School Age Basics

This training is for all staff and volunteers who work with school-age children (5-12 years old) in Washington state licensed programs.

NOTE: This training does not meet the requirements for staff working with preschool and infants (under 5 years). The training requirement for early learning staff is called “Child Care Basics.” Please use the MERIT portal to search for Child Care Basics and other early learning training opportunities.

Navigate to our Trainings & Workshops page. Register for “Online School Age Basics.” You’ll receive an invitation email to start the online courses in 360Learning on the Monday after you’ve registered.

In this session, you’ll receive a 45-minute informational orientation to the course. The live-facilitated virtual session will provide hands-on support to prepare you to successfully complete the requirements of the training. Attending the Live Virtual Kick-Off/Orientation and Q&A is optional.

Participants will have ~6 weeks after the registration period ends to complete all online courses of the training. The course is self-paced, and we highly recommend completing the course within the first 4 weeks of being enrolled into 360Learning. All coursework must be reviewed AND validated by our instructors to receive STARS credit and certification.

NOTE: If you do not complete all the courses by your session’s deadline, you may be required to complete all the courses from the beginning. Please email training@schoolsoutwashington.org if you need an extension.

You will need a score of at least 100% on all true/false and/or matching questions within each chapter to move forward to the next one. You can retake the quiz as many times as needed until you get 100%. Once you pass, 360Learning will allow you to move forward to the next chapter.

No. You do not need to wait for an instructor to review and validate your responses to move through courses. You can retake the quiz as many times as needed until you get 100%. Instructors can take up to 10 business days to give feedback on your responses and we want you to be able to move at your own pace without waiting.

Be aware that a live instructor reviews your answers and will ask you to respond or retry any questions that are blank, not fully articulated, or appear to have been generated by AI such as ChatGPT. Each course must be validated (correct) to count towards completion.

Yes. You can use your mobile device to access your learning path through the 360Learning app. The app is available on Apple and Android. 360Learning isn’t supported by mobile phone browsers such as Safari or Chrome. If you’ll be using your phone, please download the app. Please note that the training team at SOWA will not be able to troubleshoot any problems within the app. If there are any glitches, you may be encouraged to work on your courses on a computer.

Please complete in the following order:

1. Register for “Online School-Age Basics.”
   Attend the OPTIONAL live-facilitated Kick-Off OR complete the required School-Age Basics Kick-Off course in 360Learning.
2. Complete the 10 Online Chapters in 360Learning by your session’s deadline.
   All coursework must be reviewed and validated by an instructor to count toward the certificate.
3. Sign up and participate in the mandatory Live Closing Reflection.
   Closing Reflection registration will be available through the 360Learning platform once prior steps have been completed.

Note: You must complete the 10 Chapters (all courses) to attend the live-facilitated Virtual Closing Reflection.

Yes. It is essential to complete all three (3) steps in order. You will not be able to attend the Live Virtual Closing Reflection if steps 1-2 are not complete. For reference, here is the School-Age Basics Checklist.

If you don’t finish the full course within 6 weeks, you will be removed from the online learning platform and will need to sign up for a new session. We understand that some individuals may need more than 6 weeks to complete the course. In these instances, time extensions can be requested by emailing training@schoolsoutwashington.org. We will approve extensions on a case-by-case basis.

Yes. There are no major changes to the courses or coursework requirements. Because the work is self-paced, completing School-Age Basics may take more or less than 30 hours depending on the needs and pace of the participant. The average completion time is 20 hours.

Certificate of Completion and STARS credit reflection in MERIT will occur by the 10th of the month AFTER all coursework validations have been completed by the participant and instructor. All three (3) steps must be completed to receive MERIT credit. You will not receive STARS credit if any step is missing.

1. Navigate to your 360Learning profile by clicking on your initials in the top right corner.
2. Look for and click on the “Corrections” tab (between Achievements and Documents).
3. Find the responses that have a yellow “retry” symbol by scrolling through your list of responses.
4. Read feedback and click “Retry Now” when ready to respond.
5. Type in your response.

Please note that the training team at SOWA will not be able to troubleshoot any problems within the app. If there are any glitches, you may be encouraged to work on your course on a computer.

DCYF reviews training hours based on an annual calendar that runs January-December. If you are completing this course within the first 90 days of employment working with school-age (5-12) children in Washington state, this meets your requirement for the calendar year you complete the course.

According to the School-Age WAC, completion of 10 annual in-service training hours (STARS hours) is based on 12 months of cumulative employment. Please speak with your direct supervisor if you have a unique situation that may require additional in-service hours per licensing requirements.

Our closing reflections typically happen on the 2nd Thursday and 4th Saturday of each month. You will only be able to register for the next two available closing reflections. You can see upcoming dates for the closing reflections on our School-Age Basics page.

You will get access to the Closing Reflection registration links only after completing ALL 10 chapters in 360Learning. This is found after the last course, “Professional Practice.” If no registration links are available, you can expect a new registration link to be added within 7 business days of the Closing Reflection date.

No. There are multiple instructors that validate your work in 360Learning. If you have any questions, please reach out to training@schoolsoutwashington.org as this inbox is monitored by our instructors.

It will take up to 10 business days. While waiting for coursework to be validated, please take the time to review your learning. Once an instructor validates all your work and you have attended the Closing Reflection, a certificate will be issues and STARS credit will be updated in MERIT by the 10th of the following month. (If this is a holiday or falls on a weekend, it will be updated on the following business day.)

The Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families recognizes ECED&107 Health, Safety & Nutrition as an approved alternative to the School-Age Basics training requirement. If you’ve completed this course, please make sure to fill out your education application and send your college transcript to education.verification@centralia.edu.