Start Date: Enrolling Now
Program Hours: 40
Program Cost: $1,300
Earns Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Specialist certifications
Taught by 30+ college faculty • 100% online • start within 45 minutes • internationally accredited
Specialist Nanny training & certification
Graduates gain insights into special needs child care, children with medical needs and special diets. The program also builds the leadership skills needed to be a Family Assistant or Household Manager.
This specialized Nanny training program is 100% online with 24/7 on-demand access to faculty-taught classes. Focused on expanded responsibilities including overnights, the program is 40 hours of child care classes.
Who should enroll?
The Specialist Child Care program is designed for nannies seeking full-time positions with additional responsibilities including family assistance and household management.
What topics are covered?
Review the full course list. Once you’ve taken a course, you don’t have to repeat it to progress to higher level programs.
- Infant attachment
- Child development milestones
- Positive discipline
- Stress management
- Emergency management
- Active shooter response
- Food safety
- Water safety
- Payroll & taxes
- Work agreements
- Newborn care
- Toddler care
- Preschool care
- Primary years
- Literacy
- STEM
- Health & medical
- Body privacy
- Child fitness
- Car seat safety
- Advanced newborn care
- Teaching self-regulation
- Nutrition for children
- Fitness for child athletes
- Children and music
- Children and art
- Learning stations
- Helping with homework
- Parenting styles
- Communication
 | Want our program and course catalog? All six certification programs, every course, tuition, and what each certification covers. We'll email it to you. |
What is the class structure?
The certification program is 100% online so it fits easily into your schedule. All programs must be completed within 3 months.
Each class is an on-demand video and our faculty authored a study guide you keep as your textbook. The study guide helps you prepare for the multiple choice quizzes and exams.
Who are the instructors?
The Nanny Institute has 30+ faculty members who are experts as all our faculty have advanced degrees, at least 5 years of experience and a passion for child care.
We invested in the right people to build and teach our curriculum so you learn from pediatricians, early childhood educators and child psychologists, many of whom were former nannies.
How do I get certified?
1. Sign Up For A Program
Choose from one of our learning programs that will meet your needs.
2. Attend The Online Courses
Our online courses are taught by industry experts.
3. Earn A Certification
At the end of the program, you will take a multiple choice exam that will test your knowledge.
What happens after I enroll?
1. Pay online and check your email. You’ll receive an email immediately with a link to log into your private, secure student account. If it isn’t in your inbox within a few minutes, check your spam or junk folder.
2. Complete your enrollment agreement. Download it, fill it out, sign it and upload it to your student account.
3. Upload your identification. A government-issued photo ID from any recognized country.
4. Start within 45 minutes. Once your paperwork and identity are confirmed, your classes load into your student account and you can begin.
Returning students adding a level: administrators must confirm your prerequisites before releasing the new classes so allow a little longer. You’ll be notified when your program is ready.
“I had years of childcare experience, but the certification gave me language to describe what I knew. It helped me talk about child development, safety, communication, and professionalism in a more confident way.”
Enroll today and get started!
New Students – Enroll Here
Payment plan
Do you need a payment plan? We offer a payment plan that allows you to purchase each of the 5 program levels individually.
To use the payment plan, select the Basic program and pay the tuition and fees. When you are ready, you can come back to the payment plan page and enroll in the Intermediate program.
You must complete Basic, then Intermediate, then Advanced and Specialist before enrolling in the Professional program.
All courses are taught by child care and academic experts
Meet our faculty
I’m excited for the Nanny Institute’s programs and this opportunity to contribute to the Nanny community. The specially designed curriculum advances Nanny qualifications and skills.
Frequently asked questions
Can I try a class before I enroll?
Yes. The work agreements seminar on our nanny contracts page is a full class from our curriculum, free to watch, no sign-up. It shows the format every course uses: a faculty-taught video with a downloadable study guide you keep as your textbook. In this example, the study guide is the work agreement template.
Can I watch the classes on my phone?
Yes. You can download the SAP Litmos app and log in to your student portal on your phone. Each class has a study guide that can be completed so you may want to download or print the study guide from a computer prior to watching the class on your phone.
Are there financial payment plans, discounts or sales?
The Nanny Institute allows you to make payments over time by purchasing each level separately. This allows students to pay for 10 hours of class at a time.
The Nanny Institute also offers scholarships, when available. While businesses can offer discounts and sales, the Nanny Institute is a career college and adheres to the Department of Education requirements. Licensed post-secondary schools must comply with 6E-1.0032(7), F.A.C which states, “Tuition or fee discounts are not permissible.”
I am not living in the United States and I am not a US citizen, can I enroll?
Yes, you can enroll online and complete the program from any location in the world. You do not need to be a United States citizen but you must upload a copy of a government-issued identification from any recognized country to verify your identity.
Do these programs count for the US Nanny Association Certifications?
Yes. All programs (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Specialist, Professional Childcare and Newborn and Infant Care) are accepted by the US Nanny Association for the training requirements to earn the Certified Nanny and Childcare Provider (NCP) Credential.
The Newborn Care is accepted by the US Nanny Association for the training requirements for the Newborn and Infant Care Professional (NICP).
The Professional Childcare program is accepted by the US Nanny Association for the training requirements to earn the Certified Professional Nanny and Childcare Provider (PNCP) Credential.
What are the enrollment requirements?
Enrollment requires students to be at least 16 years old and have a government-issued identification (from any recognized country). Students sign up online by paying the tuition and fees, then immediately checking their email SPAM or Junk folder to access and log in to their student account. Students must sign an Enrollment Agreement and upload a copy of government-issued identification. Within 45 minutes of signing the paperwork and confirming the student’s identity, the classes will unlock in the student’s account and they can begin the program.
Will I need to buy textbooks?
No, all the course materials are available online and included in the tuition and fees. Every course has a study guide that can be downloaded and used to capture notes from the course. These study guides create a textbook that you can keep. The materials are for personal use only. All course videos and resources are copyrighted and cannot be used for any business purpose.
Need help staying on track?
Download Litmos App
The Nanny Institute proudly uses Litmos as our eLearning partner. Litmos Mobile makes learning more accessible for you by ensuring you can access all your eLearning courses via your smartphone. This app requires an active Litmos account which is your Nanny Institute username and password.
Specialist Childcare Certification at a Glance
The Specialist Childcare Certification prepares graduates for full time nanny positions with broader responsibilities: household management, family assistant duties, supervisory roles, and specialized topics like special education, working with children at risk, and multiples. Specialist is the fourth step in the Nanny Institute’s career ladder of six certifications.
Graduates receive a Specialist Childcare Certification and a complete course transcript. The President of the Nanny Institute signs every certificate and students receive their documents electronically within a day of completing the program.
Over 30 college faculty specialists teach every course. Instructors hold Master’s or Doctoral degrees and include special educators, child psychologists, dietitians, attorneys, and registered nurses. The Nanny Institute does not hire generalist nannies as faculty. Every instructor submits transcripts and licensure for review before they teach.
Time, prerequisites, and format
The program runs 40 clock hours, which works out to about 3.5 hours per week across the 12 weeks you have to finish. The Admissions Office grants a single extension of six weeks for documented hardship, so you can take longer than three months if you need to. If you prefer to pay level by level, you need to complete Advanced Childcare before enrolling in Specialist. The full Specialist program for $1300 includes it so no prior training is needed.
You study 100% online through SAP Litmos on any phone, tablet, or computer. The Nanny Institute serves students anywhere in the world.
Agencies that place nannies with high net worth and upper income families specifically request candidates with the breadth Specialist adds. The Nanny Institute does not guarantee employment but positions graduates for senior nanny roles, family assistant placements, and household management positions.
The proficiency exam runs in English. Most students pass on the first or second attempt. Students whose first language is not English can use reading support tools throughout the program.