Gable talks with child care providers during a workshop in Union. She travels the state offering educational programs on child care issues which help providers earn the 12 hours of class time required annually.

“The best predictor of child care quality and positive child outcomes is caregiver education and training,” said Gable. “By requiring training, the state attempts to have a positive impact on the quality of care children receive.”

In the fall of 1998, Gable taught a class, “Adult-Child Relations in Child Care Settings,” designed to enable child-care providers to meet the state requirement and to earn college credit. It was developed as a part of Extension's child-care program, which Gable chairs with Jane Hunter, human development specialist in the northeast region.

“Offering the course for college credit is a way that providers can apply their training and education experiences to earning a credential or a college degree,” said Gable.

The class was linked to two telecommunication facilities, so students in east central and southeast Missouri could take part. Betty Reinsch, human development specialist in the east central region, facilitated the class in St. Louis, and Mary Engram, human development specialist in the southeast region, was in Portageville. Interactive discussion topics ranged from children's learning styles to mealtime strategies to providing positive guidance and discipline.

Sara Gable, an MU extension specialist, and assistant professor in human development and family studies, is developing better ways to educate and support Missouri's child care providers. Gable works with a preschooler in the MU Child Development Laboratory. The lab is a resource for both MU students and faculty.

“It's slim pickings out there,” said Schulte, who teaches 2-year-olds at a child-care facility. “I loved the class and thought it was absolutely fantastic. I think that I will probably continue to take college courses even after I meet the requirement.”

Like Schulte, Lisa Bullock believes college courses are more useful than attending short workshops. Bullock, director of ABC Day Care in Vienna, has been providing childcare for more than 10 years. During that time, she has attended many weekend workshops to fulfill the continuing education requirement. When she heard of Gable's class, she encouraged her staff to enroll with her.

Bullock said attending the weekly class and completing the assignments helped her to remember the information much more than past workshops. She continues to use her classroom information as reference material at work.

“It's the key to being a good provider,” said Bullock. “The difference between a babysitter and a day care center isn't the license on the wall. It's the educational support we get throughout the year.”

In addition to the child-care class, Gable and the child-care program team also developed workshops that emphasize relationships with parents and administrative duties such as insurance and bookkeeping. The daylong sessions were taught at five sites across the state. Gable said the format was one way to reach more child-care providers in rural areas. “Since rural providers tend to travel greater distances for their training, they prefer getting more than a couple of hours of training when they attend classes.”

Eight regional extension specialists helped Gable teach and facilitate the day sessions. After the program, instructors made follow-up visits with each participant.

The child-care class and day-long workshops were both funded through grants from the Missouri Department of Health's Bureau of Nutrition and Child Care Programs and the University of Missouri's Outreach and Development fund.

Gable and Melissa Hunting, an MU student, have compiled information regarding the development and implementation of both projects in a report, which will be published in “Early Childhood Education Journal.”

HES Extension Site Administrator
Jeanne Bintzer
bintzerj@missouri.edu