Early Childhood Education
We’re here to train and develop early childhood professionals as well as educate families on quality early learning experiences.
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Training for Early Childhood Educators
All EC LEARN training opportunities are Kentucky approved. Credit will be awarded in ECE-TRIS.
REMINDER:
922 KAR 2:240 Section 11 General Training Requirements
(11) A trainee shall not repeat online training courses, including orientation, unless:
- Five (5) years have passed since the online training was completed; or
- Required to as part of a disciplinary directive by a state agency or employer.
Live “webinars” are not included in this 5 year rule. The rule only applies to on-demand, asynchronous trainings.
(19) A staff person shall not accumulate more than fifteen (15) hours of training in a twenty-four (24) hour period.
Did you know that EC LEARN can bring professional development to your program for in-person or virtual workshops to fit your team’s needs? Rates are based on the number of staff and the length of training.
Complete Form if InterestedTRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
In-Person (Face-to-Face), Virtual (Zoom), or Hybrid (Choice of In-Person or Virtual)
October 20, 2026 Building a Literacy-Rich Preschool Environment: Literacy All Day, Every Day (VIRTUAL) 6:30 - 8PM
Tuesday, October 20, 2026 Building a Literacy-Rich Preschool Environment: Literacy All Day, Every Day (Virtual) 6:30 – 8PM
KY All STARS Standards: Submitted for B1R/B2R: Curriculum, Instructional Practices or Teaching and Learning
Cost: FREE
Core Content Subject Area: 4) Learning environment and curriculum;
CDA Subject Area: 2) Advancing children’s physical and intellectual development
Audience: Preschool Teachers
Training Level: 2
Description:Literacy development begins long before children learn to read and write independently. Preschool environments provide countless opportunities for children to develop the language, communication, print, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and early writing skills that form the foundation for future literacy success. This interactive training will help preschool teachers understand how literacy develops in young children, recognize literacy learning in everyday experiences, and intentionally incorporate literacy throughout the day. Participants will also explore ways to create literacy-rich environments that encourage children to talk, listen, read, write, explore print, and develop a love of books and language.
Instructor: Kim Ross
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
October 26, 2026 Not so Boring Math and Science Activities for School Age Children (VIRTUAL) 6:30 - 8PM
Monday, October 26, 2026 Not so Boring Math and Science Activities for School Age Children (Virtual) 6:30 – 8PM
KY All STARS Standards: Submitted for B1R/B2R: Curriculum, Instructional Practices or Teaching and Learning
Cost: FREE
Core Content Subject Area: 4) Learning environment and curriculum;
CDA Subject Area: 2) Advancing children’s physical and intellectual development
Audience: School-Age Teachers
Training Level: 2
Description: Discover fun, hands-on ways to make math and science exciting for school-age children! This interactive training will explore creative, age-appropriate activities that encourage children to explore, experiment, problem-solve, and learn through play. Participants will gain practical ideas for engaging math and science activities using simple, affordable materials that can be easily incorporated into classrooms, after-school programs, camps, or childcare settings. Activities will promote curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork while helping children build confidence in STEM concepts. Come ready to have fun, get creative, and discover that math and science don’t have to be boring!
Instructor: Bridget Jackson
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
November 12, 2026 SPECIAL NEEDS TRAINING - Anti-Bias Education: Creating Inclusive Early Childhood Environments for Children with Special Needs (VIRTUAL) 6:30 - 8:30PM
Thursday, November 12, 2026 Anti-Bias Education: Creating Inclusive Early Childhood Environments for Children with Special Needs (Virtual) 6:30 – 8:30PM
This session will fulfill the special needs training requirement. It looks at how to evaluate classroom materials and learning experiences to make sure they are inclusive of all children including those with special needs.
KY All STARS Standards: Submitted for B1R/B2R: Curriculum, Instructional Practices or Teaching and Learning
Cost: FREE
Core Content Subject Area: 1) Child growth and development; and 4) Learning environment and curriculum;
CDA Subject Area: 3) Supporting children’s social and emotional development; and 6) Maintaining a commitment to professionalism
Audience: All Providers
Training Level: 2
Description: Anti-bias education is an intentional approach that helps children develop a positive sense of identity, appreciate diversity, recognize unfairness, and learn to advocate for themselves and others. This session introduces the four goals of anti-bias education while exploring how these principles extend to creating inclusive environments for children of all abilities. Participants will examine how anti-bias education actively prevents ableism by challenging stereotypes, using accessible materials, and ensuring that every child is valued for their unique physical, emotional, cognitive, cultural, and family identity. Through the use of children’s literature, classroom materials, reflection, and discussion, educators will discover practical strategies for creating learning environments where children with a special need learn, play, and grow together with empathy, respect, and a true sense of belonging. This training was developed to meet the special needs 3-hour annual training requirement.
Instructor: Jessica Abner
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
November 19, 2026 Foundations of Social & Emotional Success (VIRTUAL) 6:30 - 8:30PM
Thursday, November 19, 2026 Foundations of Social & Emotional Success (Virtual) 6:30 – 8:30PM
KY All STARS Standards: Submitted for B1R/B2R: Curriculum, Instructional Practices or Teaching and Learning
Cost: FREE
Core Content Subject Area: 4) Learning environment and curriculum
CDA Subject Area: 3) Supporting children’s social and emotional development
Audience: All Providers
Training Level: 2
Description: This session equips educators with proactive strategies to foster a safe, predictable, and connected classroom environment. Participants will learn to move from reactive discipline to a proactive, brain-based approach that supports self-regulation and healthy attachments.
Instructor: Andrea Heil
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
December 3, 2026 ITERS-3 in Action: Creating High-Quality Learning Environments for Infants and Toddlers (VIRTUAL) 6:30 - 8:30PM
Thursday, December 3, 2026 ITERS-3 in Action: Creating High-Quality Learning Environments for Infants and Toddlers (Virtual) 6:30 – 8:30PM
KY All STARS Standards: Submitted for B1R/B2R: Curriculum, Instructional Practices or Teaching and Learning
Cost: FREE
Core Content Subject Area: 4) Learning environment and curriculum
CDA Subject Area: 3) Supporting children’s social and emotional development
Audience: All Providers
Training Level: 2
Description: The Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, Third Edition (ITERS-3) is more than an assessment tool—it’s a roadmap for creating nurturing, engaging, and developmentally appropriate environments for children from birth to 36 months. This interactive three-hour training helps early childhood professionals understand how ITERS-3 measures quality and how everyday interactions, routines, materials, and environments influence children’s development and learning. Participants will explore each ITERS-3 subscale through hands-on activities, photos, case studies, and collaborative discussions while identifying practical strategies that can be immediately implemented in their classrooms. Whether preparing for an assessment or simply striving to improve quality, educators will leave with an action plan for enhancing infant and toddler care.
Instructor: Jessica Abner
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
In-Person Orientation Opportunities
We will be updating soon with a new date - In-Person Orientation for Early Care and Education Professionals – 6 hour training, $50/participant
New date coming soon – In-Person Orientation for Early Care and Education Professionals – 6 hour training, $50/participant
Cost: $50
Audience: All
Description: This mandatory training focuses on Health, Safety, and Sanitation, Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse, and Recommended Practices. This session is required for all child care employees and must be completed within the first 90 days of employment.
Time: 9 am – 3:30 pm with a half-hour lunch break
Location: Florence Methodist Church, 585 Old Toll Road, Florence, KY 41042
Instructor: Elizabeth Mays Quisenberry
Online Training Opportunities (Web-Based, On-Demand Learning)
(Partnership with The Learning Professor)
Full List of Web-Based, On-Demand Online Professional Development Opportunities
Building Resilience in Young Children: Early Care and Education Tip Sheets
Cost: $30 (3-hours)
Core Content Subject Areas: 1 – Child growth and development, 4 – Learning environment and curriculum
CDA Subject Area: 1 – Planning a safe, healthy learning environment; and 3 – Positive ways to support children’s social and emotional development
Audience: All
Description: Our everyday interactions with young children have the power to build something essential within them – resilience. This course offers simple, meaningful strategies to help children grow to become emotionally strong, confident, and capable people. Participants will begin with learning that resilience is a child’s ability to cope with stress, recover from challenges, and keep going – even when things are hard. Then the course takes early care and education professionals through the five resiliency tip sheets designed in collaboration with NorthKey and EC LEARN with funding from the Kentucky Early Childhood Regional Collaborative in Boone, Campbell, Kenton, and Pendleton counties. The five tip sheets include: 5 Ways to Help Children Feel Safe; 5 Ways to Build a Positive Relationship with Children; 5 Ways to Encourage Children; 5 Ways to Help Children Be Creative; and 5 Ways to Help Children Cope. Participants will be asked to reflect on how their everyday interactions with young children foster resilience by focusing on encouragement, connections, problem-solving, and emotional support.
Understanding and Using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires
All STARS Approved Training: Standard A1R: Developmental Screening
Cost: $30 (3-hours)
Core Content Subject Area: 5 – Child assessment; 6 – Family and community partnerships
CDA Subject Area: 4 – Strategies to establish productive relationships with families; 7 – Observing and recording children’s behavior
Audience: All
Description: This course is designed to help you understand and use the Ages and Stages Questionnaires to monitor children’s progress and to make sure that all children have the supports needed to succeed. Participants will learn the purpose of these screeners, when and how to use them, how to score and interpret, and best practice for communicating results with families.
Using the Brigance Early Childhood III Screening Tool
All STARS Approved Training: Standard A1R: Developmental Screening
Cost: $30 (3-hours)
Core Content Subject Areas: 5 – Child Assessment; 6 – Family and community partnerships
CDA Subject Areas: 2 – Steps to advance children’s physical and intellectual development; 7 – Observing and recording children’s behavior
Audience: Preschool
Description: This course is designed to help you understand and apply the screening tool to assist in the development of child-focused plans of action. We will go over the purpose of the tool, how to use the tool, how to apply the results to your classroom, and how to share the results with parents.
Partnership with The Consortium for Resilient Young Children
Growing Resilient Families Online Training Opportunities (Web-Based, On-Demand Learning)
Meet Me Where I Am Training Series - Web-Based, On-Demand Online Professional Development Opportunity (9.5 clock hours)
Cost: $75
Training Title: Meet me Where I Am Series (3 courses)
Course 1: Promoting Protective Factors: Protective factors are characteristics that promote family wellness and ensure families are well-positioned to overcome challenges. This training reviews the Strengthening Protective Factors Families framework and provides practical strategies for implementing six protective factors in programs serving families with young children. (Core Content Subject Area: 6 – Family Community Partnerships; CDA Subject Areas: 3 – Supporting children’s social and emotional development & 4 – Building productive relationships with families. KY All STARS Standard: Approved for C1 Strengthening Family Engagement)
Course 2: Nurturing Family Resilience and Wellness: More and more families are experiencing adversity and stress, and early childhood professionals are well-positioned to help families overcome their challenges. This training explores values and perceptions related to parenting. It provides strategies for early childhood professionals to create effective partnerships with parents, respond to their needs, and promote their resilience. (Core Content Subject Area: 6 – Family Community Partnerships; CDA Subject Areas: 4 – Building productive relationships with families)
Course 3: Nurturing Children’s Social-Emotional Wellness: Young children rely on caring adults and positive environments to develop positive relationships and understand their feelings and behaviors. This training provides strategies for helping families and children connect their behavior to their feelings and thoughts. Through empathy, co-regulation, and wondering with children, early childhood professionals learn effective ways to respond to children, avoid crises, and promote their social-emotional well-being. (Core Content Subject Area: 4 – Learning environment and curriculum; CDA Subject Areas: 3 – Supporting children’s social and emotional development. KY All STARS Standard: Approved for BR1 & BR2 Curriculum, Instruction, Teaching, Learning)
Audience: All
Training Level: 2
Location: Online (web-based, on-demand)
Meet Me Where I Am: Promoting the Protective Factors - Web-Based, On-Demand Online Professional Development Opportunity (4.5 clock hours)
Cost: $45
Training Title: Meet me Where I Am: Promoting the Protective Factors
Description: Protective factors are characteristics that promote family wellness and ensure families are well-positioned to overcome challenges. This training reviews the Strengthening Protective Factors Families framework and provides practical strategies for implementing six protective factors in programs serving families with young children. This training supplements the Meet Me Where I Am workbook developed by the Resilient Children and Families Program (RCFP).
In this course, we will cover:
- Introduction to RCFP and CYRC
- Introduction to Protective Factors
- Protective Factors Framework:
- Social and Emotional Competence of Children
- Nurturing and Attachment
- Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
- Social Connections
- Parental Resilience
- Concrete Support in Times of Need
Core Content Subject Area: 6 – Family community partnerships
CDA Subject Areas: 3 – Supporting children’s social and emotional development; & 4 – Building productive relationships with families
Audience: All
Training Level: 2
Location: Online (web-based, on-demand)
Meet Me Where I Am: Nurturing Family Resilience and Wellness - Web-Based, On-Demand Online Professional Development Opportunity (2.5 clock hours)
Cost: $25
Training Title: Meet me Where I Am: Nurturing Family Resilience and Wellness
Description: More and more families are experiencing adversity and stress, and early childhood professionals are well-positioned to help families overcome their challenges. This training explores values and perceptions related to parenting. It provides strategies for early childhood professionals to create effective partnerships with parents, respond to their needs, and promote their resilience. This training is designed to supplement the Meet Me Where I Am workbook developed by the Resilient Children and Families Program (RCFP).
In this course, we will cover:
- Introduction to RCFP and CYRC
- Principles of Effective Family Engagement
- The Ladder of Inference
- Building Effective Parent Partnerships
- Strategies for Building Effective Partnerships
Core Content Subject Area: 6 – Family community partnerships
CDA Subject Areas: 4 – Building productive relationships with families
Audience: All
Training Level: 2
Location: Online (web-based, on-demand)
Meet Me Where I Am: Nurturing Social-Emotional Wellness - Web-Based, On-Demand Online Professional Development Opportunity (2.5 clock hours)
Cost: $25
Training Title: Meet me Where I Am: Nurturing Social-Emotional Wellness
Description: Young children rely on caring adults and positive environments to develop positive relationships and understand their feelings and behaviors. This training provides strategies for helping families and children connect their behavior to their feelings and thoughts. Through empathy, co-regulation, and wondering with children, early childhood professionals learn effective ways to respond to children, avoid crises, and promote their social-emotional well-being. This training is designed to supplement the Meet Me Where I Am workbook developed by the Resilient Children and Families Program (RCFP).
In this course, we will cover:
- Introduction to RCFP and CYRC
- What is Social-Emotional Wellness?
- Creating a Supportive Environment
- Attuning to the Inner Child
- Helping Children Cope
- Partnering With Parents
Core Content Subject Area: 4 – Learning environment and curriculum
CDA Subject Areas: 3 – Supporting children’s social and emotional development
KY All STARS Standards: B1R/B2R – Curriculum, Instruction, Teaching, Learning
Audience: All
Training Level: 2
Location: Online (web-based, on-demand)
Health and Safety Training Opportunities
Click Here to Download PDF Flyer
Saturday, December 5, 2026 - First Aid and Pediatric CPR Certification & Epi-Pen and Blood Borne Pathogens Training (IN-PERSON) 9AM - Noon
Saturday, December 5, 2026 – First Aid and Pediatric CPR Certification & Epi-Pen and Blood Borne Pathogens Training (IN-PERSON) 9AM – Noon
Audience: All
Description: This face-to-face training session provided by Northern Kentucky EMS which utilized the American Safety & Health Institute standards is approved to meet licensing and certification requirements and includes training on the following:
- CPR (Adult, Child, and Infant)
- Relief of Foreign Body Airway Obstruction (Adult, Child, and Infant)
- Signs of Heart Attack, Cardiac Arrest and Stroke
- Use of the AED for Adults, Children, and Infants
- Preventing bloodborne pathogens spread and exposure incidents
- First Aid (Patient assessment, wound care, bleeding control, head/eye injuries, heat & cold emergencies, chest & abdominal injuries, shock, burn, fractures/sprains/strains, seizures)
- Epi-pen administration
Time: 9 am – Noon
Location: EC LEARN’s New Office Training Room (7300 Turfway Rd. Suite 530, Florence, KY 41042)
Instructor: NKEMS
Family Child Care Training Opportunities
Training for Family Child Care Network (FCCN)
Family Child Care Network Training – these titles are for Registered, Certified and Type II providers caring for children in their home in Kentucky. Content will pertain to infants, toddlers, preschoolers and young school age children as well as the business side of running an in-home program. These training opportunities are FREE and funded through the Family Child Care Network and will be region specific.
FCCN Northern Bluegrass Region – Boone, Bourbon, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Harrison, Kenton, Nicholas, Owen, Pendleton, and Scott Counties
FCCN Salt River Region – Anderson, Franklin, Henry, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble and Woodford Counties
SAVE THE DATE - 2027 Family Child Care Conference - March 5-6, 2-27
WHEN: March 5 – 6, 2027
WHERE: EmbassySuites by Hilton Cincinnati RiverCenter (10 E. Rivercenter Blvd, Covington, KY, 41011)
Audience: In-Home Child Care Providers
More details coming soon!
Learn more
Training Color-Code Key
At EC LEARN we value the importance of meeting your specific needs through professional development. We have categorized our training by color to indicate the appropriate audience for each session. Please see the color codes and definitions below:
Training For All!
These titles are for all providers (including family child care) and will pertain to all age groups – Infant, Toddler, Preschool, and young School-Age age children.
Infant/Toddler
These titles are best suited for infant and toddler teachers and will pertain to infants and toddler-aged children.
Preschool
These titles are best suited for preschool teachers and will pertain to preschooler aged children.
School Age
These titles are best suited for providers caring for school age children and the content will pertain to school age children.
Administrators
These titles are best suited for administrators, directors, owners, or those supervising staff.
Family Child Care Network
These titles are for Registered, Certified and Type II providers caring for children in their home in Kentucky. Content will pertain to infants, toddlers, preschoolers and young school age children as well as the business side of running an in-home program. These training opportunities are FREE and funded through the Family Child Care Network and will be region specific. When registering, please make sure it is for your specific region/county.
View or download the color-code PDF.
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