Become a Certified Daycare Provider
For someone who absolutely loves kids, being a certified daycare provider would not even feel like a job. However, the process of becoming certified can take some time and varies from state to state, so exercising your patience is a must. Once you've attained your goal of becoming certified though, you'll find the whole process to be a very rewarding experience.
Steps
- Get in contact with the department of child services for your state to determine the laws and requirements within your locality. Rules and regulations differ from state to state, so make sure that you are aware of the ones applicable to you. For instance, there are some states which may not even require a license anymore, depending on the circumstances.
- Go through the paperwork that the department of child services sends through mail. Make sure that everything is filled out completely, honestly, and to the best of your ability. When you are done, return the completed documents to the department of child services in your state through mail as well.
- Check with your caseworker on the classes or trainings you are required to take for your certification. A caseworker will be assigned by the department of child services to help you. The caseworker will run a background check on you, and will make sure that you are fit to become a certified daycare provider. For instance, some states may require you to attend a child CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training, but even if your state does not, it is still a very important and useful skill to have. Aside from this, there are other trainings that your state might require you to take, so make sure to accomplish this first.
- Take some online classes while waiting on your license. Although taking these courses are not required, they are still highly encouraged, as they provide a good amount of information on the topics that you should be aware of as a daycare provider. There are helpful classes for topics such as activities, meals, rules, and sanitation.
- Use the time to complete any other requirements that your state might have, while you are waiting for the approval of the license. The time it takes to get licensed differs from state to state, so it would be best to ask your local child services department for the typical processing time in your locality.
Tips
- Be patient. Patience is a necessary skill when dealing with children, and it would be useful to exercise this skill as well while waiting for your license.
- Volunteer to take care of kids in a church's nursery, or take on babysitting jobs. Doing these will not only let you get used to being surrounded by children all the time, they could serve as relevant working experience for your application as well.
Warnings
- Make sure to be completely honest about your background when applying for certification. If you feel that there is something that happened in the past that you might be questioned on, be upfront about it right away. The background check will reveal any dubious information, so it would be better to clarify everything from the get-go.
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