Agrilife Extension Resources

Starting a new home-based child care business involves making a number of decisions including the type of home-based child care to operate and how to incorporate best practices.

Health and safety of children in care is the #1 priority for all early childhood professionals. Home-based child care has specific requirements that must be addressed to ensure health and safety practices are properly integrated into a home-based child care.

This 2-hour course is for prospective home-based child care business owners and will introduce some of the health and safety standards, best practices, and ways to properly implement these in your home-based child care.

This online course reviews safe cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting methods. The goal of the course is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 through best practices. This training emphasizes regulatory requirements, best practices, and steps for reducing or preventing contact with harmful chemicals.

Maintaining the health of young children – and setting them up with lifelong healthy habits – are critical elements of a quality early childhood program. This course provides an overview of the Texas Healthy Building Blocks recognition program for early care and education settings that have demonstrated a commitment to promoting early childhood health. It is aligned with the guidelines of the Texas Healthy Building Blocks recognition program.

Creating healthy habits is a critical element of quality early childhood programs. This course reviews practices that promote physical activity in young children. It is aligned with Texas Healthy Building Blocks recognition criteria and was developed with support from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Infants’ experiences early in life literally influence the physical structures of the brain, opening the way for patterns of thought and behavior for the rest of a child’s life. This 1-hour course addresses critical topics related to caring for the youngest and most vulnerable population of children, infants and toddlers.

Protecting the well-being of children should be the first priority of any child care program, and one that cannot be taken lightly. Injuries cannot always be prevented; however, providing a safe environment along with careful supervision greatly decreases the likelihood of a child becoming injured while in your care.

This course covers handling, storing, and disposing of hazardous materials. Knowing the risks associated with poisoning, taking steps to minimize them, and having a plan are critical to upholding the commitment to providing a safe environment.

Breastfeeding offers benefits to infants, mothers, and the community. For this reason, the American Academy of Pediatrics encourages family and community support for breastfeeding. Enroll to learn the benefits of breastfeeding and how to support mothers who continue breastfeeding their children after returning to work.