ECE courses

[Inspired by Reggio]

I agree about the life long learning - staying motivated and on top of best practice in your field is key - specially in an industry in which changes over the years are common as we learn more about how the little brains develop and learn from past theories which over time have shown to not have the long term desired effects on children's optimal well being and so forth.

However - and my professional association would slap me if they heard me say this ... I do not think you NEED a ECE DEGREE to be a home childcare provider ... to be honest I worked with many people over the years who had a degree and were USELESS in a group care environment - a piece of paper does not make you an optimal educator!

Honestly - I am an RECE.c ... so in addition to my diploma I actually I went on and got certified through my professional association here in Ontario and am also Registered now here in Ontario with the College of ECE ....however truth be told much of what I learned back in 1988 is no longer practiced so if I had got my degree and never 'opened another book' or 'attended another workshop' my 'expertise' would be VERY OUTDATED and NOT BEST PRACTICE at all but I could still advertize to clients that I am an ECE but it would not neccessarily mean parents were getting 'better service' than someone else who does not have that piece of paper

Much of what I have learned to be best practice and practical skills in working with children and excelling at offering a thriving program I learned ON THE JOB and through attending workshops and seminars AFTER graduation that were on topics relevant to my work and environments and my developing philosophy for curriculum that is vastly different from the 'theme based boxed curriculum' taught to me in school!

I am not sure how things work in Alberta but here in Ontario there are LOADS of professional development opportunities for home childcare providers and caregivers in general .... Public Health offers workshops, seminars and networking around nutrition, dealing with various 'developmental milestones' with children of varied ages, the Ontario Early Years Centres offer workshops and seminars for both parents and caregivers on a wide variety of topics both behaviour and guidance geared as well as 'programing / activity' ideas and so forth, the libraries offer interesting seminars, the Colleges offer evening courses on a wide variety of topics and so forth and often Licensed childcare centres open up their professional development conferences and seminars to the public so you can piggy back on attending those as well.

Seriously IMO unless you plan to work in a centre at some point where ECE is a 'requirement' for employment I would think choosing a post secondary education that was more 'eclectic' to various job opportunities once you no longer want to be 'working from home' might be a wiser investment in $$$ ... take the child related courses as the elective options and perhaps some business or other more versatile 'degree'?