Advanced Certificate in Childcare

Summary

The Advanced Certificate in Childcare is a meticulously designed program, offering an extensive exploration into the world of early childhood care. This course goes beyond the fundamentals, providing detailed insights into child development, behavior management, and the critical role of play in early learning. Engage with specialized modules that cover a spectrum of topics including child psychology, health and safety, educational program planning, and family engagement strategies. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical projects, you’ll gain the expertise to foster a supportive and nurturing environment for children, positioning yourself as a proficient childcare professional. This course is ideal for those aspiring to make a profound difference in the early stages of a child’s life, whether as a childcare worker, early childhood educator, or a passionate parent.

Course Outline

Students will undertake seven key modules made up of 70 lessons.

Module 1: Child Psychology (100 Hours)

This module aims to help you learn how to think critically, make observations of behaviour, and better understand how genetic and environmental factors can influence a child’s development. You will explore the different personalities of children and learn how best to adapt the way you interact and teach based on them. Discover if intelligence is genetically determined and how socialisation impacts a child. 

The module also aims to teach you how Freud’s, Harlow’s and Bowlby’s explanations of the formation of mother-child attachments differ, and how a child’s upbringing will impact their growth and development.

Module 2: Play Leadership (100 Hours)

It is well-researched that uninterrupted play is important for a child’s social, physical and mental development. This module will explore how play encourages brain development, stimulates creativity, increases a child’s academic ability, and enhances quality of life through to adulthood. Discover the difference between physical play, independent play and social play.

You will develop an ability to evaluate a range of different play apparatus, including playground structures, toys, and sports equipment, commenting on quality, safety features, appropriate applications and cost-benefit. Learn the practical skills required to carry out a play leadership role in different situations and how to plan a supervised children’s play program.

Module 3: Children’s Nutrition (100 Hours)

This module provides a holistic approach to children’s nutrition, that explores not only what to feed children, but also pre-pregnancy and pregnancy nutritional requirements, how to manage food sensitivities and how to create healthy eating behaviours. You will learn practical skills so you can develop special diet plans (accommodating special dietary needs). Explore the most common concerns for children when it comes to diet and nutrition, how to minimise the risk of obesity, and how to encourage healthy eating throughout childhood.

Module 4: Child and Adolescent Mental Health (100 Hours)

In this module, you will learn about mental health problems in childhood, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, tic disorders and problems associated with brain disease or injury, environmental factors, abuse and neglect. As an introductory module, it provides a solid foundation for the scope of common child and adolescent mental health disorders and how to identify them.

Module 5: Development, Learning, Behaviour Condition (100 Hours)

In this foundation introductory module, you will learn about developmental disorders, including pervasive developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (which now includes Asperger’s syndrome), as well as Rett’s disorder and childhood disintegrative disorder. The module aims to help you identify the different signs and symptoms, treatments and possible causes of each, the implications of a developmental disorder later in life and how important it is to respond to the signs and symptoms as early as possible.

You will also learn about behavioural disorders, such as different types of attention and hyperactivity disorders, along with conduct disorders like oppositional defiant disorder. The module also explores learning disorders, which are specific developmental disorders, such as reading disorders.

Module 6: Developmental Psychology (100 Hours)

The Developmental Psychology module provides an extensive exploration of human development from early childhood through to late adulthood. It begins with theoretical approaches and key concepts, laying a foundation for understanding the subsequent stages of development. It covers the cognitive and social development in the first six years of life, moving into the challenges and growth experienced during middle childhood and adolescence. It then examines the cognitive and psychosocial development in early and middle adulthood, along with the unique challenges faced during these stages. Finally, it delves into the cognitive and psychological changes in older people, providing a comprehensive understanding of the developmental challenges and transitions experienced throughout the entire lifespan.

Module 7: Playground Design (100 Hours)

The Playground Design module focuses on creating engaging and safe outdoor play spaces. It starts with an overview of parks and playgrounds, introducing fundamental concepts and the philosophy behind playground design. It guides you through the steps of preparing a concept plan, emphasizing selecting and using appropriate materials. It covers various aspects of park and playground structures, materials, and their integration into local and neighbourhood parks.

For the full subject list and course guide, fill out our Enquiry Form and our course consultants will be in touch.

Assessment

Assessments are an important part of your study journey as they help ensure you stay on track and meet the learning objectives of each lesson before moving onto the next. They also help your student support advisor and mentors identify where any further support may be required, so that you get the most out of your course. You will learn via various methods; a combination of reading, undertaking research and watching videos. Assessments might include case studies, quizzes, and written assessments.

Approval & Recognition

The Learning Group is an approved and recognised member of IARC. The IARC is an International association which recognises quality and excellence in education providers in tertiary education.

Who will this course interest?

This course may be of interest to people working, or aspiring to work in or as:

› Childcare
› Children’s Services
› Child Counselling
› School Counselling
› Teacher’s Aide
› Youth Work

If you have a specific job in mind, it is important that you research exactly what is required before enrolling in a course. Different roles will require different skills, qualifications and recognition. If you are unsure, one of our course consultants will be able to help you with this.

Ready to
get ahead?

Fill in the form and one of our consultants will be in touch to discuss your personalised program.

Enquire about a course