Free Professional Development Online for Early Childhood Educators

This page lists the IRIS STAR Legacy Modules that have professional development certificates available. A more detailed description of each Module is found by clicking on its title. The IRIS Center is a national center dedicated to improving education outcomes for all children, especially those with disabilities birth through age twenty-one, through the use of effective evidence-based practices and interventions.

Connect modules are for professionals who work with or support young children and their families in a variety of learning environments and inclusive settings, and want to meet the needs of each and every child. These modules are designed for faculty and professional development providers to use in their professional development. Instructors, click on “For Instructors”. Learners, click on “Go to Modules”. If you are looking for CEU or certificate-granting self-paced courses, click on “CONNECT Courses” on the top menu bar.

Free professional development, courses, and interactive trainings on early literacy, developmental domains, resilience, early math, and family engagement.

Free webinars on equity, virtual learning, trauma, boosting enrollment, and mindfulness with completion certificates for educators.

edWeb.net is a professional learning network that makes it easy to collaborate, engage in peer-to-peer learning, and share innovative ideas and resources. Search for free webinars on almost any education topic area, including early childhood. The edWebinars provide anytime learning with CE certificates for your PD hours.

This is a statewide professional development support system designed to provide guidance, encouragement, and recognition to individuals and programs serving children, youth, and families.

Free early childhood webinars on kindergarten readiness, distance learning, math talk, robotics, language, autism, and classroom management with completion certificates.

The Virtual Lab School (VLS) offers seven professional development tracks, providing both comprehensive foundational training, and more advanced, or specialized training with in-depth content and resources. The Foundational Tracks (Infant & Toddler, Preschool, School-Age, Training & Curriculum Specialist, Management, and Family Child Care) each contain 15 courses that align with the CDA competencies and NAEYC, NAFCC, and CYD-AYD standards. The Focused Topics Track provides an expanding array of courses tailored to particular needs, from building caregivers’ resiliency to strengthening food service workers’ knowledge of key practices in child care settings.

StarNet offers a variety of open-access on-demand professional development for early childhood professionals on this page including Apples videos, podcasts, and on-demand lessons with credit available upon completion. The topics range from sensory processing to preschool inclusion to meaningful math activities.

The Teaching Math to Young Children Toolkit is a comprehensive, 19-week professional learning experience designed to help early childhood teachers bring evidence-based math instruction to life in preschool, prekindergarten, and kindergarten classrooms. Grounded in the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide Teaching Math to Young Children, the toolkit introduces four evidence-based instructional recommendations and supports educators in applying them through a sequenced set of multimedia learning modules, in-class activities, and planning tools.

The Understanding Inclusion series contains six online modules that explore key ideas about inclusion in early childhood. The series covers a range of topics including defining inclusion, to understanding the benefits of inclusion, and advocating for inclusion. Developed for families with family input, it is also meaningful and useful for practitioners working with families who have children from birth to 5.

Early care and education providers play a critical role in the health and well-being of children and are well positioned to help identify children who might need extra help in their development. This free online training course provides tools and best practices for monitoring the development of children in their care and talking about it with their parents.

WIDA Webinars are a new, free, virtual learning opportunity that will offer educators insights and resources on a variety of topics relevant to educators of multilingual learners.