40HDT course workbook

The Forty-Hour Director’s Training 

A peek at the course 

This week’s mentor training will support you in discovering aspects of your personal leadership style and abilities. Your professional leadership development will impact the way you develop your staff, manage your fiscal responsibilities, your beliefs on educating young learners, and communicate with your program community.  

The sessions will be 4 nine-hour sessions with six hours of homework (including half hour lunch break) 34 hours of face-to-face and 2 hours of homework or 8 four-hour sessions with eight hours of homework totaling 40 hours. The sessions will be completed in a month. Make-up days are available for $75.00 or by joining available sessions in progress. The first day will focus solely on you; looking deeply into your interpersonal communication,  evaluating how you typically operate, analyzing how you interact with others, and concentrating on how your leadership approach impacts others. Part two of Day One offers an inventory of regulations and guidelines designed to reveal your knowledge and management skills in operating a childcare business. The goal is to become so familiar with what the core rules are that your program will avoid many of the devastating situations that have occurred in programs caring for young children.  

Day Two will allow you to get to know your community. When a director becomes intimately involved with staff and parents many conflicts can be resolved by following through with center policies. Together we will study the laws and customize your program's policy manuals to protect your mission.  

Day three will be a super fun day. We get to play! It has been observed that when directors become intertwined emotionally, and physically with the children they serve the levels of leadership increase. The children are our “whys”. They are the point of all the drama and challenges administrations face daily. The assessments selected are designed to help clarify how your program chooses to educate the whole child. Plus know how to support teachers in teaching developmentally appropriate practice which separates educators from babysitters. Finally, day four will provide an overview of money matters and marketing. Having a solid foundation for managing money and communicating with your community can secure your program for years to come. Each participant will give a five-minute presentation on a topic 

(something all ECE directors must know). The presentation will also serve as content for new administrators. Create a Professional Development Plan 

This training is spread out over a month. The homework and use of techniques gained during the weeks will be documented as six training hours. Assignments are collected and recorded on your performance rubric.  

After this week, you will have gained key insights from your personality strengths that will organize your knowledge gained on operating an early learning program. I will be here to answer some of the most common questions asked by directors who come to training.  You’ll also learn how to use the competency goals to progress business principles and practical life applications.  

The Early Childhood Education Director’s Network realizes that no book or one set of ideas comes from a single individual, and my intention is to continue to collaborate with other directors, taking all the experiences and knowledge shared; then pour into your professional development.