Do you love working with children and have been in the early learning field for 6 months or more? Have you ever thought about upgrading your qualifications to become a Registered Early Childhood Educator? Or perhaps you are already a RECE looking to upgrade your skills and knowledge in relation to the field? If any of this sounds like you, the ECE Grant is for you! Hi, my name is Tanya and I have been fortunate enough to have gained my Early Childhood Education diploma as well as my Resource Consulting certificate through the Ontario ECE Grant Associations Qualification Upgrade program and their Leadership Certification program. I had been working in a licensed childcare centre for two years when I wanted to go back to school to obtain my ECE diploma. I had come across the ECE Grant program during my second semester of school. I had made a phone call to their office to get more information and to my surprise someone picked up right away to talk to me about the process of applying. It was a very seamless process to apply, I needed a letter from my employer stating how long I had been and employee as well as the application and at the time because I had already paid for my semester, I needed to provide the tuition receipt. Going forward I applied for direct sponsor ship and the ECE Grant Association paid the college directly for my tuition. During fourth semester I was on placement for 14 weeks and was unable to work. I applied for the Training Allowance and Travel Grant which enabled me to remain financially stable while being unable to work while completing my diploma. Now, if you are a recipient of the ECE Grant they have a new program where they reimburse you for your College of ECE registration which is amazing!
After working in the field for a few more years as a RECE I wanted to do more. I found myself seeking out opportunities to work with children with special needs in my programs and was focusing on building relationships with families. This is when I explored their Leadership Certification program and enrolled at Seneca College for their Early Childhood Education – Resource Consulting Certificate. This too was completely funded through the ECE Grant program. Now, I am fortunate enough to be working as an Early Learning Coordinator with Community Living Trent Highlands which is where I completed my final placement from my Resource Consulting Certificate. Now, with this said there are many options and paths you can take if you want to take advantage of their Leadership Grant. Programs that qualify range from Resource Consulting, Children’s Mental Health, Autism and Behavioural Science to Human Resources Management, Office Administration and ECE Continuous Professional Learning. Below you will find a list of helpful links to explore these options further: Ontario ECE Grant Website: https://ecegrants.on.ca/ Education Grant: https://ecegrants.on.ca/qualifications-upgrade/#education-grant Leadership Certification Grant: https://ecegrants.on.ca/leadership-certification/ As always, do not hesitate to reach out to me further to chat or with any questions. You can reach me at tbenincasa@clth.ca. I hope some of you will take advantage of this amazing funding opportunity that will help support our early learning community!
Tanya Benincasa RECE, Early Learning Coordinator
Early Learning Quality Initiative 