Family and Child Development
Faculty members conduct the child care provider training for the state through a grant with the Department of Social Services. Type A and B child care centers and family day care providers are required to have 12 hours of continuing education in child development each year. This is a critical service provided by our Extension faculty to the state. Faculty also offer parenting classes to teen mothers. Our goal is to teach young mothers how to care for their children properly and how to provide a healthy, nurturing and stimulating environment for young children—recognizing that the first three years of a child’s life are the most critical. Character education is another important component of the family and child development project group. Faculty have developed a program called "Character Critters", which teaches character concepts to pre-school children. To date, 52,000 children have been read the "Character Critter" stories by 4,000 volunteers across the state. Additionally, 85,000 parents of pre-schoolers have received the "Character Critters" storybook to encourage family literacy and character education of pre-schoolers.