In the United States, most of the Family, Friend, and Neighbor providers are the grandmothers of the child in care. Parental preference for Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) care for infants and toddlers is consistent across race, class, and ethnicity. Although FFN providers care for the largest number of infants and toddlers in the United States, they are not considered part of the childcare milieu. This exclusion means FFN providers are not, typically, the recipient of important childcare information and resources as formal childcare providers who provide care to the smallest number of infants and toddlers. 
The small number of studies on Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) care often refers to these providers as "invisible." It is in direct response to this sense of invisibility that this study is presented. Using a phenomenological methodology to bring forward the essence of FFN care, this study hopes to broaden the Field of Early Care and Education to include this group of diverse providers of care to young children. Instead of policy makers, funders, and early childhood professional development systems viewing "childcare" exclusively as formal and regulated this study serves to challenge this limited perspective by offering a richer perspective.

Based on the survey results of 150 South Korea toddler caregivers about training needs, I developed a relationship-based approach for a toddler caregiver training program. The training program was modified using suggestions provided by 6 South Korean professors, who were asked to review the program. Survey findings revealed that: (a) All participants (toddler caregivers) perceived that it is necessary for caregivers to attend training. However, most (72.2%) found that it was difficult to attend training programs more than 1 time per year because it was hard to find a substitute teacher (64%). Participants desired to attend training programs on toddler care because of the lack of in-service education (26%), curriculum (24%), and training programs (15.3%); (b) Caregivers who had the third-degree caregiver certification preferred to learn parent education more than child development. However, caregivers who had a higher degree of caregiver certification preferred to learn child development more than parent education; and (c) Caregivers who had more than 5 years of teaching experience preferred to learn about the teacher's role more than caregivers who had fewer than 4 years of teaching experience. Future studies need to evaluate the effect of this relationship-based training program for toddler caregivers in relation to improvement in the quality of child care and interaction between caregivers and toddlers. A large-scale study would increase the generalizability of research findings. A larger sample size from different cities in South Korea and random sampling would generate more reliable findings.