Supporting the professional development of educators with HiMama Academy
As a childcare center director, finding professional development opportunities that work well for your educators can be a daunting task. It can be hard to narrow them down and figure out what works best for your team. We know that educators need something that is straightforward, easy to use, and flexible with both the time commitment required and the ability to participate virtually. It can be hard to make time for professional development as an educator, but once you do, the benefits to your day-to-day job are quickly observed.
Mason Graham is the perfect example of this. Mason is the director of Beausoleil Daycare Centre in Christian Island, ON, Canada. The center provides care for 18 toddlers and preschoolers and Mason has 6 educators on his team. Mason is a HiMama customer who recently purchased HiMama Academy for his team! HiMama Academy is a new self-paced, online professional development portal designed to elevate early childhood educators through a wide range of engaging, high-quality training courses.
We sat down with Mason to discuss his experience using HiMama Academy with his team so far!
Why did you choose to implement HiMama Academy for your educators?
Our center already used the HiMama app and when we discovered HiMama Academy it was perfect timing for us! Due to the pandemic, we have a lower number of children in care, meaning more time for educators to work on their professional development and make it a focus.
How are your educators feeling about using HiMama Academy?
They all LOVE it! It is so easy to use, right at their fingertips. They just log in and work through the classes on-demand in their own time, making it easy to fit into their days. They can stop and start as they please! Also, we love the addition of courses being added each month so that they can continue to keep up, it is unheard of to have this much content available! Our team is able to use this as our only platform and get all of the hours we need for accreditation!
What are your team’s favorite courses?
Our team is a huge fan of Let’s Get Moving, we have very busy, active children and our educators have gotten great tangible tips from this course!
How does HiMama Academy help management keep track of professional development hours?
I have never seen anything like this platform, it is so amazing to have oversight into where each team member is at in their training. Not having to update things manually in multiple different sources is a game changer! As well, being able to set timelines and keep the staff accountable is great.
I also absolutely love that I can go in and print the certificates for the staff members myself as opposed to having to ask them and inevitably follow up for certificates constantly!
Is there anything you would change about the platform?
Nothing so far!
Is there anything that stands out about the platform?
It is just so easy to navigate. I would love to recommend it to all of my colleagues and other centers! There are hours and hours of additional professional development at your fingertips!!
We are so happy to hear from Mason and his team on the difference that HiMama Academy is making at their center! We strive to support early childhood educators’ growth and development, as well as make their days easier, in any way we can.
If you would like to learn more about HiMama Academy, get started here!
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Christie is a Senior Content Marketing Specialist at HiMama. She is passionate about children's development, parenting, and supporting the child care industry. She has been working to support child care centers with their events and marketing for almost a decade. In her personal life, Christie lives in Stouffville, ON with her husband Kyle and dog Tucker. She enjoys going for walks, baking, cooking, and watching reality tv!
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