In order to provide direct care staff and family child care providers with the most up-to-date research and information in the field, all 15 Foundational Courses have been reviewed and revised across the Infant Toddler (IT), Preschool (PS), School-Age (SA), and Family Child Care (FCC) tracks. After completing updates to the Preschool and Infant and Toddler tracks, we focused our efforts on updating all of the foundational courses in the Family Child Care (FCC) and School-Age (SA) tracks. We are pleased to announce that the last two Foundational Courses: Program Management and Positive Guidance in the FCC and SA tracks have been updated and are now available. Some highlights include:

• A new Apply activity entitled, Partnering with Families has been added to FCC, Program Management, Lesson 4 provides articles and resources for supporting families of children with diverse abilities.
• New content in FCC, Program Management, Lesson 6 describes the important aspects to consider while communicating your program’s policies and procedures with families.
• New content added in SA, Program Management, Lesson 1 stresses the importance of understanding family culture through family engagement.
• A new Apply activity entitled, Family Engagement: Resource and Strategies has been added to SA, Program Management, Lesson 4 provides a list of different resources that school-age staff can use to plan strategies for engaging with families in their programs.
• New content added to FCC, Positive Guidance, Lesson 2 identifies common behaviors that are typical for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-agers.
• An updated Apply activity entitled, Backpack Connection Resource in SA, Positive Guidance, Lesson 4 provides information created by the Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI) that helps family members stay informed about what their child is learning in their program and specific ideas on how to use the strategy or skill at home.