316-682-1853 DONATE My Account CART Preparing young children for lifelong success 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! Email Signup 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. Training Calendar 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! Join a quality project 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. Mini Learning Experiences 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. Resource Library Info 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! Get Started in Childcare 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. Referral Service 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. Free Coaching & TA Work-room Keep previous creations safe, create new experiences and keep your business organized. We have a laminator and accu-cut machines available. Work-room details Links Looking for other organizations or businesses that can help you with your child care business? Check out our list! Other Resources Latest News 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… Continue reading 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… Continue reading 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… Continue reading 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… Continue reading 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… Continue reading Accepting applications for our next Quality Project! Are you looking for an opportunity to increase the quality of your child care, receive financial stipends and free training? We are currently recruiting Family/Group Child Care Homes to participate in our next Child Care Quality Initiative Project. This project enhances child care quality through coaching and professional development to support positive child interactions and… Continue reading Upcoming Events Nov 30 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Cultivating Compassionate Classrooms Dec 4 All day Adult, Child & Infant CPR/AED/Choking, Pediatric First Aid/Safety Dec 4 9:00 am - 11:00 am Basic Child Development Including Supervision View Calendar Related Information For Providers Update your Profile Membership Get Started Child Start is a local nonprofit organization focused on early learning for lifelong success. We work with child care providers to ensure quality care for our community’s children and administer the Head Start programs. 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