Distance Learning V College attendance?
This decision will very much depend on you and your commitments.
For example, if you are a Childminder with young children of your own and a partner who works shifts, attendance at college one evening a week for 15 weeks, may prove difficult unless you have friends and family who you can rely on for support. Some people find distance learning difficult as you need to be very self motivated and disciplined to complete the course, others prefer to be taught and learn from group discussions and peer support.
Most qualifications are now available to do as Distance Learning or taught in a College.
NCMA and the Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE) have worked together to produce an updated qualification for home-based childcarers. Called the Diploma in Home-based Childcare (DHC), the new award takes the place of the Certificate in Childminding Practice (CCP).
DHC is made up of FIVE units, the first of which is called Introduction to Childcare Practice (Home-based). This is similar to NCMA's previous course Introducing Childminding Practice, but with a broader scope to cover the work of nannies and other home-based childcarers, as well as Registered childminders. After completing this introductory unit, there are a further four units:
Childcare and Child Development (0 - 16) in the Home-based Setting
The Childcare Practitioner in the Home-based Setting
Working in Partnership with Parents in the Home-based Setting
Planning to Meet Children's Individual Learning Needs in the Home-based Setting.
These four units may be completed in any order but all must be completed to gain the full, level 3 Diploma in Home-based Childcare.
The first unit, Introduction to Childcare Practice, has 12 guided learning hours, while the other four have 30 guided learning hours each.
A certificate can be requested after each unit. The assessment of DHC has also changed as the first unit, ICP, will be assessed by a multiple choice question paper.
They consist of 3 Tutor marked Assignments with word lengths of 1000, 1500 and 2000 words. There is no final exam but an End of Course Assignment of 3000 words. At the start of the course you are provided with all the resources, including Study topic material, Reader, Video and Audio Cassette. Support is available via optional tutorials, contacting your allocated tutor or from peers via the on-line conferences. It is estimated that each course requires 8 hours of reading/assignment writing per week.