Early Childhood Education

What is a Continued Early Childhood subscription?

An Early Childhood Education subscription on Continued gives you unlimited access to our course library for one year (12 months). The Early Childhood Education library includes 300+ video, audio, and text-based courses covering a wide array of topics. 

To ensure uninterrupted service and continued professional development, your subscription will automatically be renewed at the end of your subscription using the payment method you have on file. You can cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle, online or by contacting our Customer Service Department via telephone at 866-782-6258.

Note: Continued subscriptions and subscribers were previously known as memberships and members, respectively.

How do I complete a course with Continued Early Childhood Education?

After participating in a video, audio, or text-based course, you will be required to obtain a passing score of 80% on a multiple-choice exam. You will be given immediate feedback regarding the results of your exam and the opportunity to repeat the exam if necessary. You must view 100% of the course content and complete the exam within 30 days of the course registration date. If you do not complete the exam within that time, you must re-register for the course. 

You can access your CE exams by clicking on Dashboard or Pending Courses on the navigation sidebar. After passing the exam, you will be required to complete a course evaluation in order to receive a certificate of completion for the course. Please note that you will not be allowed to complete more than 24 hours of coursework on any calendar day.

Who keeps track of how many CEUs/clock hours have been earned?

Continued maintains a record of your completed coursework. After you log in, navigate to your Dashboard, and select Transcripts. In the upper right corner of the page, you will see an option to print or save your certificates or transcripts. To view courses completed prior to the current year, you will need to use the Start Date and End Date filters located at the top of the Transcript page and select Search. You may access this page at any time to view courses that you have completed.  

Do Early Childhood Education courses count toward my annual requirements?

Continued strives to make courses available for annual clock hour requirements for state child care licensing bodies and registries. Typically, this applies to people working in child care settings, including child care centers and family child care homes. To find courses that count toward your registry requirements, filter your search in our course library by selecting your state in the drop-down menu.

If you are looking for continuing education courses to count toward annual teacher licensing requirements, refer to your state department of education for info on acceptable courses. Continued is an IACET Accredited Provider of continuing education and training, which may apply to your state teacher licensing needs.

We work to align our content with as many state agencies as possible. Because every state’s requirements and approval processes are different, the number of courses that will be accepted varies by the state selected in our library search. Also, within any given state, professional development requirements may vary depending on many factors such as state child care licensing requirements, registry requirements, QRIS requirements, and/or your professional position and experience. Please refer to the requirements established by your regulatory body to determine your individual needs. If you have questions, please contact us.

Do Early Childhood Education courses count toward renewal of my CDA credential?

We have packaged courses that are specific and relevant to each CDA credential type we offer in our library, making it simple to meet your renewal requirement. More detailed info is available on our CDA FAQ page.

Are there courses to help me complete the 120 hours required for my initial CDA credential?

Yes! We offer online courses you can take to fulfill the professional development requirements for the Council for Professional Recognition’s Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™—the best-known certification program in early childhood education. 

Start by visiting the Council for Professional Recognition’s website to determine the Credential that is the best fit for you in your work setting. Continued offers CDA Credential packages for Family Child Care, Preschool, and Infant-Toddler settings. Each setting package contains 12 parts totaling 120 clock hours, including at least 10 hours in each of the eight CDA subject areas, as required. Registering for and completing only one part at a time is recommended. More detailed info about the process of obtaining a CDA can be found here: Steps to Earning a CDA Credential. 

Please note: The Council for Professional Recognition’s CDA is a nationally recognized credential. Please refer to the State approval information page for more details regarding state license info. Please refer to your regulatory agency for the most current info about your continuing education requirements.

Reporting to your state

Continued regularly reports completed coursework for approved courses to state registries and entities that require training reports. A list of registries to which we can report your coursework appears below. If this state is listed on a course details page in the “CEUs/hours offered” section, and if your profile indicates that you are a member of that state registry, and if you have opted into reporting on your Professional Profile, Continued will report your coursework to that state. Reports are generated at the frequency required by the specific state entity and include info required by that state to track your completed training, such as your name, address, and registry ID number. You may choose whether you would like Continued to report to your state by updating your preferences on your Professional Profile. If your state does not require us to report to your registry, please use your certificate of completion, as accessed on the Transcripts page, to self-report. If you have questions, please contact us.

We report to the following entities for approved courses:

• Arkansas Professional Development Registry
• Arizona Registry
• California Early Care and Education Workforce Registry
• Illinois Gateways to Opportunity
• Iowa i-PoWeR Professional Workforce Registry 
• MIRegistry - Michigan
• Minnesota Develop
• Missouri Professional Development Registry System
• Nevada Registry
• New Jersey Child Care Information System Registry
• Oklahoma Professional Development Registry
• Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry - PA Keys
• South Carolina Endeavors Registry
• Washington MERIT
• The Wisconsin Registry
• Wyoming Stars

What is the difference between CEUs and clock hours?

Course duration or credit is measured differently by different entities. The “CEU” is the internationally recognized standard for continuing education and training, developed and safeguarded by the International Association of Continuing Education and Training (IACET). One (1.0) CEU is defined as 10 hours of participation in coursework. Therefore, a single hour of participation in a course is equal to 0.1 CEUs. “Clock hours” typically refer to the actual time spent in a course, where one clock hour represents literally one hour of time, or 60 minutes.