Early Childhood Education

Welcome to Resources for
Early Childhood Educators!

The North American Division Office of Education recognizes the importance of providing early childhood educators with tools that will help them teach, nurture and care for children from birth to age five.

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ACCREDITATION

Standards for Accreditation of Seventh-day Adventist Early Childhood Education (ECE) Programs is the basis for evaluating and accrediting all early childhood programs (ECPs) in the North American Division. In addition, this instrument is the basis for self-study. It contains instructions and details on the responsibilities of those involved in the evaluation process and for completing the self-study. Click to download ECP Standards for Accreditation.

Pre-Kindergarten Standard 10 – This standard is to be used in schools with a stand-alone pre-kindergarten or combined pre-kindergarten/kindergarten classroom when completing the K-12 Standard for Accreditation document on Accreditrac.  Follow these instructions to link the Pre-Kindergarten Standard 10 with your school’s Accreditrac account. Click to view video presentation.

CURRICULUM & RESOURCES

CREATION Kids curriculum provides guidance for creating engaging environments; facilitating learning and growth of young children; meeting the needs of the whole child; assessing progress and individualizing instruction and experiences; growing spiritually, personally, and professionally as teachers; and connecting with the families, the church, and the community.

COBBLESTONES is a supplemental resource developed for teachers who teach in a Pre-K/Kindergarten combination classroom and are using NAD Kindergarten Stepping Stones integrated program. In addition, Cobblestones has a variety of developmentally-appropriate activities designed for four-year-old children.  

GRANTS

Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood is committed to improving the welfare of young children, from infancy through 7 years, in the United States. The foundation’s goal is to provide seed money that will help improve the lives of young children.

LICENSING REGULATIONS

National Database of Child Care Licensing Regulations is a tool for finding and searching national and state information about child care licensing, regulations, agency policies, and requirements for licensed child care centers.

MANDATORY REPORTING LAWS PER STATE

The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act requires every State to have procedures requiring specific individuals to report known or suspected instances of child abuse and neglect.  The Mandatory Reporting Requirements for Children site allows you to see who is required to report and procedural requirements by State.

MARKETING

The Ultimate Child Care Marketing Guide: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Success (Kindle Edition) helps child care center directors manage and grow their early childhood programs.   This book will help early childhood professionals improve staff retention and more.

NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER (NCR) FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY FOR CHILDCARE AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

NCR provides national health and safety standards for early childhood programs.

NORTH AMERICAN DIVISION ECP OPENING REPORT INSTRUCTIONS

(Download PDF Opening Report Instructions)

Early Childhood Programs are asked to fill out a yearly opening report by September 15. The information collected helps conferences, unions, and the North American Division provide statistics to the board of education at each level.  The electronic data entry process takes 20 minutes to complete.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

U.S. Department of Education Early Childhood Education provides information on initiatives, parent programs, resources for parents, teachers, and administration, and various publications.

PROGRAM RATING SCALES

ECHERS AND ITERS – Early Childhood and Infant Environment Rating Scales provide an expanded score sheet and worksheet to help early childhood programs ensure that the appropriate minimum required equipment, space per square foot, ADA accommodations, and curriculum are present.

ECHERS is the early childhood environment rating scale, is a self-assessment designed for centers, preschools, and pre-kindergarten classrooms serving children from 3 through 5 years of age.  The scale consists of 35 items.

ITERS is the early childhood environment rating scale is designed to assess programs for children from birth to 3 years of age.  The scale consists of 33 items.