First 5 California is pleased to announce the release of modules 3,4, and 5 of the Quality Counts California Family Engagement Toolkit (Toolkit). The Toolkit was designed and developed in partnership with Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, WestEd, and the California Department of Education. The Toolkit was designed under the broader Quality Counts California umbrella as a completely free resource for early learning and care providers, administrators, coaches, trainers, program coordinators, home visitors, and higher education faculty to build upon skills in family engagement strategies, and provide techniques, tools, and resources that can be implemented in everyday situations.
The Family Engagement Toolkit consists of 5 e-learning course modules: The What, Why and How of Family Engagement, Build Strengths-based Relationships, Respect the Family’s Role in the Child’s Development, Show Cultural Respect, and Take a Shared Approach to Family Engagement. Each of the five modules consists of multiple units, and learners can earn up to 15 professional development clock hours. The courses include video-based learning and interactive simulations, in which you, the learner, can role-play different common scenarios in early learning settings with virtual coaching support built into each simulation. Learners receive real-time feedback from a virtual coach as they learn about the strengths and pitfalls of the choices they make. It also includes support resources such as learning extension guides, tip sheets, and reflective journaling. Although the e-learning courses are designed to count toward recorded professional development hours, much of their interactive components and resources can be used individually by downloading them directly from the Family Engagement Toolkit landing page at https://qualitycountsca.net/child-care-providers/family-engagement/. Many of the Toolkit components are also downloadable for use offline. The offline resources include the Family Engagement Resource Guide, content companion resources, tip sheets, learning extensions, and simulations.
In addition to the release of the final three Toolkit modules, all Family Engagement Toolkit e-learning courses, resources, tip sheets, learning extensions, and simulations are available in both English and Spanish and are mobile-friendly.
If you have any questions, please contact Kristin Torres at [email protected].
