Infant/Toddler Teacher

The Infant/Toddler Certificate of Achievement provides foundational skills in the care of infants and toddlers. Students gain knowledge of young children’s social and emotional needs, how to create partnerships with families to provide culturally consistent and respectful care, and how to develop holistic play-based curriculum. Students will learn how to develop child care environments that are responsive to the needs of young children and skills for responsive interactions. Learning will be grounded in child development theories and knowledge of developmentally appropriate practice.

Students who complete the certificate meet the requirements to become a fully qualified associate teacher according to the Child Development Permit Matrix issued by the State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and Community Care Licensing, Title 22. Additionally, students will have the infant and toddler units mandated by Title 22 to work with children under 3 years of age. Students who wish to work with young children must pass a criminal record fingerprint clearance and show proof of immunization at the time of employment. 

The certificate is 18 units and requires a grade of C or better in the following three unit courses: CDFS 038 Child Growth and Development, CDFS 050 Child Family and Community, CDFS 062 Introduction to Early Childhood Education: Principles and Practices, CDFS 063 Introduction to Curriculum, CDFS 075 Care of Infants and Toddlers: Social-Emotional Foundations, and CDFS 076: Care of Infants and Toddlers: Curriculum and Environments. 

Program Learning Outcomes:

1.    Demonstrate the ability to meet the social and emotional needs of infants and toddlers by utilizing knowledge of child development theories, family and cultural information,skills for responsive communication, and self-reflection practices.

2.     Develop play-based holistic curriculum for infants and toddlers based on observations of the child's interests and developmental levels

3.     Design childcare environments that demonstrates knowledge of the developmental needs of infants and toddlers and the aesthetic principles that underlie a quality classroom

We anticipate about 10 students per year will earn the Infant/Toddler Teacher Certificate of Achievement annual. We think the variance may be anywhere from 5-15 students annually. 

We base this projection on enrollment data. Approximately 20 students complete the infant/toddler courses at Solano College every semester, and approximately 60 completed the Associate Teacher Certificate of Achievement. We believe about 15% of those earning the Associate Teacher certificate will choose to specialize in infant/toddler care and will take the additional 6 units to earn the Infant/Toddler certificate. 

The Infant/Toddler Teacher Certificate of Achievement is designed for early childhood educators who want to specialize in the care of infants and toddlers. The state of California, Title 22 child care licensing requirements mandate that individuals seeking employment with children 0-3 years of age must have specialized units in the care of infants and toddlers. This certificate of achievement provides students with 6 infant and toddler units in addition to the 12 units required to become a fully-qualified associate teacher level of the Child Development Permit Matrix issued by the State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and Community Care Licensing, Title 22. The goal is to provide students the knowledge and skills to work with infants and toddlers in child care settings. 

The Infant/Toddler Teacher Certificate of Achievement can be completed in one year. to earn the certificate, students must complete all six courses with a grade of "C" or better. The recommend sequence is:

Year 1 Fall: CDFS 038, 062, 075 (9 units)

Year 1 Spring: CDFS 050, 063, 076 (9 units)

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
CDFS 038	Child Growth and Development	3	S1
CDFS 050	Child Family and Community	3	S2
CDFS 062	Introduction to ECE: Principles and Practices	3	S1
CDFS 063	Introduction to Curriculum	3	S2
CDFS 075	Care of Infants and Toddlers: Social and Emotional Foundations	3	S1
CDFS 076	Care of Infants and Toddlers: Curriculum and Environments	3	S2

In the Solano College mission statement, it says the college seeks to transform students’ lives through (among others), career-and-technical education and certificate programs. The Infant/Toddler Certificate of Achievement aligns with both of these goals. We want to enable students to be workforce ready to teach infants and toddlers. The need for infant and toddler care is strong in our community. In our Child Development and Family Studies advisory meetings, our industry partners frequently tell us one of their strongest needs is qualified teachers for infants and toddlers. There are more openings than they have applicants. Our community partners at our advisory meeting voted on and approved us creating an Infant/Toddler Certificate. They hope that it will help market and incentivize students to get their infant and toddler units (at Solano CDFS 075 and CDFS 076).

We do not believe any colleges in the service area will be impacted by the creation of this program. Some colleges like DVC and Napa have Master Teacher Certificates where students can get their specialization in Infant/Toddler Care, but these certificates are adapted for the Child Development Permit Matrix and are designed for students that already have 24 units of ECE, 16 GE units, their 6 units of specialization, and 2 adult supervision units. Our proposed certificate is for entry-level positions in the care of infants and toddlers. Woodland Community College has a similar 18 unit certificate, but the college is over 40 miles away and our student populations do not traditionally overlap.