CDA PREP SERIES
New Support for EC Teachers and Aides
Thousands of little children are learning, playing, and hearing the gospel at 363 early childhood ministries across the synod. The teachers and aides at these preschools and early childhood centers have hearts full of love for these children, but many of them are new to the field of early childhood education. They are seeking more professional training and the professional credential that parents want to see. But they don’t want to stop serving to enroll in full-time college courses. They want to be taught even as they keep teaching!
That’s where MLC steps in. For many years, we’ve been offering the Early Childhood Educator Series, a series of 1-credit courses designed to provide current early childhood teachers with an understanding of developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood, especially as it applies to a Lutheran ministry context. The courses also prepared teachers to apply for their Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. CDA, recognized in all 50 states, is considered the best first step in early childhood credentialing.
For those teachers and aides who came to this ministry with little experience—like Denise Ball, pictured below—the Early Childhood Educator Series was just what they needed.
Now, in our continuing effort to serve these Christ-centered servants, MLC has streamlined the Early Childhood Educator Series. We’re calling our new and improved curriculum the CDA Prep Series.
The CDA Prep Series
The CDA Prep Series is comprised of three online courses, five weeks each, targeted specifically at preparing teachers and aides for their CDA credential. The courses are taught by retired WELS early childhood director and teacher Peggy Witt (Martin Luther-St. Louis).
In just 15 weeks—one semester—an early childhood educator can be immersed in the foundations of a Lutheran early childhood ministry and the eight subject-area standards required by CDA:
- Planning a safe and healthy learning environment
- Advancing children’s physical and intellectual development
- Supporting children’s social and emotional development
- Building productive relationships with families
- Managing an effective program operation
- Maintaining a commitment to professionalism
- Observing and recording children’s behavior
- Understanding the principles of child development and learning
The one-semester series also helps the educators create their portfolio, prepare for CDA’s written exam, and apply for the credential. One spring or one fall—and the process can be done!
We know that Christ has beautifully measured out special gifts to these teachers and aides: love for him, a teacher’s heart, and a special rapport with little children. Our CDA Prep Series augments those gifts with the essential skills and knowledge they need in their profession as early childhood educators in our WELS ministries.
Are you or any members of your early childhood staff interested in the CDA Prep Series? Apply to MLC, and we’ll send you the textbook and the CDA standards book, which are required for the courses.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. John Meyer DMLC ’87, director of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education, at meyerjd@mlc-wels.edu or 507.354.8221 x398.
Denise Ball, pictured with her preschool class several years ago, leveraged her degree in computer science and business from Texas A & M Commerce to work in several corporate jobs, and then traded in her biweekly meetings for Bible story time. She’s been teaching preschool at Calvary in Dallas since 2014. MLC’s 1-credit courses gave her the background she needed and prepared her to get her CDA credential—all while she was teaching at Calvary.
“I take away so much from these courses,” she said at the time, “not just because of the content, but by the way these instructors present the material for real application.”
Now, in MLC’s new CDA Prep Series, the coursework to prepare for credentialing is even easier.
