Educating Young Children Volume 1 - Summer 2025 | Page 58

Shining the Light on You

In fall 2020, the Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood began offering a professional learning experience for family child care educators called Shining the Light on You. This program focuses on supporting the health and well-being of practitioners via shared experiences and professional coaching. It is supported by funding from the Delaware Department of Education.

A core component of Shining the Light on You is setting well-being goals and working with participants, facilitators, and health and wellness coaches certified by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching to reach them. During the 15-week program, peers provide positive support and nudging for educators to meet their goals. Health and wellness coaches partner with participants to explore well-being strategies explicitly tailored for each educator. These coaches are trained in motivational interviewing and using various personalized strategies to support growth and facilitate meaningful change. They also are trained in setting goals that are specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time-related( SMART).

Since its inception, Shining the Light on You has been offered six times to more than 70 educators. Its Spanish version has reached more than 20 Spanish-speaking educators to date.

We know that the best way to support educators’ well-being is to substantially and permanently increase wages and working conditions. Yet as we advocate for these supports, we can also embrace practical strategies to enhance home-based educators’ mental and physical health. The following suggestions are ways that family child care educators can work to decrease the pressures of home-based education and care.