What is a Child Development Associate Credential?

The Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™ is the most widely recognized credential in early childhood education (ECE) and is a key stepping stone on the path of career advancement in ECE. 

The Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™ is based on a core set of competency standards, which guide early care professionals as they work toward becoming qualified teachers of young children. The Council works to ensure that the nationally-transferable CDA is a credible and valid credential, recognized by the profession as a vital part of professional development.

CDAs have knowledge of how to put the CDA Competency Standards into practice and understanding of why those standards help children move with success from one developmental stage to another. Put simply, CDAs know how to nurture the emotional, physical, intellectual, and social development of children.

Earning the Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™ has many advantages, including exposure to the larger community of early childhood educators. Over 400,000 educators have received their CDA to date!

Becoming a CDA is a big commitment, but one that creates confident practitioners with command of today’s best practices for teaching young children.

Benefits of The Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™

  • Advance your career
  • Meet job requirements
  • Reinforce your commitment to early childhood education
  • Provide parents with peace of mind
  • Understand developmentally appropriate practice
  • Increase your confidence

Click here to see the entire CDA process, and where this course fits in to it: STEP ONE

This is a Self-Paced Online Course     This course is entirely driven by you! All 120 hours of the required training are right here. Work at your own pace, in your own time, in the comfort of your own home. This course meets the STEP ONE 120-hour training requirement for the CDA Credential, as described in the flyer you can download above.

Support Sessions included (2 hours each)    Need some face-to-face help? You get unlimited free Support Sessions with us!  Get expert help, ask questions, and meet other CDA Students. During these sessions, we will also help you build your Professional Portfolio, and when the time comes, assist you with the CDA Application paperwork. Sessions are scheduled monthly online using Zoom Check out our website for the Support Session Schedule: https://www.august-education.com/cda

WA STARS Annual Hours included  If you live in WA State, 20 Hours of STARS is included, so you won’t need to take extra training this year! You will also be able to apply for $250 reimbursement from the DEL. We’ll help you do this.

IMPORTANT:  This course includes activities you must complete away from the computer. You will need the ability to:

  • download and print documents
  • scan and upload documents back into the course

Please be sure you are able to do this before purchasing this course!

If you have any questions prior to purchasing, please give us a call at (206)715-6146 (Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm PST) or email [email protected] 

Refund Policy:

  • All course purchases are final.
  • We do not provide refunds for unfinished courses.
  • If you purchased this course by accident, and have not started ANY of the coursework, please email us within 12 hours of purchase to discuss your options.

Course Curriculum

    1. Let's Get Started!

    2. How to navigate this course

    1. Before we begin...

    2. Course Overview

    3. Discussion - Introduce Yourself

    1. Bye Bye Germs!

    2. Quiz: Bye Bye Germs!

    3. Health & Safety Practices - An Overview

    4. Hand Washing - Video

    5. Project - Hand Washing

    6. Diaper Changing - Video

    7. Project - Diapering

    8. Cleaning and Sanitizing - Video

    9. Project - Cleaning & Sanitizing

    10. Health & Safety In The Classroom

    11. Quiz - Health & Safety In The Classroom

    12. Safety Procedures & Accident Prevention - Video

    13. Project - Safety Precautions and Accident Prevention

    14. Food Handling Tips

    15. Portfolio - Competency Statement I: Safe & Healthy Learning Environment

    16. Portfolio - Competency Statement I: Instruction Page

    17. Discussion - COVID-19

    18. If You Live In Washington State...

    1. How The Brain Functions And Learns

    2. The Human Brain - Video

    3. Quiz - Brain Functions

    4. Brain Development in Young Children

    5. Q&A - The Brain and Multi-Sensory Experiences

    6. Serve and Return Interactions

    7. Serve And Return I - Video

    8. Serve And Return II - Video

    9. Project - Serve & Return in Action

    10. The Brain-Body Link

    11. Project - Sensory Experiences

    12. Theories of Child Development

    13. John Dewey - Video

    14. Q&A - Dewey

    15. Maria Montessori - Video

    16. Q&A - Montessori

    17. Lev Vygotsky - Video

    18. Q&A - Vygotsky

    19. Erik Erikson - Video

    20. Q&A - Erikson

    21. Jean Piaget - Video

    22. Q&A - Piaget

    23. Whole Child Development

    24. Developmental Milestones Quiz

    25. Discussion - Whole Child Development

    1. How Children's Bodies Grow

    2. Types of Movement

    3. Supporting Movement In The Classroom

    4. Project - Physical Activity in the Classroom

    5. Physical Development in Your Lesson Plan

    6. Project - In Your Classroom

    7. Discussion - The Value of Physical Movement in Early Childhood Classrooms

    1. Intellectual or Cognitive Development

    2. Cognitive Development Q & A

    3. Ages & Stages of Cognitive Development

    4. More Cognitive Development Milestones

    5. Project - Cognitive Development in your Classroom

    6. Cognitive Development In Your Lesson Plan

    7. Project - Classroom In Action

    8. Promoting Language Development

    9. Emergent Literacy

    10. Emergent Literacy: Early Reading and Writing Development

    11. Project - Language Development Lesson

    12. Portfolio - Competency Statement II: Advancing Physical & Intellectual Competence

    13. Portfolio - Competency Statement II

    14. Discussion - Language Development

About this course

  • $350.00
  • 148 lessons
  • 1.5 hours of video content

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