Teaching Strategies

Summary of Insights: Strong literacy instruction includes more than teaching children to decode words. Meaningful conversations, joyful learning, and rich interactions help children build the oral language, background knowledge, and critical thinking skil

Summary of Insights Curiosity is valuable during challenging moments because it helps educators, leaders, and families pause to better understand children's behaviors and one another's experiences. By approaching difficult situations with thoughtful obser

During my years as a site director for a Head Start program, I often asked myself, "How can I create meaningful experiences that leave a lasting impact on the staff, families, and children we serve?" This question guided my leadership and inspired me to c

Early childhood leaders are under increasing pressure to make curriculum decisions based on evidence. This is a positive development. Children deserve access to learning experiences grounded in research, and educators deserve resources that have been thou

Summary of Insights Teacher retention in early childhood education starts with understanding and supporting educators before challenges lead to burnout. This blog explores how leaders can use data, technology, and meaningful conversations to create strong

More than half of early childhood educators are at risk for burnout1. For program and other educational leaders, that statistic is more than concerning. It represents a challenge that affects every aspect of program quality, from teacher retention and cla

We treat early childhood teachers like babysitters instead of the engineers they are. If we want them to stay, we have to invest in the systems that ...

Why Kickstart Literacy? The body of research known as the science of reading, which explains how children learn to read and spell, offers a great deal of insight into how to conduct effective reading instruction. This research makes clear that the time be

Head Start teachers balance a wide range of responsibilities each day, from lesson planning, child assessment, and documentation to family communication, compliance requirements, and ongoing professional learning. With so many competing priorities, findin

Summary of Insights Family confidence is one of the strongest drivers of private school enrollment growth. Schools that clearly demonstrate instructional quality, kindergarten readiness, early literacy development, and student progress are better position