Supporting Early Care and Education in Family Child Care

School readiness is foundational across early childhood systems and programs. It means children are ready for school, families are ready to support their children's learning, and schools are ready for children. For Head Start programs, school readiness means children possess the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for success in school and for later learning and life. Physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development are all essential elements. Managers, staff, caregivers, advocates, and families can use these resources to learn more about creating enriching and supportive learning environments for children ages birth to 5.

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Head Start Approach to School Readiness – Overview

Learn more about Head Start's approach to and frameworks for understanding school readiness. The frameworks provide the foundation for comprehensive services that lead to school readiness for young children and families.

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Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF)

The ELOF presents five broad areas of early learning, referred to as central domains. It shows the continuum of learning for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. It is grounded in comprehensive research about what young children should know and be able to do during their early years.

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Curriculum Basics

A research-based curriculum is content-rich, providing broad and varied experiences and activities that promote children's learning and development. It invites children to think deeply about what interests them and builds on their prior knowledge and experiences. Explore these resources to learn more about supporting curriculum implementation and teaching practices in early learning settings.

Resources for Infant/Toddler Learning Environments

Discover resources to help you think about play spaces, areas for caregiving routines, and ways to integrate home cultures into engaging environments for infants and toddlers.

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Infant/Toddler Teaching Practices

For infants and toddlers, all learning happens within the context of their relationships with important adults in their lives. Education staff use effective teaching practices to establish strong relationships, create learning environments, and support and extend children's learning. Use the resources on this page to strengthen infant and toddler teaching practices.

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Resources for Preschool Learning Environments

Find resources to help you think about materials and learning opportunities that are responsive to children's differing abilities, interests, and developmental levels within preschool learning environments.

A teacher shows a toy to a reaching toddler

Preschool Teaching Practices

Education staff use effective teaching practices to establish strong relationships, create learning environments, and support and extend children's learning. Use the resources on this page to strengthen preschool teaching practices.

Ongoing Child Assessment

These 15-minute In-service Suites are a professional development resource for staff in busy, active early childhood centers and programs. They are organized around one topic or big idea and address effective teaching and assessment practices.

Resources Supporting Individualization

Young children ages birth to 5 vary widely in their skills, knowledge, backgrounds, and abilities. Effective teaching for all children, especially those at risk for or diagnosed with disabilities, requires individualized teaching and learning opportunities to access, participate, and thrive in all early childhood settings. This collection of resources provides information about evidence-based practices that support individualization.

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Supporting Transitions: Resources for Building Collaboration

Supporting transitions can have positive effects on children and families, and collaboration is key to effective transition. Each brief in this series focuses on a different partnership level: the child and family, early educators, early care and education (ECE) programs, and ECE partners.

Teacher Time Series

Watch these videos for strategies and teaching practices that help infants, toddlers, and preschoolers develop skills across all domains.

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Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Simulation: Boosting School Readiness Through Effective Family Engagement Series

What you do and say matters! These simulations focus on building bonds and developing and implementing goals with families, using strength-based attitudes while supporting families, collaborative strategies for partnering with families, and supporting transitions to kindergarten.

School Readiness

School Readiness