9131 – Virginia Child Care Leadership Pathway: Infants

Welcome to the Virginia Child Care Leadership Pathway – Infants! This 25-hour professional development pathway is designed to help early childhood educators build the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to provide high-quality care for infants from birth through 12 months of age.

Throughout this pathway, you will explore best practices in infant development, responsive caregiving, health and safety, nurturing relationships, safe sleep, observation, communication with families, and creating engaging learning environments that support each child’s growth and well-being.

Each course combines practical strategies with research-based information that can be immediately applied in your classroom or child care program. Interactive activities, knowledge checks, and real-world examples will help reinforce your learning and prepare you to provide developmentally appropriate care for Virginia’s youngest learners.

By the end of this pathway, you will be able to:

• Explain key milestones in infant physical, cognitive, language, social, and emotional development.
• Apply developmentally appropriate practices to support infant learning and exploration.
• Create safe, nurturing, and responsive caregiving environments.
• Strengthen partnerships with families through effective communication and collaboration.
• Implement health, safety, and responsive caregiving practices that promote positive outcomes for infants.

Upon successful completion of all required coursework and assessments, you will have completed the Virginia Child Care Leadership Pathway – Infants (25 Hours) and be better prepared to support healthy development during a child’s first year of life.

We are excited to be part of your professional journey and hope this pathway provides valuable tools, knowledge, and confidence that you can use every day in your work with infants.