Early Childhood Professionals

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Milestones provides the steps to success for the early childhood community.  We support excellence in early learning for all types of professionals; providers, teachers, parents, guardians, and more.  Milestones offers coaching, training, professional development, educational resources, and financial support for those teaching and guiding our youngest citizens.

  • Child Care Aware:  Learn about all of the resources available to support your growth as an early childhood educator.  
  • Child Care Profession:  Interested in a starting your own child care business?  Milestones has the resources to help lead you on a successful path.
  • Child Care Rates:  View the most current child care rates for your area.  Note that data is collected every three years.  
  • Child Care Wayfinder:  A one-stop navigation for starting and growing early childhood programs. 
  • Early Childhood Coalitions:  Learn about the regions Interagency Early Intervention Committee (IEIC) who help spread word about Help Me Grow.  Help Me Grow connects families to resources that help young children develop, learn and grow. 
  • Early Learning Events: Milestones hosts early learning events providing approved training hours in multiple knowledge and competency framework areas.  See when the next event will be happening. (this will need to be link to its own page so that we can add information there)
  • Emergency Preparedness: Find resources to help strengthen emergency preparedness efforts for your program and the children and families who attend. 
  • Empower to Educate:  Empower to Educates helps current and aspiring early childhood educators advance and sustain their career goals in child care.
  • Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) Caregivers:  Child Care provided by a family member, friend or neighbor to related children and/or one unrelated family.  This type of care does not require a child care license.  Anyone caring for more than one unrelated family is required by the State of Minnesota to be licensed.
  • Grants:  Child Care Aware grants are available to all early childhood programs to help fund supplies, equipment, technology and professional development.  See what types of grants are currently available. 
  • Lending Library:  Milestones has a variety of equipment available for a low-fee rental to assist educators in their programs.
  • Lullaby Project:  Available to the greater St. Cloud area, Lullaby Project features a multicultural representative who visits child care programs to teach educators, and the children in care, several lullabies from their native country. 
  • Parent Aware:  Minnesota’s quality rating improvement system.  Learn how you can go above licensing requirements to not only provide a safe and healthy environment, but also use best practice indicators to prepare children for a lifetime of learning. 
  • Professional Development:  Learn how Child Care Aware West/Central can support your professional development growth through trainings and professional advising.