals have the training needed to deliver the best to Nevada’s youngest residents.
The Infant Toddler Child Development Associate program, which is the most widely recognized credential in early childhood education, has been offered by Extension for the past four years. This program includes 120 hours of training focused on teaching the best practices for how to nurture the emotional, physical, intellectual and social development of children.
Like many of the programs Extension offers, COVID-19 forced a change in the mode of delivery for this program. What may have been a challenge to some was an opportunity for this program. This change allowed the program to reach more individuals with class sizes increased from 27 to 35 and geographic barriers removed with virtual programming.
In the fall of 2020, 18 individuals in Clark County completed the 120-hour training and another 11 completed a 22-hour training to earn their second Child Development Associate credential.
Currently, the spring 2021 session has 31 individuals from Clark County enrolled in the 120-hour training.
Read more about Extension's Infant Toddler Child Development Associate Program and its impact