When I opened my first day care in 1979, I was an approved consultant and I did my own training at various times during the days or evenings, it was hands on and I provided pizza and drinks for the staff, but it was manageable. However, as the school and staff grew and as I began to develop a small chain, I couldn't be everywhere at once, and I became more aware of some of the problems other directors were facing who were not trainers. 

 

As the company branched out into other areas of child care services, we began to attract recognized clients, such as Easter Seals, the YMCA, Head Start, several chains and franchises and independently owned centers.  These clients began calling upon us for help.  They wanted us to start a division in our company that would provide consultants to train in every class they required. They also wanted at least one course in infant care because very few consultants were training in that area and they also requested courses in diversity. The world of work was changing and childcare coursework was not keeping up.

 

I thought, what a wonderful opportunity, clients just waiting for us to start a consulting training business!  So we hired a group of consultants and began the process of scheduling with schools, staff, and trainers.

 

What a migraine!  We began experiencing the same problems the schools were having, and even worse, scheduling took up so much of our time that we soon began to realize that this method was just not going to work. I began to wonder, what is the answer to this problem. 

 

I considered videos, that seemed easy, but we noticed that tapes sometimes broke, and after long usage some lost their clarity. There was also a need for several videos to be mailed to the facilities in order to cover all of the courses. 

I finally began to consider the possibility of developing a CD-ROM that would have 16 courses, more than most states required annually, that would only require a computer and sound. 

 

If a teacher could point and click, the disc would be on auto-run and anyone could take the classes at their leisure. Even the tests could be taken manually in a true-false format.  No downloads, no printing, just write the answer on the answer sheet. 

 

The finished product was now ready to be introduced to state licensing agencies. So off I went, state by state to speak to state agencies.  I convinced them that childcare centers were in desperate need of distance learning and one by one they agreed. 

 

                         WE HAVE SOLVED THE DILEMMA!