CCEI’s Research-based Early Childhood Education Lessons

What is Pinnacle Curriculum?

Early childhood education courses provide children with a wealth of knowledge to help them excel in school. Pinnacle® is a research-based early childhood curriculum, designed with both teachers and students in mind. Based on the works of Piaget, Gardner, and Erikson, Pinnacle® provides early childhood educators with lessons that engage children in developmentally appropriate activities. Pinnacle® is published in an easy-to-use, reusable format that includes lesson plan guides, activity enrichments, and long-range goals linked to key standards. Developmentally appropriate childcare center curriculum programs are offered for Infants, Toddlers, Two’s, Three’s, Four’s, and School-Age children.

Why Choose Pinnacle Curriculum?

This “play to learn” style early childhood curriculum instills a deep love for learning through active and engaging lesson plans. Each child learns differently and the Pinnacle curriculum offers adaptability with lesson plans that are designed for personalization. Rather than purchasing a pricey childcare center curriculum every year, Pinnacle® curriculum is reusable and recyclable. The curriculum is not date or time sensitive, meaning that you can use the curriculum year after year. Choose from a secular preschool or Christian preschool curriculum that both exceptionally prepare children to excel in school. This early childhood education curriculum allows you to spend less time wondering how to make a lesson plan and more time in playful discovery with your children.

CCEI’s Research-Based Early Childhood Curriculum Offers:

• Developmentally appropriate activities that adhere to early childhood education industry standards
• Clearly stated learning objectives to help facilitate learning in all domains
• Flexible programming to accommodate varied learning styles
• Carefully selected themes that capture children’s interest
• Long-range goals linked to Key Standards
• Suggestions to enrich childhood developmental milestones based on research
• Interactive activities that help children develop a love for learning while they are growing, playing, and having fun
• Easy to follow daily or weekly early learning curriculum format
• Includes Lesson Plan Guides
• Options for enriching activity centers and circle times every day
• Suggested book lists related to the theme
• Patterns included for teacher use and classroom enrichment
• Five weeks of early learning childcare center curriculum for each month
• Comprehensive Age-Specific Programs for Infants, Toddlers, Twos, Threes, Fours, and School-Age children

Learning Objectives for Pinnacle Early Childhood Curriculum:

• Social and Interpersonal Objectives – includes learning listening skills, sharing, playing fairly, compromise, respect, and more.
• Logical and Mathematical Objectives – includes counting from 1-30, comparisons, basic number concepts, pattern recognition, and understanding spatial concepts: first, middle, last, front, back, up, down, over, under, through, in and out, and more.
• Language and Emerging Literacy Objectives – includes learning to follow directions, write a first name, tell a story in a sequence, rhyming skills, building vocabulary, recognizing the names and sounds of consonants and short vowels, forming consonants and vowels in upper and lower case and building vocabulary skills including color, words, shapes, weather, seasons, holidays, manners, friendships, community helpers, family traditions, health and safety, animals, farming, science, and mathematical, and more.
• Gross Motor Skills – includes learning to catch small objects, throw an object in the intended direction, running with control, climbing without falling, reproducing rhythmic patterns, and more.
• Fine Motor Skills – includes learning to use scissors on lines and shapes, using a crayon in a defined area, creativity with art media, using writing and drawing tools with control and holding a pencil correctly, and more.
• *Optional Christian Objectives – includes learning who God is, who Jesus is, learning to pray, sing Christian songs, knowing that God loves them, and more.

For additional information or to order the curriculum, please click on this link - Early Childhood Curriculum | Pinnacle Curriculum | CCEI

• Go to the CCEI login page here - cceifame.com/login.cfm
• Click on “Did you forget your password?” under the login button
• Enter your email address on the next screen; click Submit
• Go to your email inbox and open the password reset email
• Click on This Link in the email
• You will be taken to a screen to create a password
• Click Save to be redirected to the CCEI login page
• Enter your email address, password and the 4-digit validation email on the screen
• Click the login button

If your CCEI account was created by your director through a center-based subscription, you will receive a first-time login validated email.

How to login after validating your email address:

1. Go to your email inbox and open the validation email.
2. Click on the verification link in the email to validate your account.
3. Once your account shows “Account verification successful,” click on “Return Home” to gain immediate access to your account.
4. Since this is your first time logging in, you will be asked to update your personal information.
5. Click on the tabs (one at a time) that have a green triangle only.
6. Provide the information requested in that section.
7. Click the Update Information box at the bottom of the page.
8. Repeat the process for each tab.
9. After updating your personal information, you will be able to register for courses.

To get started with CCEI online training, you can create a FAME user account and register for a free trial course through the CCEI website. Please note:

• Each user must have their own unique email address to create an account. The email address serves as a unique identifier in the FAME system and cannot be shared between users.

To create an account and register for a trial course:

1. Visit the CCEI website at www.cceionline.com and click the Trial Course button.
2. Complete all required fields in the registration form.
3. In the Login Validation field, enter the solution to the math problem displayed on the screen.
4. Click the I Agree button to create your account.
5. You will receive a confirmation message that your account has been created successfully, along with next steps and the trial course that has been assigned to you.

A FAME account is the account used to complete online training with CCEI. Accounts are created either by the director of a center or by CCEI directly when a student enrolls in a certificate program, such as the CDA or FCCPC.

To access and log into your FAME account:

1. Visit the FAME login page at www.cceifame.com.
2. Enter the email address associated with your FAME account, your password, and the four-digit Login Validation code displayed on the screen, then click Login.

If you have forgotten your password:

1. Click the Did You Forget Your Password? link on the login page.
2. The system will send you an email with a link to reset your password.

You can also access the FAME login page from the main CCEI website at www.cceionline.com by clicking the Login link at the top of the page, then following the login instructions above.

CCEI is approved as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). All CCEI Professional Development Online Courses are awarded IACET CEU credit.

A Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a standard measure used in continuing education programs to help professionals maintain licensure within their field. One CEU is equal to ten contact hours; therefore, a one-hour course is equivalent to 0.1 CEU.

Please note: CEUs are not the same as college credit. CCEI is a non-degree-granting institution, and students seeking college credit must apply directly to a college or university.

However, CCEI coursework may be eligible for college credit through articulation agreements with accredited institutions of higher learning. For more information, please visit the Partners page on our website.

To be considered for observer approval, you must submit a completed CCEI Observer Qualification Verification Form along with the required supporting documentation listed below.

Required Documentation

Please include the following items with your submission:

• A current résumé

• A copy of your high school diploma or college degree

Important:
If you select the first credential option on page one of the form, you must also provide your Florida Credential.

How to Access the Form

If you already have a CCEI account, you can locate the form by following these steps:

1. Log in to your account

2. Click on Resource Library

3. Select Florida Child Care Professional Credentials Forms

4. Locate and download the Observer Qualification Verification Form

   • Choose the appropriate form:

     • Birth–5 Form

     • School-Age Form and School-Age Setting Experience Form

Submission Instructions

Once completed, please submit your documents to the Customer Support team via a support request by clicking on the Submit a Ticket with all required documentation attached to the ticket.

What Happens Next

After your documentation has been received and reviewed:

• If you have an existing CCEI account, the Observer Qualification Orientation Course will be added to your account.

• If you do not have an account, one will be created for you and the course will be assigned.

You will receive an email notification once the course has been assigned.