Child Care Education

Health and Safety Programs for Children Ages 3 years - Third Grade

A set of curriculum has been developed to help educate preschoolers and young children on the importance of health and well-being. For a complete list of the available programs, please view our list (PDF). To schedule a health and safety program, please call 636-949-7400, ext 5995.

Classes for Child Care Providers

In cooperation with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Department of Public Health offers classes to help childcare provider meet continuing education needs for area childcare providers.

Click here for a listing of the main topics and subcategories covered through these instructional classes.

Advanced online registration for these classes is required. For our current class schedule, please review our public health calendar or call 636-949-7400, ext. 5995.

Asthma Management in Childcare

Length: 120 minutes
Learn successful methods for managing the care of children with asthma.

Breastfeeding Support in Childcare and How to Create a Breastfeeding Friendly Facility

Length: 120 minutes
Recognizing the benefits of breastfeeding, participants will learn how to properly handle breast milk in a child care setting and how to support breastfeeding families.

Building Resilient Children in the Child Care Setting

Length: 120 minutes
Learn and understand the effects that adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have on development and how to facilitate building resilient children in the child care setting..

Communicable Disease in Childcare

Length: 120 minutes
Learn methods for decreasing the spread of communicable diseases in a childcare setting.

Diabetes Management

Length: 60 minutes (Part 1 of a 2-part class that includes Seizure Care Training)
Participants will learn how to provide an optimal, safe and supportive environment for their children with diabetes.

Effective Communication

Length: 60 minutes
Class discusses communication problems among staff and children to learn how they may occur and to take steps to prevent negative escalation.

Emergency Preparedness for Childcare Providers

Length: 120 minutes
This class will discuss the main emergency threats for this community and will focus on the importance of emergency preparedness. Discussion will include a step-by-step instruction on how to create a response plan and introduce tools/resources that are available to help in an emergency.

Fit-Tastic Message #1 - Increasing Physical Activity

Length: 60 minutes (Part of a 2-part class that includes other Fit-Tastic Messages)
Recognizing the importance of physical activity, this class will provide suggestions for opportunities that will help children complete at least 60 minutes of exercise each day to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Fit-Tastic Message #2 - Reducing Screen Time

Length: 60 minutes (Part of a 2-part class that includes other Fit-Tastic Messages)
Promoting physical activity, this class will introduce ways to limit sedentary time in front of televisions, videos and other electronic devices.

Fit-Tastic Message #4 - Increasing Water and Decreasing Sugared Beverages for Better Health

Food Allergy Basics with an Epi-Pen Demonstration

Length: 120 minutes
This class will introduce common food allergies, identify foods associated with those allergens and provide suggestions for appropriate responses to allergic emergencies. There will also be a demonstration on the use of an Epi-Pen.

Lead Poisoning Prevention

Length: 60 minutes (Part 1 of a 2-part class that includes Poison Control)
This class introduces the problem of lead poisoning and provides simple routines to reduce lead exposure in various environments. Participants will gain information to share with families and encourage that children be tested for lead poisoning when families suspect their child has had exposure in their environment.

Halloween Safety for Child-Care Facilities

Length: 60 minutes
Child Care Providers will gain understanding of precautions they can take to assure that Halloween related activities remain safe for children. Safety tips for centers, parents, and neighborhoods will be discussed using sources from Safe Kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Child Care of North Carolina.

Menu Magic

Length: 60 minutes
Participants will learn the basics of the U.S. child-care meal pattern requirements; become familiar with menu planning resources available for the child-care setting; understand basic menu planning principles; and be able to develop menus that meet USDA requirements.

Move More, Sit Less: How to Be an Effective Role Model of Physical Activity.

Length: 120 minutes
Move More, Sit Less provides lots of new ideas for meeting the revised Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and for keeping the children in your care active throughout the day. It also presents a new on-site coaching opportunity through the Move Smart MO initiative and Go NAP SACC, an online self-assessment, goal setting, and progress tracking tool. Regular physical activity has many health benefits. Being a positive role model of physical activity is a great way to encourage children to stay active and helps adults to meet their daily activity needs.

My Plate

Length: 120 minutes
Using the My Plate philosophy, this class will introduce nutritious meals and help children identify healthy foods and appropriate portion sizes.

Nutrition and Exercise 101

Length: 60 minutes
Participants will become familiar with the basics of nutrition and discover how to make good food choices for the children in their care. Additionally, attendees will learn the importance of physical activity on maintaining healthy weight and strong development.

Poison Control

Length: 60 minutes (Part 2 of a 2-part class that includes Lead Poisoning Prevention)
Providers will gain knowledge about the danger potential poisons pose in their environments and learn how to prevent and appropriately respond to accidental poisonings.

Positive Discipline

Length: 60 minutes
Participants will: identify and understand the difference between discipline and punishment; identify different discipline styles and their potential outcomes for the child; describe positive discipline and guidance strategies that correspond to the unique development needs of different aged children; and demonstrate understanding of how positive and effective child discipline and guidance represent long term investments in growing healthy resilient children.

Preventing Bullying in Childcare

Length: 120 minutes
Caregivers will acquire skills to create environments that keep children safe from bullying.

Sanitation in Child-Care

Length: 120 minutes
Participants will understand current sanitation inspection guidelines and requirements for licensed group child-care homes, licensed child-care centers, and license-exempt child-care facilities.

Seizure Training

Length: 60 minutes (Part 2 of a 2-part class that includes Diabetes Management)
This class will discuss various types of seizures and common reactions and will provide suggestions for appropriate care for these reactions.

Safe Sleep

Length: 120 minutes
This class will define Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, identify behaviors that increase the risk of SIDS and discuss sleep-related myths.

Summer Safety

Length: 60 minutes
Participants will identify common safety issues around summer activities, identify ways to prevent damage from overexposure to sun, describe safety practices around water, recognize signs of allergic reactions, and protect children from exposure to toxic plants when outdoors.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Mandated Reporting

Length: 120 minutes
Child care Providers will learn how to identify the signs and symptoms of shaken baby/abusive head trauma and prevention strategies for shaken baby. They will also learn their role in mandatory reporting including identifying abuse/neglect, prevention, and reporting.

Active Shooter Preparation and Response

Length: 120 minutes
Open to St. Charles County-based child care providers, this program will identify steps that should be taken in an active shooter incident. Led by St. Charles County Police Department personnel, the class will review effective strategies for thwarting an intruder and outline options to increase chances for surviving an active-shooter attack.

American Red Cross Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Certification

Length: 6 hour class
If someone stops breathing or their heart stops beating, immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can provide life-saving help until medical professionals arrive. To spread the knowledge for proper procedure, the Department of Public Health teaches certification in adult, child, and infant CPR and First Aid, as well as instruction in the usage of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). Upon completion of this one-day class, participants will receive an American Red Cross certification that is valid for two years. Class is limited to the first 20 registered participants. Cost is $50.

American Red Cross Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Review and Re-certfication

Length: 120 minutes
For those who have a current 2-year CPR certification nearing expiration, this short training will refresh knowledge of the proper procedures for basic First Aid, CPR, and the use of AED devices. Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive an American Red Cross certification that is valid for two years. Class is limited to the first 20 registered participants. Cost is $50.