WHEELING, IL — December 1, 2014 — National Louis University recently received a grant of $50,000 from an anonymous donor in support of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.
The grant will provide resources for the McCormick Center to launch a new initiative, the “Facilitating Leadership in Family Child Care” program, which delivers a 6-month cohort-based professional development experience to home-based child care providers.
“Family child care providers are hungry for formal training in the essentials of running an educational small business. Specialized training in program management and business growth strategies are critical for these early childhood programs to maintain quality and continue to grow,” says Safiyah Jackson, Director of Training at the McCormick Center.
Support for this program provides an opportunity to transfer 22 years of training experiences, lessons learned, and proven outcomes from the McCormick Center’s Taking Charge of Change™ leadership initiative and raise up an often overlooked sector of the early childhood field. Among other objectives, the program aims to build a sustainable community of practice for providers who are typically isolated in their respective businesses. The 12 participating providers will explore how maintaining successful business practices will foster respectful, positive relationships with children and families.
The FCC initiative will be a hybrid model that includes a blend of face-to-face and online learning. It will launch in spring 2015, with participants attending a four-day convening institute.
Training content will align with the Illinois Gateways to Opportunity Family Child Care Credential and the Illinois ExeleRate™ Quality Rating and Improvement System. Participants that successfully complete this training initiative qualify for 3 points of FCC Credential Approved Training and can apply for 3 SH of undergraduate course credit at National Louis University.