Toolkits

Improving Early Care and Education Professional Wages

This report explores compensation for early care and education professionals with similar job duties and expectations in other fields and aims to assist early care and education employers in addressing internal wage variances when employees with similar job duties and expectations have a wide range of compensation.

Establishing 
Family Support Services

This toolkit will help programs establish family support services to support parents and caregivers in meeting the needs of their children and family while also  promoting their child’s growth and development. This kit includes: Budget, Staffing calculator, Job descriptions, Family partnership agreement, Family plan and goal worksheet, Family outcomes assessments, Referral and personal information release form, Monthly report template.

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Building a
Parent Advocate Coalition

Early care and education programs have an opportunity to support the education of parents and empowering them to be advocates for their children in the child care setting and beyond. Creating parent advocacy groups can help organize parent voices and amplify their power in the community, state, tribal, and national landscape. This kit includes information about how a Parent Advocate Coalition works, what it costs, and information about how to get started!

Creating At-Home Learning Opportunities

Designed with families in mind, these kits were specifically grouped to hit a variety of skills/standards per age level.  All kits are developmentally appropriate and should help families continue learning for weeks while at home. There are two kits per age level. For kindergarten through fifth grade, we recommend starting with kit A first and then follow up with kit B. This toolkit contains three sample Activity Guides. Activity Guides come with each kit purchase. 

Creating a
Home Visiting Program

Home visiting promotes secure parent-child relationships by emphasizing the parent is the child’s first and most important teacher. This kit will help you establish a home visiting program and includes: Budget, Job descriptions, Family partnership agreement, Family plan and goal sheet, Family outcomes assessments, Referral and personal information release form, Monthly report template.

Promoting More Meaningful Teacher Education through In-House Training

This toolkit will help programs establish an internally-operated staff training program that promotes deeper, more meaningful teacher development and occurs during the workday, eliminating the need for after hours and/or weekend trainings. This kit includes: Budget, Daily staff schedule, Annual training plan brainstorming worksheet, Annual training schedule, Certificate of Achievement.

Building a
Provider Education Network

Empowering the voices of providers while in their care is a critical component of the success of children. Establishing a Provider Education Network can serve to organize provider voices and amplify their power in the community, state, and national landscape. This kit includes information about how a Provider Education Network works, what it costs, and information about how to get started!

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Establishing a
CDA Training Program

This toolkit provides resources for creating a Child Development Associate (CDA) Prep Program  train and develop a cadre of qualified early childhood education professionals. This kit includes: Budget, Contract, Agreement, Training schedule, Lab schedule, Acceptance letter, Rejection letter, Dismissal letter, Attendance sheet, Sign-in sheet, Recruitment post.

Planning for Strategic
Program Growth

Strategic planning is the ongoing organizational process of using what you know about your community and services to set an intended direction for your program and services. This process used to prioritize efforts, effectively allocate resources, align key stakeholders and employees on the organization’s goals, and ensure those goals are backed by data and sound reasoning. This toolkit includes resources for engaging in strategic planning.

Creating Nurturing Learning Environments

Safe, responsive, and nurturing environments are an important part of supporting the learning and development of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and even older children. Well-designed environments also help to prevent challenging behaviors and serve as a core component of interventions for infants and young children with identified disabilities.

This kit includes: Modules on designing effective classrooms and Lakeshore Learning's Complete Classroom.