For Providers
Early Childhood Connections provides many services to help child care professionals succeed at their business. Check out all we do!
Stay in the loop!
Keep up to date by joining our email list and following the Early Childhood Connections Facebook Page!
Professional Development
Early Childhood Connections provides in-service training and professional development for early childhood professionals. You can see our training calendar, and information about on-site trainings, Kickstart, Trailblazer, Membership, special events and more in this section.
Quality Initiatives
Join a quality project and receive a year’s worth of special support and assistance for free! Many have stipends or grants attached. Projects change year to year so visit this section for the latest opportunities!
Mini Learning Experiences
Mini Learning Experiences are a fun experience for the children in your care and a learning opportunity for yourself or your teachers.
Library
Need some new toys or books to rotate in? We have a resource library that you can use to bring fresh new books, kits, games, learning activities and more to your site.
Get Started
Looking to get started in the child care field? Visit this section to learn more about what you need to do and how we can help!
Referral & Marketing
The Referral Service helps spread the word and keeps your vacancies filled. This free service works best with frequent updating. Update your vacancies and profile information now.
Coaching & Technical Assistance
As a child care professional, you may run into a situation that is difficult to resolve. Early Childhood Connections Specialists are ready to help you tackle these situations and answer questions to help you provide a high-quality learning environment for any age.
Work-room
Keep previous creations safe, create new experiences and keep your business organized. We have a laminator and accu-cut machines available.
Links
Looking for other organizations or businesses that can help you with your child care business? Check out our list!
Latest News
National Child Abuse Prevention Month — FREE TRAINING!
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and we want to share a valuable resource with you to help equip parents! As reports of child sexual abuse continues to appear in headlines, more parents are seeking resources to understand and address the risk of sexual abuse. MinistrySafe’s new two-part Parent Training is designed to help parents…
Virtual Early Childhood Job Fair – Date Change!
We are happy to announce that we will be working with the Workforce Center of South Central Kansas to host our very first ever Virtual Job Fair for recruitment of Early Childhood Professionals! Tuesday, October 19 – 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM This event is for anyone searching for positions in Wichita in the early…
Child Care Certificate Scholarships
Earn your Child Care Certificate Child Start is accepting applications for All In For Kansas Kids Child Care Certificate Scholarships worth $1,000, half of the cost of the Certificate from Cowley College. Learn more about the certificate at: https://catalog.cowley.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=5&poid=552&returnto=837 Eligibility: Live in Cowley, Sedgwick, or Sumner County Willing to complete entire Child Care Certificate within…
Online Mini Learning Experiences
Now Available… Online Mini Learning Experiences! Your membership gives you access to our newest benefit… Online Mini Learning Experiences! Due to COVID we have not been able to come to your sites to perform our monthly themes, but we have heard from you how much you miss them. Because of this, we have developed Online Mini Learning Experiences. Just like…
Training Scholarships for Child Care Providers
Child Care Training Scholarships In order to help support the child care workforce during COVID 19, Child Start’s Early Childhood Connections program is awarding over 180 scholarships so child care professionals can obtain the critical training they need during these unprecedented times. Applicants must work, or be preparing to work in a licensed Child Care…
Encouraging Children to Enjoy Books Independently
“There’s no disputing it: Being read to every day by a parent or caregiver fosters close relationships, builds vocabulary, knowledge, and early literacy skills, and helps children grow up to love reading. Don’t overlook the additional benefits of helping children learn that enjoying books independently, is good too. Children can productively spend time with books on their…