“If you hadn’t answered the phone,” sighed an early childhood teacher in an underinvested neighborhood of Philadelphia, “I was walking out the door.”

This was more than the usual bad day, recalls Simon, an educator with 34 years of experience. The caller — an award-winning master teacher — was on the brink. “I was able to talk her off the ledge,” she says.��

This teacher has remained on the job, despite the challenges of working in a neighborhood beset by poverty and violence. Simon reports, “I let her air out everything she needed to say. I responded, ‘Okay. So what do we need to do to make sure you’re safe, that you have the support that you need? Because there are times when I may not pick up the phone. What’s in your toolkit?’ And we went right to what was in the safety plan we had developed together.” The teacher realized that a failure to take time off (an understandable reaction to the stress all around her) meant taking on an unsustainable level of stress herself, which ultimately jeopardized her own well-being — and that of the children and family she serves.

“She is really engaging in soul care — that’s the alternative to self-care — and reminding herself why she chose this field in the first place.”��

Another educator had what Simon describes as a beautiful environment, but the program manager sensed, “She didn’t understand the power of her own voice,” which meant the teacher lacked influence in her own classroom. In this instance, aid came in the form of helping the educator to become embedded in the early childhood community.

In both exchanges, Simon took away important lessons that could be used for future coaching sessions. That is, while First Up’s experienced coaches are there for Philadelphia’s early learning workforce, the relationships they foster with educators are mutually beneficial.��

The mentorship flows back and forth.

The Keystone to Quality

First Up supports educators through the (EQUIP), focusing on those who have two stars according to , Pennsylvania’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) and helping them move up to three or four stars.��

According to the 2023 : “As cities and states around the country consider how to make quality improvement a more equitable and sustainable process, the implementation of EQUIP can offer important insights into the value of relationship-based coaching. Across data collection efforts, coaches and providers in EQUIP consistently described the importance of their relationships to supporting programs in multiple dimensions of quality improvement.”

QRIS programs across the country have come under scrutiny in recent years, with or even calling for their abolition. Lisa Schultz, First Up’s director of programs, says the organization is in the midst of an inquiry in how it defines quality.��

“It involves interactions with the children,” she says. “It’s the environment, it’s supporting families. A holistic approach to coaching drives EQUIP that goes beyond skill building.” Emotional intelligence, she adds, corresponds with positive learning outcomes.��

According to Schultz, a 24-year veteran of First Up, EQUIP grew out of the United Way’s Success By 6 project, which provides multi-tiered levels of supports for child care centers. First Up also supports educators in family child care settings.��

“We’re often the gateway program that leads to additional supports,” says Alyssa Cruz, manager of EQUIP and previously director at a Head Start program, citing (PRIDE), a University of Pittsburgh program for teachers, program directors, families and system leaders that recently completed an of racial disparities in the Philadelphia area.

The team at First Up also advocates for ways Keystone STARS can be more responsive to the workforce. Schultz believes in closer alignment with , while Simon would like to see Pennsylvania emulate .

Coaching for Reflection

Cruz credits by Judy Jablon, Laura Dombro and Shaun Johnsen for centering First Up’s coaching interactions on relationships.��

The book outlines strengths-based, relationship-based coaching, as opposed to monitoring, which is about highlighting deficiencies. “Connecting with directors and teachers is the most important component of being able to have powerful coaching interactions,” she explains. “When our coaches foster respectful trust and relationships, they’re able to develop mutual learning partnerships.”

“Reflection is where the change happens,” says Schultz. She describes a teacher who was struggling to hold children’s attention during circle time. “Kids were jumping all over each other,” she recalls. “When the time came to reflect, I asked her, ‘What is it that you liked about the activity?’ So first we talked about what went well, and then I asked her what things were a challenge. And I didn’t have to tell her. She was able to tell me herself.” These mutually trusting relationships allow for deeper engagement that transcends quality.

Simon summarizes: “Everyone has something they’re good at. We just have to be able to identify it. That helps me establish the trust. The moment you highlight what a teacher is doing well. Their bodies relax; the barriers come down.”

With everything going on in the world, why does the U.N. care about play?

The simple answer is that the world needs play more than ever. As critic Peter Brooks writes in , “Without play, we risk being overwhelmed by an inhuman world.”

To understand more fully, start by thinking of play as not only an educational tool but also a human rights issue. In 1989, the asserted “that every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.��That member governments shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life. They shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.”

Early Learning Nation has covered a number of innovative programs dedicated to restoring and expanding play in the lives of young children, through strategies like playgrounds, , and . Here are three more playful enterprises to ponder:

1. A New Curriculum from Neighborhood Villages. In “,” (Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education) Ben Mardell and colleagues write, “When people play, they are engaged, relaxed and challenged — states of mind highly conducive to learning. Through play, children and adults try out ideas, test theories, experiment with symbol systems, better understand social relations, take risks, and reimagine the world. As they lead their play, players develop agency. Exploring the unknown, they cultivate their imaginations and learn to deal with uncertainty. Joyfully playing with others, they develop empathy.”

Inspired by this research, recently launched a new play-based curriculum in partnership with the LEGO Foundation and Boston Public Schools. “In early childhood, play is learning,” says Binal Patel, chief program officer. “This first-of-its-kind curriculum, called , is a resource for educators, centering an anti-bias approach as well as developmentally appropriate practice for toddlers.” In the first two weeks, the curriculum garnered over 300 downloads from 20 states and five countries.

2. Invitations to Learning in Ontario. The Government of Ontario issued in 2016, but Nadia Kenisha Bynoe and Angelique Thompson, former Early Reading Coaches for the Toronto District School Board, noticed that young children were being deprived of play. Their new book, “,”��encourages educators to honor playful approaches to curriculum and learning. “Play allows children to show what they know,” says Thompson. “It supports different learners because it provides entry points for them to make their thinking visible.”

Bynoe says ’s work on culturally relevant pedagogy was a major influence on the book, which recommends presenting children’s books on subjects children can relate to — alongside materials they can manipulate — as invitations to learning. “Loose parts,” she adds, “allow children the liberty to share their theories in ways that are not stifled.”

3. Taking the Early Childhood Ethos and Moving It Up. “Preschool teachers and museum educators are the kings and queens of the new universe,” proclaims , professor of psychology at Temple University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. (She’s also chief science advisor and co-founder of , which are built in classrooms, communities and the digital space). Referring to a huge foundation that recently launched an initiative to create more assessments for young children, she maintains, “We adults are so stressed that we put the stress on our kids, and I don’t think we should take it anymore.”

Hirsh-Pasek’s playful learning colleague, Andres Bustamente, an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Education, says, “In California, there is a rapid expansion of for 4-year-olds, which is bringing preschool into the elementary school system, but we don’t want to start treating preschoolers like older kids. In fact, we want to do the opposite, taking the early childhood ethos and moving it up. Our current work comes from an intentional move by the LEGO Foundation to start in kindergarten and go through fourth grade. And the leads of the project are all early childhood people.”

A Global Mindset Shift

Internationally, the play deficit is a real threat. , 59% of children would like to play more than they do now; and 79% of children would like to play more with their parents or caregiver.

We intuitively know that play is an essential part of childhood. , we also know that play supports cognitive development, social skills and all the skills we want our future citizens to possess. And yet in the U.S., Canada and Europe, play is disappearing from the lives of too many children. The reasons are complicated, but a lot of it has to do with the pressure governments feel to equip future workers to compete in a changing world.

Among other factors, standardized testing both arises from this pressure and intensifies it. Guy Roberts-Holmes and Peter Moss’s 2021 book “” argues that our economic system reduces early childhood to “the status of becoming, to being a transition stage en route to an ultimate destination of achieved adulthood by which time she or he will have assumed the requisite identity: a self-mastering, self-interested and responsibilised subject; and informed and calculating consumer; and [quoting ] a ‘resilient, compliant, skilled worker able to grow the nation’s wealth.’”

The authors contend that thanks to this trend, called ‘schoolification’ in Europe, “Early years education is at high risk of becoming a narrow and arid, utterly predictable undertaking, devoid of creativity, excitement, wonder and joy.”

(Brookings Institution)

Hirsh-Pasek points out that before there was an International Day of Play, there was UNESCO’s global , which advocates for “a transformative reform of education and a paradigm shift to put happiness at the core of education policy and practice,” recognizing happiness “as both a means to and a goal of quality learning.”

“The science is clear,” Hirsh-Pasek summarizes. “Learning needs to be active, engaging, meaningful, socially interactive, iterative and joyful. And if we could rekindle these qualities in ourselves, I think we would see what it would do for our children, their academic health, their social health and their mental health.”

These are magic words for Alvin Irby, a former teacher and the founder and executive director of Created in 2013, Barbershop Books is a nonprofit organization that distributes books to barbershops across the country, provides literacy training to barbers and inspires Black boys to read for fun.

A chance encounter with a student was the inspiration behind Barbershop Books. While Irby was getting a haircut, he noticed one of his first-grade students looking bored and antsy in the chair sitting next to him. “All I kept thinking the whole time was he should be practicing his reading right now. I wished I had a children’s book to give him, but I didn’t,” said Irby. As a Black man and an educator, Irby recognized that a barbershop setting presents a unique opportunity for educational support and enrichment.

Barbershops are not simply places where Black boys get a haircut a few times each month, but rather, places where they bond with and learn from Black men. According to the Pew Research Center, of public school teachers are Black men. Irby believes that an absence of Black reading role models at school and at home can contribute to decreased reading motivation and poor reading performance, but barbers can help close the gap by encouraging young boys to read.

Instead of rifling through old magazines, boys at participating barbershops can choose from a wide range of stimulating, funny books geared toward children. The bookshelves are intentionally kid-sized, and the material is chosen based on the recommendations of young Black boys. Barbershop Books has distributed over 50,000 books and partnered with over 250 barbershops in over 50 cities. “Every inch in a barbershop is valuable real estate, so if a barbershop owner lets you keep something in their shop, it is generally because it adds value. So the fact that we have all these barbershops that continue to remain program partners year after year is a testament to the efficacy and the value of the program,” said Irby.

This year, to sponsor Barbershop Books programming in 10 new participating barbershops in Las Vegas. During Super Bowl week, the NFL Commissioner and 20 former NFL players helped them give away free haircuts and more than 1,000 children’s books. Although the program is intentionally non-rostered and its drop-in nature makes it challenging to quantify the number of boys Barbershop Books impacts, the organization estimates it reaches 15,000 boys annually. One of those boys, , is a ten-year-old from Harlem and a former New York State Youth Poet Laureate who is often found reading at his local barbershop.

Watch:

Although Irby is the leader of an organization dedicated to inspiring kids to read for fun, he admits that he did not enjoy reading as a child. His mother was an elementary school teacher who practiced reading lessons with him and expected him and his siblings to read proficiently, but he never saw her curl up and enjoy a good book. Irby now recognizes that there is an important distinction between reading identity and reading proficiency. When people hear about Barbershop Books, they typically think that the program helps kids develop a love of reading. Irby believes children can fall in and out of love with interests, just like adults, but when kids identify as readers it becomes a part of who they are and their regular practices and habits. The organization’s work, therefore, “is not just to help kids develop a love for reading, but to create the type of conditions and curate the type of content that cultivates Black boys’ reading identity.”

Susan B. Neuman, professor of Childhood and Literacy Education at New York University and specialist in early literacy development, conducted a two-year evaluation of the Barbershop Books program in Philadelphia. In a new report exclusively shared with Early Learning Nation, Neuman found that the presence of books at participating barbershops and barbers’ support for reading positively affected self-image and Black boys were more likely to identify as readers. The study divided barbershops into control and treatment sites and worked with local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) students to observe children’s behavior and reading patterns. The treatment sites were given a bookcase filled with books geared toward children, and barbers received literacy training.

Neuman says, “Students appeared to benefit from the program in their views of reading as fun and cool, and scored statistically higher in identifying themselves as readers compared to the control group.” That finding is particularly meaningful for Irby. Barbershop Books has been cultivating the reading identity of Black boys for the past decade, but this is the first time that independent research has shown how their programming impacts reading behavior. To Irby’s knowledge, this is the first time an organization has demonstrated that an intervention has significantly impacted the reading identity development of children.

Books at participating barbershops are all “boy-approved,” meaning selections are made based on what children in Barbershop Books’ target demographic are most interested in reading. The vast majority of boys express that they enjoy reading funny books. Survey results from Scholastic’s echo this trend. Scholastic found that and that humor is the top criteria that kids consider when selecting their reading material.

Funny, silly books can make reading a fun and positive experience for children and encourage them to read more often. It seems like a simple formula: understand what kids like and make that content more readily available to boost reading engagement. However, Irby believes that “many adults have opinions about what children should be reading, and far too often those opinions are not informed by the actual interests or preferences of children.” That’s one of the reasons he created Reading So Lit, a reading identity exploration and assessment platform that helps children better understand and articulate their reading preferences. The tool asks children about their interests and invites them to reflect on things like their favorite genre or their favorite reading spot in an effort to capture their reading attitudes and behaviors. The platform collects data that helps educators develop curriculum that is more relevant and engaging for students and can accelerate their reading achievement. Last year, Reading So Lit and was recognized as a catalyst in the field.

Barbershop Books recently launched “Reading So Lit Summer.” This virtual 2-week reading identity exploration program inspires boys to read for fun, and trains high school students of color to lead interactive literacy lessons. In turn, the program can inspire more Black teens to become educators and give young boys relatable literacy role models. The program has already made a profound impact. Teacher and caregiver surveys from the pilot program found that “Reading So Lit Summer” increased student vocabulary and world knowledge, increased reading self-efficacy and confidence, improved reading engagement and motivation, and supported positive reading identity development.

Our nation is in the midst of a literacy crisis that requires innovative solutions. of Black fourth-grade boys in the United States are not proficient in reading, and reading scores have fallen to their lowest levels in decades. It is time to think beyond phonics and boosting proficiency scores and to understand what kids are actually interested in reading, the conditions in which they like to read, and how to make reading a natural part of children’s routines.

“If as soon as the school day ends kids don’t want to touch a book, and as soon as the school year ends and they are not reading anything at all, then a lot of those gains in proficiency are lost,” said Irby. That is precisely why Barbershop Books is “unapologetically” and “doggedly” focused on reading identity development. The organization is part of an emerging field that emphasizes the non-academic elements of reading success such as reading identity, confidence and motivation that have not traditionally been the focus of literacy assessments. These elements are essential for sustaining reading progress and encouraging kids to read for fun and for themselves. Irby believes that cultivating reading identity is especially important in this time of budget cuts, library closures and book bans so that children are motivated to read outside of school hours and are passionate about reading regardless of external factors.

Barbershop Books has taken a unique, innovative approach that helps kids develop a lifelong relationship with reading and empowers them to say words that unlock a world of possibilities, “I’m a reader!”

Her organization combines research, practice and technology to ensure that America’s historically excluded learners have access to the resources and experiences they need to eventually lead lives of “well-being, agency and economic security.”

Early Learning Nation spoke to Dominguez about developmentally appropriate learning activities, and how technology and media can strengthen playful, collaborative and socially rich early learning.

Mark Swartz: What does the research tell us about using technology with young learners?

Ximena Dominguez: A substantial body of research suggests that technology and media can be powerful tools to strengthen and extend early learning, if they are designed intentionally, and with the input of educators, families and children. Digital tools and media, for instance, can extend children’s hands-on learning by providing individualized scaffolding within developmentally appropriate and playful game-like activities, and by embedding meaningful storylines and serving as catalysts for rich conversations.

Technology and media can also allow children to visualize or experience phenomena that are harder to see or not available in their local environment, to record observations and data via photos or videos, and to engage in embodied learning [Embodied learning involves the whole body. One example is to have kids toss bean bags while counting]. When I review new digital tools, I often ask, “How does it extend or strengthen (rather than replace) hands-on learning? Does it invite children to explore, deepen their learning, discuss and collaborate?”

Swartz: We often see little kids on an iPad while the parents are trying to get work done. We all overdo it sometimes because we just get overwhelmed, but we know there’s a downside. If you were going to talk to a parent of young children, what advice would you give?

Dominguez: I am sure this question resonates with many parents; many of us allow our children to use technology when we need to attend to other things at home. Assuming children have had other opportunities for hands-on play and conversation, time with technology is okay, especially if parents are able to vet the technology ahead of time to ensure and converse with children about their experience.

Swartz: What does that look like?

Dominguez: I often encourage parents to think of technology the way we think of other tools for learning. For instance, think about books; we wouldn’t just pick any book and start reading it to our children. Most often we skim the book ourselves first or get a recommendation from someone we trust. We do these things to make sure the book is appropriate, relevant to what we’d like our children to learn and likely to be interesting to our children.

The same can be true with technology. As parents, we can vet it and just like we do with books, we can also have later conversations about it if we are unable to engage with it at the same time.

Swartz: A lot of technology claims to be educational. How do we verify those claims?��

Dominguez: When I come across a new resource, I try to find out who created the technology and what the stated purpose is. Did the team include educators? Do they intend to provide a playful experience, promote learning or both?

I then explore the resource a bit to see what their process for doing so is like. For instance, if they are promoting learning, how does the resource give children feedback? I also pay close attention to the behaviors being modeled and encouraged and how characters are represented.

Swartz: How do you reconcile the aims of educational technology companies with the needs of educators and families?

Dominguez: This is something our team has been actively working on in the area of early STEM. Over the past decade, we’ve led a couple of National Science Foundation-funded efforts that bring together researchers, designers of media, educators in public preschool programs and families from historically excluded communities to co-design resources to support early STEM teaching and learning.

Initially we learned that designers and researchers struggled to find the balance between education and fun; designers were often focused on engagement and researchers often focused on learning. Either alone was not ideal, and attending to both was indeed possible as long as goals were woven carefully and intentionally into the design process.

Swartz: What’s the most important part of co-design?��

Dominguez: The resources have to leverage the assets of and address the needs of educators and families. Families want to see themselves represented in the resources. Families and educators alike want to make sure the resources help children learn, develop and thrive.

Inclusive co-design processes help ensure that the resources developed are likely to be used, and help children engage in learning in ways that are meaningful and relevant to their everyday life and community.

We recently completed a National Science Foundation-funded early STEM co-design effort with partners at , which resulted in the creation of — a suite of hands-on and digital resources to promote early science, engineering and mathematics across home and school.

Swartz: Earlier, you mentioned embodied learning. How does technology invite children to engage their bodies?

Dominguez: Technology and media can invite children to move as part of the learning process. Some apps may invite children to move around a space to locate objects. For instance, children may need to move to find or make shadows.

Our team is working with MathTalk, a group of educators and edtech designers in Cambridge who are designing virtual reality resources to support early math skills such as measurement. In one of their emerging apps, children can use the iPad to measure distances in physical spaces with a selected object in the digital space. Children engage in embodied learning as they try to answer: How many panda bears would fit in this yard?

Swartz: Where are the greatest opportunities for progress?

Dominguez: A lot more work is needed around the design of digital tools to promote early collaborative learning. So much of the technology developed to date for early learners takes a one-to-one approach. Given the socially rich nature of early learning approaches, digital tools that can provide unique opportunities to promote learning in collaborative or group settings are very much needed.

Given that the U.S. is now drenched with advice on how to optimize our children’s learning, language and lives, parents often feel heavy pressure to see that their kids — even at a very early age — are keeping up or even “excelling” (whatever that means for an infant). This can lead to well-intentioned but ultimately unhelpful attempts to steer the young child’s learning.

Observing this overly controlling behavior, even with babies as young as six months, lead researcher Dr. Lucy King, a psychologist specializing in developmental science, to set up a study to observe what factors might influence them to engage in intrusive behavior with their little ones. The study, “,” published in the journal Developmental Psychology, found that caregivers’ goals influence their interactions with their infants and have a direct effect on intrusive, controlling behavior.

“Over the course of doing lots of observations of parents interacting with their babies in our labs, my colleagues and I observed that some parents engage in overly controlling, intrusive behavior, even with babies as young as 6 months,” King says. “We wondered whether that was partly due to a sense of pressure or the need to have their babies perform in a certain way.”

She added, “There’s a lot of rhetoric and advice in our society about how to help your kids develop optimally and a lot of pressure for achievement. We were interested in whether we could induce that (intrusive) behavior in the lab.”

For the experiment, 66 mothers and their 6-month-old infants participated in a 10-minute “free play” interaction, observed in two-minute segments for parental intrusiveness. Before the final segment, mothers were randomly assigned to receive instructions to focus on teaching something to their infants or learning something from them. A control group received no instruction.

Caregiving behaviors that are considered overly controlling are based on the caregiver’s agenda rather than the child’s interests and needs. This can look like taking over the focus of the play or task, interrupting the child’s exploration, or overstimulating the baby. For example, a parent might try to get the baby to understand that the little cup goes inside the big cup and be determined to instill that lesson when the baby is more interested in the cup’s mouthfeel and how it sounds when whacked on the floor.

The researchers found that manipulating the parents’ explicit goals by instructing them to teach their baby significantly increased the degree to which they exhibited intrusive behaviors. Mothers’ intrusiveness decreased when they were instructed to focus on learning something from their infants. Mothers in the control group who received no instructions had no significant change in their degree of intrusiveness.

“It can be tempting as an adult to interfere and show the child the right way to do something,” King says. “That’s how we’ve developed as adults, focusing on getting the right information and doing things correctly. But babies are in a completely different stage of life where they’re just exploring.”

The irony of this push to have the baby master the material is that it can have the opposite effect and shut down the child’s natural drive to learn and understand. Infants are full of wonder — they wonder about everything in this world that is so new to them. Their minds are eager, and their brains are elastic. In fact, the researchers write, there is evidence that young children outperform older children and adults on tasks that require cognitive flexibility. Interesting or surprising events cue their brains: There’s something new to learn here. They thrive on exploration, and when an adult interrupts that process to try and impose a lesson on them, “No, no. You need to push the button, not lick it,” it’s not so fun anymore.

“In my experience of watching a lot of these interactions very carefully — we’ve videotaped hundreds of them — if the parent’s controlling behavior is intense, the child can end up checking out,” King says. “Or they get distressed and upset because it overwhelms them.”

The researchers’ findings extend far beyond the laboratory. As U.S. society experiences greater income inequality, competition increases to make certain one’s children have the competitive edge to be a success story. Our society emphasizes formal education as a primary way of determining success and even economic survival, making it unsurprising that we expect our caregivers to practice in a manner thought to promote a child’s early learning, e.g., teaching colors, numbers and social behavior expected in a school setting.

“Pressure on children to perform has continuously increased,” King says, “and we expect children to be learning really quickly at a younger age and reach a desired outcome. It’s stressful for everybody and parents worry that if they don’t push their kids to learn, they’re failing their children somehow.”

Though it wasn’t the purpose of King’s study, it might relieve those stressed parents to know that their child is learning every minute of the day, and relaxing and following their lead is not only more fun, it’s also better for the baby’s development.

Previous studies have shown that infants and toddlers who experience more intrusive caregiving have been found to have smaller vocabularies, more difficulty solving math problems, and less knowledge of colors, letters and numbers when they reach preschool than children who have been allowed to take the lead in their explorations. Other research has found that families with high socioeconomic status may be especially focused on achievement, which can lead to more intrusive interactions and unintended negative consequences.

Earlier studies focusing on the preschool age have shown that mothers engaged in more controlling interactions with their infants when they were told their child would be tested. Caregivers who were told their child’s memory would be tested engaged in more adult-centered conversations than caregivers who were told their children would be asked later about their perspective. King’s study is the first to investigate how directing parents’ goals regarding infant learning influences intrusive caregiving behavior.

Dr. Alison Gopnik argues in her 2020 study “,” published in The Royal Society’s Biological Sciences journal, that the “extended curious childhood” of primates, in general, and humans, in particular, provides a protected time to extract information from the environment and to explore “unlikely hypotheses.”

“Even very young human children learn by formulating and testing structured causal hypotheses about the world,” Gopnik writes, “updating them in the light of new evidence.” In other words, the baby may look like he’s just gnawing the triangle from his shape sorter toy, but in reality, he’s exploring its physical dimensions, textures and, yes, maybe even its flavor. If you leave him be or ask him questions, you can bet he’ll develop a theory about it — Hmm. Not food — after he’s tested his unlikely hypotheses.

An essential pathway to this learning-from-baby approach is our old friend , that back-and-forth that transpires between adults and even tiny infants that has been shown to grow the “white matter” of a child’s brain.

“It may be obvious to us as adults that this is how you play with this toy with buttons,” King says. “The baby isn’t at all aware of that purpose. It’s OK for the adult to reach out and press the button and show the baby, but then take a moment to see what the baby does next with the toy rather than continue to instruct them to push the button.

“Maybe they just want to touch in different ways or pick up the toy and look at it. You can build off whatever the baby does and have fun with that back and forth.”

Sometimes, following the baby’s lead means noticing that he’s had it with these buttons and wants to go taste the triangle again. It’s all about paying attention to their cues.

Of course, King notes, there are times when instruction is essential. For safety’s sake, children can’t always lead. And sometimes, they just need to get their socks on so you can get them to child care.

“The reality is that it’s just not possible to do this all the time,” King says with a laugh. The good news is that it isn’t the end of the world if a caregiver sometimes takes control of the conversation.

“There are endless opportunities to follow their lead,” she says.

The CDA requires significant coursework and teaching. Vargas had to gain 480 hours of experience in the classroom, besides taking 120 hours of coursework either in person or online. She admits that it was a lot of work, but says “It’s so worth it. Earning my CDA taught me new and different ways to work effectively in the classroom, so I continued pushing myself each day.” Like many CDA holders who use the certification as a steppingstone to further career development, Vargas plans to pursue a degree in early childhood education.

Calvin E. Moore, Jr., CEO of the Council, says, “CDA holders know the demands of a real-world classroom and increasingly have what it takes to meet them. I’m gratified that the number of CDA earners between 18 and 34 has been increasing.”

The CDA Credential dates back to the start of Head Start — part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty — when the supply of educators fell far short of the demand in the communities the program was meant to serve. In 1971, at the annual meeting of the told the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Edward R. Zigler, director of the U.S. Office of Child Development, declared:

“We must develop a middle-level profession to care for our country’s children. The need for the Child Development Associate, an individual who has not had as much scholastic training as those with college degrees, but nevertheless has the competencies to care independently for children, is central to a major issue in child care. Are we going to provide the children of this nation with developmental child care or are we going to provide them merely with babysitting?”

Before the Council took the helm in 1985, Bank Street College in New York City administered the CDA. “Providing child care is a profession,” said Ellen Galinsky, who taught at Bank Street for 25 years and went on to found . “Child care,” she added, “is a profession that requires a solid background in such fundamentals of child development as knowing what curriculum is appropriate to a particular age group, the basics of health and safety, and how to form effective partnerships with parents.”

Nearly 5,500 members of the CDA community have lent their voices and views to a survey on ways to bring more equity, ease and access to the CDA process. Nearly 90% of CDA holders report feeling more prepared for the classroom because they’ve gained a foundation in early learning and best practices for the profession. “The CDA was a wonderful way to get into my current position,” one teacher said, “and get into the job market I wanted to be in.”

Another respondent observed, “CDA holders appear to be better at interacting with children and communicating with parents. They also stay on the job longer and seem more committed to their work.”

According to Moore, remote learning is on the rise. He also sees increased recognition of the value of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, with an emphasis on advancing communities that are underserved. “That is the Council’s central mission,” he says. “We have always been committed to ensuring equity for all children and for the teachers who provide them with the quality learning they need.”

Ten U.S. territories and states that have embedded the CDA in their child care licensure and career ladder for professionals in the early learning field: Puerto Rico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alaska, Wyoming, Ohio, Michigan, Florida and Washington, D.C. Florida requires every child care center to have at least one staff member with a CDA. In the District, a 2016 law mandates that all assistant teachers must have a CDA.

Scholarships and support are making it easier for teachers to earn the CDA. For example, the Council and the Maryland State Department of Education are now partnering to provide thousands of the state’s early childhood teachers with financial support to help them earn or renew their CDA. These financial awards cover application and other fees, as well as books required for the program, and the state considers this a wise investment in the future.

The Maryland-Council partnership is also promoting the high school CDA, incentivizing teens to imagine a productive future at a time when they’re searching for a path from high school to careers. The CDA helps them take their first steps into the early learning field because it “provides you with knowledge if you have no knowledge of child care,” as one novice teacher said in the Council’s recent survey.

College may not be the next step for everyone with a high school diploma. Exorbitant tuition and other factors are encouraging more high school graduates to explore nondegree pathways. for those without a college education, but child care is a worthy and essential field, especially if the passion for building brains in young children is there.

Asked what advice she would give to a high school student contemplating the rigorous CDA process, Vargas said. “If you keep going forward, you will see the benefit of the journey.”

“High schoolers who earn a CDA,” Moore said, “give us high hopes for the future of our field.”

The work began as a series of listening sessions that generated the ideas and perspectives in the Action Plan. “As heartbreaking as those stories were, it’s also inspiring to hear the creative solutions and practical ideas that emerged,” said Elizabeth Bechard, senior policy analyst at , during a hosted by Capita’s Ankita Chachra.

Are you searching for inspiration? Here are seven encouraging highlights from the Action Plan:

1. The pandemic showed us how resourceful we can be. On the November 7 Hunt Institute webinar marking the Action Plan’s release, Diana Rauner, president of and co-chair of the Early Years Climate Action Task Force, admitted that the planet is stressed and the solutions are underfunded but reminded participants that throughout history, partnerships arise during crises.

For example, the Action Plan describes how, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana-based nonprofit launched the Rebuild Child Care Collaborative, which pooled private funding for child care centers. In 2021, after Hurricane Ida, the Agenda and the jointly distributed over $720,000 to 382 child care centers and family child care providers.

The global Covid pandemic offered plentiful examples of communities banding together; in Louisiana, Agenda for Children facilitated case management and legal advice to help child care centers secure Paycheck Protection Program loans.

2. The child care workforce is finding its voice. , just over 1 million people work in child care in America (far more, if you count all the unpaid labor), and this workforce is dedicated to protecting our nation’s children. At a luncheon discussion exploring the Action Plan held by Capita and the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., Melissa Rooker of the described child care workers as first responders, and the Action Plan spotlights , a California child care network with 13 locations that tracked the movements of children and families in the aftermath of the 2017 wildfires, linking them to emergency food and other resources.

“During the climate-related disasters that we’ve experienced over the past several years,” North Bay’s Susan Gilmore said. “The child care industry needs to be seen as essential, and like school districts, child care representatives should be included in the organizational structure of each county’s emergency operations center.”

During the Hunt Institute webinar, Erica Phillips, executive director of the , said, “While our sector is incredibly diverse, we are here to be allies in the climate planning work.”

3. The business community is engaged. The climate crisis that the experts have long predicted? It’s here. During the virtual launch, Angie Garling of the recalled a 106° F day in California’s Coachella Valley when the children were kept inside for their own safety.

As Antwanye Ford, president & CEO at Enlightened, Inc., and co-chair of the Early Years Climate Action Task Force, quipped at the Capita-Aspen luncheon, “Long-term becomes now really fast.”

The Action Plan singles out the Greater Seattle Child Care Business Coalition for recognizing the urgency; it supports child care providers by creating opportunities for them to learn about topics like employment law grants management. The coalition seeks greater investments from government and business and has amplified warnings about the impact of extreme heat.

Across the nation, the is incentivizing green energy solutions, and predict the private sector will undertake even more substantial climate investments of its own accord.

The Action Plan recommends the creation of climate-aware policies and programs for employees with young children, fostering partnerships between businesses and early years facilities to fund essential upgrades, as well as partnering with local communities to build climate-resilient green space and community infrastructure.

4. Government is taking action. While the climate dimensions of the Inflation Reduction Act have received more attention, it is far from the only effort worth noting. In a conversation with Capita’s Joe Waters, Rep. Jennifer McClellan of Virginia, outlined the benefits of the bipartisan , which would increase short-term child care access during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. (Climate change adversely impacts pregnancy health directly and indirectly.)

Politics also follows public opinion, and sentiment toward climate action is increasing: feel they have a “moral obligation” to make the world a better place by addressing climate change not only for their own children and grandchildren but for all children to come. Many state and local governments are recognizing that steps to protect the youngest residents from climate catastrophe are necessary and possible.

At the state level, Action Plan recommendations include the creation of climate leadership roles and breaking down silos through collaborative structures. For example, California’s prioritizes the installation of energy-efficient electric appliances and retrofitting for disaster mitigation. At the local level, the Action Plan cites the work of and recommends “integrating the perspectives of young children, their families and those who support them.”

During the Hunt Institute webinar, Dr. Rauner demonstrated a line of questioning for conversations with local officials: “What if we looked at our development from the perspective of a smaller person?”

5. Philanthropy is having an impact. U.S. foundations grant annually, and a of 188 foundation executives found that more than 60% are funding efforts to address climate change. (Still others are focused on equity, and during the Hunt Institute webinar, Elliot Haspel, senior fellow at Capita — and Early Learning Nation columnist — memorably referred to climate change as an inequity multiplier.)

As impressive as these figures are, there is clearly room to expand these investments and to target them toward efforts that benefit young children and families. The Action Plan’s recommendations for the philanthropic sector include funding work that connects early years and climate change; developing a regular national scorecard on the state of young children and climate change; and supporting communities in efforts that promote healthy development for young children in a changing climate.

6. Children are vulnerable, but they’re also resilient. The word “resilience” can be a double-edged sword, both complementing people from disinvested communities for their innate strengths and expecting them to bounce back from every hardship and disaster. The Action Plan uses the word 88 times over its 99 pages, referring to climate resilience as well as the children whose future depends on it.

At the Capita-Aspen luncheon, Robert Mayer, KABOOM’s associate director for Public Policy and Advocacy, made the comment that the most subsequent speakers quoted: “Children will be as adaptive as society allows them to be.”

7. The Action Plan is just the start. As Capita and its partner organizations communicate the Plan’s findings and recommendations, the hope is that the dialogue will proliferate wherever decision makers, advocates and activists gather to envision the future — taking inspiration from those with lived experience. “People from disadvantaged communities are already showing the way,” Haspel said at the Capita-Aspen luncheon.

There’s also a lot to learn about adaptation from indigenous communities. During the virtual launch, Alicia Mousseau, vice president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, noted, “Tribal communities have always adapted to things that we’ve never experienced before in our history.”

is bridging that gap with a one-of-a-kind new program to make certain Latino fathers see the difference they can make and have the tools and information they need to provide a strong foundation for their infants’ and young children’s early learning.

Though they’re so small and winsome, it might be hard to think of Latino infants and toddlers as something so serious sounding as “agents of change,” but that’s exactly what are. By any demographic measure, it’s plain that this population will have profound effects on every aspect of life in the U.S. and will be the engine of change at all levels of U.S. society. For our society to thrive, Latino children need to thrive.

Unfortunately, that isn’t necessarily the case. Though U.S.-born Latino babies are driving the nation’s population growth and shaping the makeup of its child population, they remain doubly invisible as one of the most under-recognized and under-served of U.S. population groups. According to the , as of October 2021, Hispanic children had the lowest enrollment rates in early childhood education (ECE), after Pacific Islanders, compared to all other population groups.

It’s an urgent, all-hands-on-deck moment for those who want to see Latino children take their place as fully engaged, fully resourced, equal contributors to U.S. society. UnidosUS is committed that Latino fathers be a part of that effort.

“With a population of more than 62 million people on its way to becoming 110 million in the coming decades, sharing information about the importance of early learning and dual language development with Latino families is a crucial mission for us,” says Dr. Robert Stechuk, UnidosUS’s director of Early Childhood Education initiatives.

Incorporating key scientific findings in the fields of infant development, early reading and dual language learning, the nonprofit has produced Vital and Valuable: Latino Fathers and Their Infants, their latest topic brief in the organization’s Latino Infant Initiative (operated in partnership with Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors). This powerful, practical program is designed to break down myths and misunderstandings fathers might have about early learning and put the latest research into the hands of Latino fathers in an actionable way.

Father engagement is an active concern within UnidosUS, which serves as the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization and has an affiliate network of almost 300 community-based organizations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

“At least 50 of our affiliates have early childhood programs or offerings,” Stechuk says. “Several affiliates have been telling us within the last year or two that they’ve been launching fatherhood initiatives. Others have said they’ve been working on father engagement but stopped because of a shortage of materials relevant to Latino dads.

“When I went to the National Head Start Association’s conference at the end of 2022, many of the sessions were on father engagement,” he said. “So, there’s a lot of interest in bringing fathers into the picture. The challenge is that there are websites with literally thousands of resources and a lot of it has even been translated into Spanish. But there is minimal information related to early language, early literacy, the important of early reading: all the developmental information that can show dads how to build their children’s vocabulary, language skills and love of reading/books that underlie successful literacy.”

To counter this dearth of information, UnidosUS launched its Vital and Valuable brief in May and is distributing it to all of its affiliates nationally and through various channels to reach the UnidosUS community and other stakeholders.

Fathers want the information, Stechuk says.

In 2022, five parent focus groups were held at UnidosUS affiliates to learn more about the experiences of Latino parents and their families. The fathers who joined had important concerns about how to do the best for their children. They talked about wanting to step outside the traditional cultural roles they grew up with and having an active role in supporting their children’s development.

“I have a baby and want to be there for my child,” one said. “When I was growing up, my dad abandoned us, so I want to be there for my child.”

Another said, “I grew up Latino in Chicago but turned my back on my culture and was totally alienated from my heritage. Now, I appreciate my culture and want my children to have that. I want them to be bilingual and to do well in school. I’m hungry for more information.”

Being Bilingual

Vital and Valuable encourages fathers to support their children in being bilingual despite any messages they might have heard to the contrary. It’s a great asset for babies’ brain development and language learning — in any language. In numerous studies, researchers have found that bilingual babies learn English at the same rate as monolingual infants and develop vocabularies that equal or exceed those of English-only babies. Juggling two languages doesn’t confuse babies, as the pernicious myth goes, it enhances their executive function — the set of mental skills and self-regulation that helps people plan, problem-solve and respond in an orderly way to the world around them.

The Latino community has long been affected by systemic racism, with the suppression of their Spanish language one of its most damaging aspects. Latino families have been told by school personnel that they could damage their children’s development and academic success by speaking Spanish to them, and children have been and still are being bullied or teased for using Spanish in class or on the playground.

Vital and Valuable provides easy-to-follow pointers, such as, “If you speak Spanish, interact with your baby in Spanish. If you speak Spanish and English, interact with your baby in either language.” The most important thing, the brief says, is for dads to speak with their babies every day in whatever language they choose because providing experiences with language right after baby is born is the best way to start building reading success.

Another myth Vital and Valuable lays to rest is the idea that talking to babies doesn’t matter because they can’t speak yet. Reading success is built from Day One in a child’s life, and the brief boils down the research supporting how a rich daily bath in language, or more than one, with lots of “serve and return” interactions, builds the foundation of reading comprehension.

Fathers’ Play — Different and Essential

Fathers’ growing interest in being more connected with their young children coincides with a growing body of research into dads’ unique contribution to early learning. They aren’t just moms with deeper voices; they bring unique characteristics to infant speech development. Studies have observed that fathers use more rare words and fewer common words with their babies than mothers do, and their speech is often more diverse and challenging to the child. Fathers use significantly more wh words (why? what? who?) and ask for clarification more often than mothers do — strategies that may be unconscious but that researchers believe foster children’s reasoning abilities as well as strengthening their vocabulary.

For decades, researchers and psychologists — even families themselves — have assumed that the mother-child bond was the most important in the child’s life, while overlooking the profound contribution fathers make in their children’s development.

“In speaking with fathers,” Stechuk says, “it’s very clear that virtually all dads want their children to be academically successful. So, we want to engage fathers there to talk about what they want for their children. We want to talk about reading as essential for that success.

“Once children fall behind grade level, they tend to stay behind,” he says. “Failure to read is a real poison. It poisons children’s achievement, poisons their self-concept and self-esteem. Poisons their futures, really.

“And guess what? The antidote is early language development. By spending a few moments every day talking back and forth with their children and using some language strategies that don’t cost any money, fathers are giving their children the foundation for long-term reading success.”

Fathers themselves may be the ones who are least aware of how much they matter to their children’s early development. After reading Vital and Valuable, there will be no room for doubt.

With the state legislature approving $30 million in funding in April, TennCare will seek approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the diaper benefit, which it hopes to receive in early January.

According to the (NDBN), one in three U.S. families is financially unable to provide all the diapers their children need, which exposes the child to potential health risks, makes it less likely for them to be accepted at child care where parents must bring diapers for each day, and increases the financial, physical and emotional stress on parents. The NDBN estimates that diapers for one Tennessee child for one month cost about $80, a crippling amount for struggling families — particularly those with two or more children.

Diapers are not covered by any federal assistance program, though they are a keystone for families’ health and financial well-being. For a parent or caregiver making minimum wage, roughly 8 percent of their income will go toward diapers. Most families who are challenged with diaper insecurity fall short by 20 diapers a month, a number that can make the difference between having a job and being unemployed.

A study by the noted an increase of $11 in personal income for every dollar’s worth of diaper aid that a family received, due to better health outcomes for babies and less time missed from parents’ work and school. It’s an investment that ultimately increases a state’s tax revenues as families’ financial picture stabilizes as they participate more fully in the workforce. The U.S. Health and Human Services’ , named unmet diaper need as a health equity issue. found that babies experienced 77 percent fewer days of diaper rash when funding for diapers and diapering supplies was provided.

In Tennessee, more than 300,000 of the state’s population are children under age 3 and about 49 percent live in families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level (about $30,000 for a family of four). As part of its expanded services, TennCare will adjust its income threshold for pregnant women to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, making the program available to an additional 2,400 new mothers per year.

In addition to helping families afford diapers, TennCare’s additional benefits will establish continuous health coverage for children for at least their first year, regardless of changes in the parents’ circumstances or eligibility, helping an estimated 10,000 children remain enrolled. It will also make permanent Tennessee’s full year of postpartum coverage including dental and pharmacy benefits, which began as a pilot program in 2021, and will add lactation supports for enrollees.

“We’re able to provide all these benefits and add additional people to our TennCare program through a unique waiver that we negotiated with the federal government, TennCare III,” the program’s director, Stephen Smith said in a statement. “The concept of this waiver is that Tennessee is rewarded for its efficient management of our Medicaid program, and that reward comes in the form of shared savings. These are additional federal dollars that we can reinvest back into the program to enhance benefits and services, and serve more people to accomplish these important objectives.

“A real benefit of this approach,” Smith said, “is that we not only can provide more benefits and serve more Tennesseans, we can do it at no additional taxpayer expense.”

Medicaid waivers are vehicles that states can use to test new or existing ways to deliver and pay for health care services in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Tennessee is one of 10 states that has chosen not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, electing to receive federal funds via a modified block grant. Under the waiver agreement negotiated with the federal government, the state will retain half of any federal savings its Medicaid program achieves. Tennessee’s waiver was approved in January 2021 and is valid for 10 years.

Tennessee received $330 million of shared savings in its first full year of the waiver, says Amy Lawrence, TennCare’s director of communications, savings that will be turned back into the Medicaid program.

TennCare recipients will not be taxed for the diapers they receive, Lawrence says. Tennessee’s tax rate on diapers is 7 percent to 10 percent depending on the locality — one of the highest rates in the country. A bill to eliminate the tax on diapers, formula and baby wipes for all Tennesseans was introduced this year but failed to make it out of committee.

Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, said the diaper benefit is welcome as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. The Nashville-based nonprofit advocates for Tennessee’s approximately 1.3 million low-income families through class-action lawsuits and works to shape public policy. Medicaid expansion has been one of the center’s key missions on behalf of the more than 300,000 uninsured Tennesseans.

“While we are grateful for any baby step towards a healthier state,” Johnson says, “the state’s investments in minor tweaks to the TennCare program are a far cry from meeting their moral responsibilities to the people who send them to Nashville to solve problems and lead.

“We continue to be at the bottom of the nation in most every metric of health and well-being due to leadership failures. We desperately need leaders willing to set aside politics and prioritize joining the rest of the industrialized world in choosing evidenced-based approaches to sound and equitable health policy.”

A spokesman for Tennessee’s House Democratic Caucus said that covering the cost of diapers and other provisions TennCare is promoting are necessary steps but, like Johnson, urged that Tennessee go farther.

“We know the need is there,” said Ken Jobe, press secretary for the caucus, in an email. “TennCare’s proposed funding numbers are encouraging. However, until the program is fully implemented, we will not know the full impact and actual number of families receiving these resources.

Early Learning Nation magazine spoke to Marina Rodriguez, the New Haven site director and mentor coach, and Jessica Sager, cofounder and chief executive officer of All Our Kin, about the ways that the organization promotes entrepreneurship and quality early childhood education, which includes an emphasis on social-emotional learning.

Overcoming Obstacles, Creating Possibilities

“We bring family child care in from the margins,” says Rodriguez. Before All Our Kin came along, she says, there was little or no support for solo family child care practitioners, who had to navigate the licensing process for the state of Connecticut all on their own. The organization’s toolkit coordinators mentor prospective educators as they go through the licensing process and establish their businesses. In Connecticut and many other states, having a license enables providers to care for many more children legally, which means more income, in the form of fees and subsidies.

Sager cofounded All Our Kin knowing “the incredible value of what family child care educators bring for children, for parents and for communities.” Once educators have completed licensing, All Our Kin offers a variety of workshops and educational coaching. The organization recognizes the inherent knowledge of providers. Quality, Sager says, develops in tandem with inclusive systems. Both factors drive “the responsive nurturing care that we know children need.”

Bigger, Stronger, Wiser and Kind

To teach our youngest learners, educators need to understand children’s experiences and traumas. This is the foundation for building trusting connections and interpreting children’s behaviors to understand their needs.

For example, explains Rodriguez, “Children don’t seek attention. What they seek is connection. They’re not manipulating. They’re communicating in order to have their needs met by the adult.”

All Our Kin helps educators create this connection through social-emotional learning, including the method. Originally developed for parents and rooted in the , the method arose in Spokane, Wash., and has spread internationally. All Our Kin was the first organization to adapt it for family child care educators.

“The magic lies in its simplicity,” Rodriguez says of Circle of Security. “It comes down to helping adults, who are bigger and stronger, also show up as wiser and kind.” An eight-week video series introduces the science and encourages personal reflection. Rodriguez and her colleagues have trained more than 170 educators so far.

According to Sager, “Circle of Security aligns with All Our Kin’s holistic framework of supports for educators. It belongs to the bigger piece of work that we’re doing around mental health for educators, parents and children.” Historical trauma, personal trauma and Covid-era trauma affect everyone differently and are expressed in a range of misunderstood behaviors, but when viewed through the Circle of Security lens, these actions begin to make some sense.

“We’re helping children become strong citizens,” Rodriguez says.

Many Marias

Rodriguez and Sager cite the example of Maria Amado, originally from Peru and now living in Hartford. “When we met her,” Rodriguez recalls, “she was not participating in any professional development. She didn’t have a supportive community. She felt alone and isolated.”

Amado became an enthusiastic participant in the All Our Kin community. In her program, there were two siblings, a son who was meeting his developmental milestones and a daughter with some developmental delays. Maria noticed that every time the mom dropped the children off, she showered her daughter with affection and made sure she had everything she needed, but she only waved good-bye to her son. One day, Amado called her aside and said, “I know that you are a great mom. You’re trying so hard, and I know that you love both your children, but I noticed that when you’re saying goodbye, you really focus on your daughter and not your son.” After the mom stopped crying, she thanked Amado and then began a ritual with the son, saying, “I love you” every time she dropped him off.

“We might think that’s not a big deal,” Rodriguez says, “but for that child, the fact that she is taking time to notice him, it sends a direct message to him about his place in the world, his place in connection to his mother, his self-esteem.” These are all factors that will contribute toward his confidence, help build strong relationships with others and, ultimately, help him succeed in school.

Not long after that, Amado received this text from the mother: “I would like to thank you for all the learning, patience and skills you have taught my son over the beginning of the years of his life. He has grown into a very happy, active and smart boy over the last few years. I appreciate you for everything you have done to help him in the world and the way that he sees it today. Thank you for being part of his learning and his transitions.”

Amado became a Circle of Security facilitator and now trains other family child care educators in the model.

”At All Our Kin,” says Rodriguez, “we have many Marias.”

, and Paramount’s approach the topic with humility, listening to parents first and then committing to being their nonjudgmental partner. takes a proactive but nonjudgmental approach to supporting parents, caregivers and educators.

The Guide

• sparks conversations about the differences in people’s appearances
• uses family photos to generate discussions about different kinds of families
• identifies racist behaviors and how to stand up to them
• introduces kids to a range of cultures and celebrations
• highlights the fact that everyone has feelings, fostering the attitude of empathy

A Finger on the Pulse

Makeda Mays Green, senior vice president, Digital and Cultural Insights at Nickelodeon, says, “We’re always working to keep our finger on the pulse of kids and families, and today’s kids comprise the most diverse generation ever.”

The team sought to understand and engage with new audiences in a world where half of our audience belongs to a family of color. Michael Levine, chief of Learning and Impact at Noggin, says, “Our perspective as a kid’s media organization is not to be political, but to follow the facts where they lead us to.”

Rooted in Research

The Shades of Us study, which ran from 2019 to 2021, included a survey of 15,000 parents and interviews with more than 50 parent-child pairs about different evidence-based, real-life scenarios. The researchers found that families are having conversations about race and racial bias at different stages.

Unmistakably, George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent reckoning has a lot to do with this project, but Julia Levy, who leads Sparkler Learning, clarified that the effort is more than a response to a crisis. “We should be having these conversations with our children as early as possible,” she says, “and as openly as possible, so that they can know that it’s safe to talk about what they’re seeing.”

Dr. Colleen Russo Johnson, vice president, Digital and Cultural Consumer Insights at Nickelodeon, adds, “Young children are so susceptible to different messages, which is why it’s important for parents and caregivers to find age-appropriate ways to discuss big topics.” She underscores the importance of the photo activities that make it easy for adults and children to explore together. Julia adds that the guide can be used everywhere—on the playground, in the grocery store or while reading a book or watching TV together.

The Shades of Us research showed white parents, in particular, were avoiding these conversations. Sometimes they changed the subject. Sometimes respondents hid behind declarations of “color blindness” — though the research shows that recognize that people have different skin color.

Why aren’t families having these conversations? Russo Johnson offers a generous interpretation: They didn’t know how to have them. They would rather not have them than accidentally say the wrong thing and maybe make things worse. “People have good intentions,” she says. “Most of us want a more fair and equitable world, but we just don’t know how to get there. So we’re really just learning as we go.”

A Measurable Difference

In addition to parents and caregivers finding the guide on their own, it is reaching families through public-private partnerships. The city of San Francisco requested the Chinese version. New York City is using the Spanish version.

Before using the guide, parents were asked how prepared they felt having these conversations, and they averaged 2.4 on a scale of 1 to 5. With the guide, it was an average of 4.6.

The Black parent of a 3-year-old called it “a parent’s dream come true.” A Hispanic parent said, “It helps you figure out what you need in order to teach your kids the proper way to talk about racism.” A white parent reported, “It’s a place that you can really understand a lot without being embarrassed or misunderstood.”

For Mays Green, a moment in the middle of this project crystallized the power of media and stories. Her six-year-old daughter, Journey, was reading a book about racism and segregation, and she said, “Mom I have an idea.”

As Mays Green recalls, “And I grab my camera because I’m thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, let me see what this great idea is.’ She goes to the printer for a sheet of white paper and begins to cut it into strips, showing me how she can tape them to her arm to change the color of her skin.”

Her lesson from the experience: “As a media professional and as a mom, I can never forget there’s still work to be done and that collectively we have to do better.”

This isn’t research for the sake of research, notes Russo Johnson. “We can’t ignore people’s real experiences of racism. We want our kids to be people who step in to stop racism.”

The moral of : Everyone deserves an opportunity to belong. As Mays Green says, the project is about inspiring “all people to value all people.”

These conversations are difficult; they can be painful, but they can also be quite powerful. The Guide models the kind of dialogue the whole country needs right now — adults as well as kids.

“There are, of course, many things one can do for the individual mothers in their life, but I’d like to encourage you to take action on behalf of��all mothers. Because let’s face it, mothers in this country face many systemic challenges, and those challenges demand systemic solutions. I know this seems daunting, but a good place to start is to simply choose one issue that affects moms in this country (and matters to you) and engage in one advocacy activity related to that issue, such as placing a call to your elected official, writing an op-ed or even posting on social media.”

—Dr. Dana L. Suskind, founder and co-director of , and author of

“Mothers and caregivers are rarely recognized—much less compensated for our various forms of motherwork (including��education, othermothering,��community care work��and other forms of social��activism). The way to��make the world better��is to protect us and our children from oppressive systems that limit access to equitable education, child care, health care, housing and paid leave to��support our children and our own sense of well-being.”

—Crystasany Turner, assistant professor in the Department of Teaching & Learning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

“The one thing we can all do to make the world better for mothers is to encourage them to show up as their selves. By this I mean supporting them as they are being true to themselves, stimulating their spirit of confidence, plus honoring and respecting their beliefs and practices. This is how we can not only make it better for them but build a commUNITY of belonging!”

—Margo Ford Crosby, director of pre-K and before/after school for the Alamance-Burlington School System’s Early Learning Community

“One thing we can do to make the world better for mothers is to expect of fathers what we expect of mothers. I know a few primary caregiver dads, and many partners, including my own, striving for more equity; but until fair play is the norm, our mothers and daughters won’t reach their full potential in terms of worldly success, and our fathers and sons are missing out on the gifts of connection and nurturing.”

—Anya Kamenetz, senior advisor at

“The world will be a better place for mothers when the voices of��all��mothers are heard and honored. Birthing and parenting experiences should not be wrought with societally imposed barriers.”

—Dawn Shanafelt, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Division of Maternal & Infant Health

“I would encourage everyone to welcome asylum seekers and refugees into their community. The first few years of motherhood are challenging for everyone, but they are especially difficult for mothers who have had to flee their communities and build new lives in the United States. As a child of immigrants and a mother of two kids under four, I know how important it is to have access to child care and other early childhood resources. Part of welcoming refugee mothers is making sure that they have access to critical resources so their children can thrive.”

—Swapna Reddy, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project

“Universal child care. Imagine how nice it would be if the U.S. joined the other industrialized nations in caring for our moms, dads and their children. Relieves financial stress, supports moms who want to work enter the workforce, helps all children thrive and makes financial sense. A win win win win.”

—Kathy Hirsh Pasek, professor of psychology, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and coauthor of

“One thing you can do to make the world better for mothers and their children is to become an advocate for a swift transition from fossil fuel, which is the root cause of climate change and air pollution that are seriously affecting the health of pregnant women, their babies and children. By speaking out to others, urging policymakers to implement climate and clean air legislation and by voting for representatives who take the threats to children’s health and future seriously, you can make a huge difference.”

—Frederica Perera, founder of the , and author of

“One thing the world can do for mothers is to remind them that they’re an inspiration. A mother’s job truly never stops!��They do the cooking, cleaning and bill paying. They’re raising babies, wiping tears, worrying and praying for their children, even when they’re adults.��So many never make time for themselves. They truly are an inspiration.”

—Rachel Campbell-Dotson, executive director at East Kentucky Dream Center

“This Mother’s Day, join an organization that advocates for care programs that support mothers and families, including the care they need for their children, themselves, and older or disabled loved ones.”

—Anna Shireen Wadia, executive director of the

“We can make our world a better place by committing to support all mothers—not just the ones who have historically and traditionally been uplifted and resourced. If we create a world where young Black and single mothers, who are disproportionately impacted by systemic oppression and racism in this country, are fully supported and thriving, then all mothers will benefit.”

—Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder and executive director of

“Please encourage more mothers to run for elected office. It’s no coincidence that the U.S. trails much of the world in women’s representation in policymaking bodies—from school boards to Congress—and lags in enactment of family-friendly policies, from paid parental leave and affordable child care to sensible gun laws. Studies show that women in office are more likely than their male counterparts to shape policies that support the health and wellbeing of��everyone—especially children, women and families. Your vote matters in putting families first.”

—Atiya Weiss, executive director at

“All mothers wish for a world where their children’s dreams can be realized and even exceeded. The best gift we can give on Mother’s Day is to create and sustain a community that champions all children.��No more inequities, no more barriers and no more excuses preventing each child from reaching their full potential.”

—Jennifer Headley-Nordman, president of

“One thing you can do to make the world better for mothers is to actively work towards creating a more equitable and just society that recognizes and values the unpaid and often invisible labor of motherhood. This can include advocating for policies that address the gender wage gap, promote affordable health care and education and support working families. Another way you can make the world better for mothers is to engage in acts of kindness and support towards the mothers in their own lives, whether it’s offering to help with child care, providing emotional support or simply expressing gratitude for all they do. These small actions can go a long way in making mothers feel valued and appreciated.”

—Stephanie Spencer, executive director of

“We make the world better for moms by making sure they have the time and support they need to take care of themselves and those they care for. Paid leave, affordable and quality child care options and access to mental health supports would make a big difference. Use your voice to advocate for the change mothers need.”

—Justine Davenport, director of advocacy at

“Advocate for things that would support moms and people giving birth, including accessible and affordable��care pre- and postpartum, affordable child care and universal health care.”

—Marchel Marcos, political director at

Classes start May 15. .

“When children have teachers who reflect them, who look like they do, they’re more likely to do well in school,” says Sandra Osorio, associate professor of raciolinguistic justice and director of teacher education.

Osorio, who came to Erikson last summer from Illinois State University, says her move was partly inspired by Erikson’s new president, Mariana Souto-Manning, who is seeking to redress inequities and injustices in early childhood teaching and teacher education. Souto-Manning says she hopes graduates of the program will “ensure that the brilliance of children who have historically been marginalized or come from disinvested communities continues to shine.”

An advisory council of local educators is taking part in the program’s design, signaling what they need in their communities.

“We don’t want a tourist view of the city,” she says. “We want this to be for the real Chicago.”

Chrishana Lloyd, researcher at Child Trends, says, “An educated citizenry is one of the most important assets of a nation. This program’s emphasis on opening educational doors to those who are typically shut out has the potential to strengthen the lifelong prospects of those who engage in the program, as well as positively influence endless generations of children and families who benefit from access to well prepared and highly skilled early care and education professionals.

Three qualities distinguish the new program, which Osorio sees as “a blueprint that other universities can take up”:

1. Integrating Certification

Traditionally, graduate students at Erikson would earn their early childhood licensure and then add special education or English as a Second Language (ESL), aspects of early education that are traditionally presented in isolation. It would take three years, and the tuition costs were often prohibitive. Erikson integrates the content, so participants master a wider range of issues they are likely to encounter in the real world.

“Multilingual students are everywhere, and so are students with identified disabilities,” says Osorio. “As a teacher, you’d better be prepared.”

Osorio herself was born in Chicago and went to bilingual preschool in the basement of her church. When she started kindergarten, her parents were advised to stop speaking Spanish at home—even though the research then and now . Early in her career, she taught Head Start to the children of migrant farm workers. She repeatedly encountered administrators and educators who tried to “squash” Spanish. Erikson is cultivating a space where multilingualism is welcome.

2. An Assets-Based Approach

When we talk about kindergarten readiness, what are we really talking about?

For Osorio, the traditional orientation means: “the child’s lacking something. There’s something wrong with them.” The new program views children from a different angle. It encourages teachers to ask, in Osorio’s words, “What is the wealth and knowledge they have? How can we bring their languages into the classroom space?”

This shift in perspective signals a departure from what Osorio terms “ethnocentric white scholarship that doesn’t really speak to students of color.” She and the Erikson team are reinventing the curriculum to incorporate a new wave of scholarship that intentionally includes researchers of color who use an asset-based perspective. The shift entails recognizing that there is no “normal” child. Children show up in preschool with a wide variety of abilities, skills and knowledge, and it’s the educator’s job to support all of them.

According to Osorio, “The number one thing I’ve heard from the teachers we’ve recruited is, ‘Are we going to learn about autism? Are we going to learn what supports we can give? How do we support parents? What am I supposed to be doing?’ Everybody wants to know how to support children.”

3. Full Tuition Grants

Thanks to philanthropic support, Educator Impact Grants will enable four cohorts of 30 educators to go through the program with minimal fees. “One of the interviewees told us, ‘I didn’t ever think I was ever going to be able to do this, but now I can’,” says Osorio.

“That’s the icing on the cake,” says Lloyd. “No debt. In this climate and economy, the Erikson program is worthy of celebration.”

To qualify for the grant, participants need to sign a service agreement saying they will teach four years in an underinvested community. Osorio says she expects that while some graduates will seek positions at new facilities, others will remain in same schools and centers, ready to take on new responsibilities. “They are part of the community,” she says, “and they plan to stay in the community.”

Educator Impact Grants include a two-year professional learning community post-graduation. Groups of 10 graduates will meet every month with a faculty member to discuss topics decided on by the participants, who will earn professional development credit.

Full-time students in the new master’s program will take four courses at a time, graduating in three semesters (summer, fall, spring). Others will opt to take two courses at a time, and they’ll finish in six semesters.

Initially, the program will be hybrid in-person and virtual, and Erikson plans to launch a fully virtual option next year.

With that jaunty jingle sung by a chorus of children’s voices, Assistant Cook Jasmine Bumps kicks off her hands-on video cooking lessons for families and children. Today’s episode of “Edu-Cooking” costars two preschool chefs in colorful aprons and matching toques who dutifully plop fruit into frozen yogurt batter and taste fresh-from-the-microwave applesauce they’ve just helped Bumps make.

“Honey is from bees!” exclaims one of the little chefs, who then proceeds to tell Bumps everything he knows about bees as she tries good-naturedly to stir in the honey and keep the show rolling with the recipe.

The preschooler’s oversharing of bee knowledge is both adorable and is the point of the “Edu-Cooking” videos and the various programs of the Educare Learning Network — which includes the Central Maine school — that raise children and families’ awareness of nutrition.

“One of the architectural features of all our schools is that they have kitchens — and many of them have cooks on site,” says Cynthia Jackson, the Educare Learning Network’s executive director and senior vice president at national nonprofit Start Early. “Some of the schools have meals prepared offsite but having an industrial-sized kitchen in each of our Educare schools allows staff to cook some meals and offer cooking classes for the kids and their parents.

“We start with good food—healthy meals and snacks,” Jackson says, “but we also want to build an understanding of nutritious food — where it comes from, how to grow it, and how to prepare it.” Jackson cites a new study from that found when schools fully align their school meal nutrition standards with the , they see improvement in students’ health, well-being and overall academic performance.

The national Educare Learning Network provides high-quality early education via 25 independent birth to 5 schools in under-resourced communities across the U.S. Educare schools can be found in urban, suburban, rural and tribal communities across 15 states, the District of Columbia, and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska Reservation.

A unifying theme in all the schools is the emphasis on healthy eating—though individual schools tailor their approach to that theme according to what works for their community. For some, Jackson says, that means a school garden; for others, it may mean a container garden in the school with pots full of plants placed wherever the sun is best. Some schools grow their veggies at community gardens adjacent to the schools and others have partnerships with organizations in their communities that provide them with nutritional produce.

initiated a three-year pilot nutrition-education program In August 2022 using the pre-K (WISE) curriculum. Developed by the University of Arkansas with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the WISE curriculum provides teachers with the tools and training to promote healthy eating behaviors in pre-K kids. In collaboration with Louisiana Technical University, Educare New Orleans uses the WISE curriculum to increase the number and variety of fruit and vegetable servings children eat. It engages families via social media as well as family meetings with small cooking sessions to help families learn to do more with fruits and vegetables. Kids who might have said they hated fruits and veggies learn to make and ask their parents for a variety of foods — even kale chips.

In addition to its “Edu-Cooking” videos, Educare Central Maine, with nearly a third of its families reporting food insecurity, runs a food pantry set up as a market where families can go shopping for food items. The “Edu-Cooking” lessons play off what’s available from the pantry, such as “What do I do with all this extra bread?” Jasmine’s answer? “Here’s how to make croutons and breadcrumbs! Nothing goes to waste!”

“Edu-Cooking” and the Educare Market both stemmed from the pandemic and the school’s efforts to provide food and necessary supports to its families. According to Erica Palmer, Educare Central Maine’s education manager, when the pandemic began, many families passed on the food offered because they wanted to make sure it went to “those who are truly in need,” even though they were struggling.

“So, we shifted and began to market the resources we had in a different way,” Palmer says. “We put the Educare Market out front and available to all, so our kids would encourage their caregivers to stop by every day and bring things home.

“Our ‘Edu-Cooking’ videos were a fun way to encourage families to use the food we supplied in our market in new and creative ways.”

A dozen Educare schools have gardening programs that introduces the natural world to children and helps them answer the question, “Where does this come from?” Jackson says most of the gardening programs are developed to include foods that fit within the cultural context of the communities they serve.

“They’re growing things that are familiar to the parents in their own communities, as well as things they have maybe never tried before,” she says. “The parents are involved in cooking and nutrition classes, then can take fruit and vegetables from the school garden and cook them at home. They’ve really taken to it—and at some of our schools, our parents are the lead gardeners and they take great pride in that.

“The value of the gardens is that you’re teaching self-directed play and the value of sharing when they’re in the garden. The kids plant seeds and tend the plants and then harvest the food they’ve grown. It is such an exciting process for them.”

Educare’s Ongoing Learning and Sharing

All Educare schools are designed to be demonstration sites that not only deliver high-quality early learning, but also constantly assess and evaluate what works for the children, parents and staff.

“We’re always looking to get better,” Jackson says. “We use data to tell us which child needs intervention or additional individualization to improve their social emotional or cognitive development. We also want to know what parents might need to live their hopes and dreams. Do they want to go back to school? Get a better job? Better housing? We want to help them find the resources to do that.”

Each of the schools is created through a public-private partnership, funded with public dollars such as Head Start, Early Head Start or education dollars from local school districts. The philanthropic partners, starting with an anchor funder, may have ties to the community or to the region. The core foundation of every Educare school is a collaboration—between funders, program providers, school districts, parents and other local community partners—not only to develop and launch the school, but to sustain it over the long run.

“Communities call us and want to be a part of this network,” Jackson says. “Our intention isn’t necessarily to have an Educare school on every corner. Our goal is for our schools to be learning labs where we share what we’re learning with others to improve early childhood in all the organizations that are serving children of this age. Ultimately, the bottom line with the Educare Learning Network is that we want to see the funding streams in America changed so that every child from birth to kindergarten can have high-quality early learning.”

Ensuring that all children have access to nutritious food is a fundamental part of that mission, Jackson says.

“It should be at the top of everyone’s list,” she says. “Poverty in America is hidden from those who don’t want to see it. So, if you’re not in an under-resourced community that doesn’t even have a grocery store, if you’ve always had access to plenty of good food, you’d look at this emphasis on providing nutrition and say, ‘What’s going on here? What are we talking about? All families in America have breakfast, lunch and dinner, don’t they?’

“Well, no they don’t. So, part of what we will do is continue to weigh in, to write letters to our legislators about the importance of funding food security and nutrition in the early childhood education space.”

And in the meantime, Educare will continue to start at the very beginning: good food and nutrition education from the get-go.

Barton realizes that understanding a 4-year-old’s outburst demands another, deeper level of reflection. “There’s a lot going on behind what happened before that desk got thrown,” she says. When she reached out to (LFC) in 2020, she was seeking a partner who could help the early learning system of Marin County develop its equity fluency so that every adult would feel equipped with the internal skills and strong partnerships vital to support children.

LFC’s mutual learning programs are delivered through a series of convenings that bring together adults from diverse roles, known as Learning Networks. “We have had a lot of trainings about equity and diversity,” Barton recalls, “but what I really wanted was for everyone to work together in a way that’s equitable.”

Nichole Parks, LFC’s director of programs, says the Marin County Learning Network members find self-empowerment through equitable conversations. “One member said she was able to have an open dialogue with her father and say, ‘I believe that I am smart. I believe that as a woman, I can go to college and have a career.’ And that’s exactly what she’s doing,” Parks says.

LFC has partnered with organizations to establish Learning Networks in 11 states and Washington, D.C., that are striving to create cultures of equity, shared learning and collaborative decision-making. These Learning Networks convene all the stakeholders — not just teachers and parents, but also bus drivers, administrative staff and social workers — to work together on dialogue and shared solutions.

Executive Director Judy Jablon says that LFC focuses on adults in the early learning ecosystem because “children learn respect, dignity and empathy from the adults in their lives.”

Parks adds, “Children learn what they live.” For this reason, LFC has focused their work on supporting communities to create and model equitable relationships. Members who have engaged in mutual learning experiences report increased self-confidence, sense of agency in their interactions and respect for diverse perspectives.

Marin County’s equity issues are all its own, but they also speak to economic and racial divides across the nation. , it is one of the most segregated in the region. “This is a county of privilege and wealth as well as hard-working communities in poverty,” Barton says.

Barton engaged LFC to supplement statewide efforts such as the (DRDP), an assessment tool that helps educators see children through a developmental lens, though she notes that it is mandated for use only in state-funded, low-income settings. “What does it say that we’re assessing these children and not the ones from privileged families?” she asks. “That’s a built-in distortion.”

To address such structural issues, Barton instituted a project for incoming kindergarteners, where their preschool teachers meet with the new teachers to share the DRDP as well as a strengths-based list of “things you should know about this child.”

J is a dual language learner. He has excellent English language skills (expressive, receptive, reciprocal). He has worked extremely hard to express how he is feeling.

J loves art and drawing. He can sit for a long time and focus on what he is drawing.

J is a master rhymer. He loves rhyming games and is very good at it.

“Sitting with preschool teachers, and kindergarten teachers in our initial Zoom meetings,” Barton recalls. “I could feel the bias of the elementary school teachers break and drop away from them.”

“What they’re doing is breaking down power structures,” says Parks. “We know that power is at the core of inequity, and we know it is cruel to assess children without really seeing them.”

Returning once again to the desk-throwing child, Barton acknowledges that the early learning classroom is “an incredibly hard world to be your best person in and to show up that way or to have empathy and compassion for every other being in your space.” Nevertheless, she urges those stressed, underpaid educators to ask, “What is he experiencing in this moment? And how can I connect with him so that he can self-regulate in this moment? But first, as the adult, I have to be self-aware, and I have to be able to self-regulate.”

The same self-awareness matters when dealing with adult-adult relationships in the child care setting. Jablon says, “Our adult relationships are fraught with distrust and uneven power dynamics, creating toxicity that undermines the success of young children.”

Barton tells a story of a dad who, in his anger, was using aggressive language with an educator. “The educator explained that previously, his aggressive tone and words had caused her to withdraw. Although she didn’t find his style appropriate, she has learned to ask herself, ‘What is he trying to tell me? What is he trying to say that he needs?’ So she stopped and said, ‘I hear you. Your feelings are valid. How can I help you?’ Her self-awareness and sense of empowerment allowed her to work with him towards a solution that benefited his son.”

“The systems we have are not set up to support empathy and compassion,” says Barton. “They’re not set up to help us cultivate our own self-awareness. In fact, I think we are in systems that actively drive all that out of us.”

Engaging with LFC is a step toward reimagining systems that have functioned so long with their built-in inequities that those inside the systems often don’t even notice them. Breaking them down starts with creating safe and respectful spaces where open, honest and courageous conversations can happen.

Welcome to Khan Academy Kids, where it’s possible to learn addition and empathy at the same time.

“We integrate social-emotional learning and lessons,” says cofounder Caroline Hu Flexer. “Our characters encourage the children and model the support that happens in a classroom.”

Millions of children all over the world (about half of them in the United States) develop their minds and hearts through this comprehensive education platform. Designed for 2-year-olds through second graders, it includes thousands of original books and lessons. Hu Flexer leads a small but mighty team of 15, including illustrators, animators, educational specialists, product managers and engineers.

“In the late 1960’s,” says Isabelle Hau, the inaugural executive director of the Stanford Transforming Learning Accelerator and former partner at Imaginable Futures. “Researchers tested creativity among 1,600 children ages 4 and 5. What they found is astounding: 98% of young children fell into the genius category of imagination. By adulthood, the number had dropped to 2%. In other terms, all little learners are naturally creative. Khan Academy Kids fosters this natural creativity with its joyful characters and its playful holistic content.”

Michael H Levine, senior vice president for learning and impact at Noggin, who previously advised Hu Flexer and team, states, “Khan Academy Kids has emerged as a research-backed, increasingly personalized platform that is an important preschool resource for early educators and parents.”

Partnerships with companies like and help them punch above their weight. has songs and animated videos to promote dancing, and this week, Khan Academy Kids is joining up with Crayola for Creativity Week, offering daily art projects that can be done in the classroom or at home.

Khan Academy Kids started out as Duck Duck Moose, which Hu Flexer, her husband Michael Flexer and their friend Nicci Gabriel launched as one of the first educational app developers. The Flexers, both amateur musicians, composed and performed the tunes. Their children, who are now 17 and 14, were the original users. When Khan Academy acquired Duck Duck Moose in 2016, it meant transitioning from a business to a nonprofit, but Hu Flexer says the mission has always taken precedence.

“Khan Academy provides a free world-class education to anyone anywhere,” she says. “There is no other place where we could offer all of our early learning lessons and stories for free.” (A paid offering for school districts, which includes professional development for teachers as well as district- and school-level progress reports, is also available.)

When COVID hit, Khan Academy Kids suddenly went from a supplemental aid for early learning to the key educational ingredient in many children’s days. Usage shot up 300% in March 2020. “Teachers needed us,” recalls Hu Flexer. “Parents needed us. They were so relieved to discover a comprehensive program that was completely free.” Lessons reinforced foundational literacy and math skills, and children enjoyed the experience.

Hu Flexer and team also seized the pandemic moment to launch a . “When we saw that kids had lost story time in the library and circle time at school,” she says, “we just had to get out the webcam.”

As teachers demanded safe ways of delivering lessons, schools that had been reluctant about technology changed their tune, and adaptation has continued into the new abnormal. Alignment with Head Start and Common Core standards is persuading the remaining holdouts about the value of Khan Academy Kids.

Joining the crew of animals that accompany users on their educational journeys, 50 new human characters now await young learners. Inspired by real kids and families, they appear in a new set of stories about friendships, confidence and patience. Sofia, Kevin and Imani are trying to catch fireflies and have different ideas about the best way to do it. They soon see that there can be more than one right way to solve a problem. Derrick brings in a lunch Alani has never seen before, and vice versa; at first they’re both dubious, but they decide to try something new.

Research supports what Hu Flexer terms “our whole-child approach to well-being and development.” found that students who used Khan Academy Kids at least an hour a week improved their Test of Preschool Early Literacy scores. “[Khan] really did their homework,” David Arnold of University of Massachusetts-Amherst . “They’re targeting the right letter recognition, sound correspondence, all those things.… It did a good job of capturing kids’ interests… and a good job of scaffolding, so it wasn’t too easy but it wasn’t over kids’ heads.” Further investigation by Susan Athey of the at Stanford University is planned, focused on learning progress and identifying areas for improvement in the app’s learning path mechanics.

Hu Flexer is also planning to scale partnerships with school districts. “As we focus on historically under-resourced communities,” she says, “building more tools to support teachers in the classroom is the best way for us to foster meaningful learning outcomes.”

Additionally, Spanish-language books and more original stories written by authors from different cultures are also in the works. “For children this age, learning has to be play,” Hu Flexer says, adding, “It has to be related to things that they’re doing in the real world.”

“It’s hard for parents to know who to trust these days,” says Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, attending physician at the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “You google cold symptoms, and it’ll say that you have cancer. It can be hard to distinguish what information sources are legit and whether the sources you find know what they’re talking about.

“First-time parents are often so intimidated,” says Heard-Garris, who was one of the video series’ creators and part of a team of pediatricians, public health specialists, consultants and child development specialists who spent the much of the pandemic lockdown meticulously crafting the content for these seven minutes of reassurance. “Having a baby is a lot to go through. I can’t tell you the number of parents I’ve had in my office crying because they knew they couldn’t do it right.”

In any medical practice, time is of the essence, and in pediatric practice especially there’s a lot to pack in as the clock is ticking. Dr. Carrie Quinn, executive director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, says the challenges are twofold:��Providers don’t have enough time in primary care to deliver all the information parents need or want, and providers are trained with a focus on illness and treatment. Questions about parenting and how parenting behaviors can shape a child’s success in relationships and school can affect their mental health, and even physical health and well-being are not always a priority.

“The science is exploding in the area of early childhood development and how the first few years of life are so important in building a strong foundation for the future,” Quinn says.��“As health care professionals, we have an incredible opportunity as we are in front of parents from the moment they become a parent. And we have countless touchpoints with families in the months and years that follow. These are all opportunities for us to support parents, help them be the parent they want to be, and to give their child the best start in life.”

The Sparks video series accomplishes the feat of making certain the family’s medical needs and milestones are met during well-baby visits while also providing the all-important guidance parents seek.

Designed with Parents in Mind

With input the team solicited from experts across the country, the videos blend information on social, emotional and cognitive development with such topics as sleep, safety, nutrition and medical concerns. Parent focus groups guided the creators to design messages in the language and framing that would resonate best. Each video is available in Spanish and English, and the series features an important diversity of families and speakers.

“In selecting the parents to appear in the videos, [we sought] a wide variety,” says Kathy Kinsner, senior manager of parent resources at Zero to Three. “We have same-sex couples, older couples, people who are first-time parents, and a wide range of ethnicities. It’s not a scholarly lecture, but rather, normal parents asking normal things, showing that there’s not just one approach, but many paths to the same parenting goal.”

In accompanying the child’s progress at regular intervals, the videos help shape the mothers’ and fathers’ evolution into parenthood. Few people in our society have much experience with small children when they start their journey with a newborn, Kinsner says. Moms and dads transform in remarkable ways into this being called “a parent,” and the videos foster that process.

“Kids evolve day to day,” she says, “and just when you think you’ve mastered infancy, suddenly you have a toddler on your hands. And that evolution goes on for the next 18 years. So having the videos there, step by step, keeps delivering the message, ‘You can do this. You can do this.’”

The series also provides a welcome alternative to the way pediatric practices once approached advice on parenting. Whatever vestiges of “my way or the highway” might linger from a more hierarchical, paternalistic past are dispelled with Mount Sinai’s approach generally; this series embraces equity and trusts parents to know their own culture and mores.

“Too often in history, families have been told that there is one, defined ‘right way’ of being a parent. We say now that great parenting can look very different from family to family and from culture to culture,” says Rebecca Parlakian, senior director of programs at Zero to Three. “For instance, in the section on dual-language learning, families talk about how they approach introducing two languages to their children — in very different ways. We’ve worked to show that there are lots of healthy, loving approaches — healthy and loving being the secret sauce — to achieving the same goal.”

Just as recent science has demonstrated the powerful impact negative early experiences can have on children’s physical and emotional health, it has also shown that positive parenting can buffer these adverse events. A guiding principle at Mount Sinai Parenting Center is to maximize any opportunity to promote strong parent-child relationships during routine care, to fold coaching and information naturally into every occasion parents have to interact in a pediatric environment. (ELN recently wrote about Mount Sinai’s Parenting Center’s groundbreaking environmental transformation partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation, Vroom and Mind in the Making.) Its first major initiative, , was an online, self-directed curriculum for residents designed to model ways do just that. From an initial pilot with eight pediatric residencies in 2018, the curriculum has flourished to the degree that it is now used by 82 percent of pediatric residency training programs and 18 percent of family medical residency training programs in the U.S.

Building Residents’ Knowledge Base

The video series will also extend the parenting message to pediatric residents, many of whom have never been parents before.

“We see this as a really important tool for educating residents,” Parlakian says. “We intentionally elevated parents’ voices in these videos equivalently to those of the pediatricians’ voices because surveys of parents show that while they trust and appreciate information from professionals, they also put a lot of stock and trust in other parents.

“These parent voices and the tactical strategies we’re offering parents in these videos can spark learning in the residents as well,” she says. “Most pediatricians recognize that it’s essential to build relationships with parents, but sometimes it’s hard to know what to say and how to frame the issues in ways that will resonate with parents.”

User guides offer a set of discussion questions to help residents deepen their understanding and ability to apply the concepts to their work with families, with prompts including, “What struck you in the video? Are you seeing any of these things in your child?” as well as encouraging the residents to talk with the parent about their struggles and achievements.

The video series is flexible to any health care setting and will be offered free to anyone who is interested. Video is a familiar format that doesn’t require a particular literacy level, which makes the information widely accessible. Rather than hand a parent a three-page article on behavioral issues, for example, parents can watch videos of other parents discussing how they approached these challenges.

The user guides for providers offer various scenarios for how clinics can make use of the series. Pediatric practices can make it easy for parents to watch the videos — available via web, text or app — prior to their well-child visits, in the waiting room or while waiting in the exam room before a visit.

Having acquainted themselves with the videos can prepare the providers for any unanswered questions the parents have — or just normalize for them the fact that new parents have a lot of questions, and that any question is a good one.

One of the video series’ key purposes, says Dr. Lisa Satlin, chair of the pediatrics department at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, is to create partnership among the providers and parents, and to provide a real-life education for all parties.

“The ready access of information from professionals and other parents that the series provides promises to build the strong parent-child relationships critical for a��child’s physical, mental and emotional development,” she says.

The series saw a soft launch in the fall and will be widely released and promoted this spring. Dr. Heard-Garris predicts it will be a huge hit for providers, residents and especially for parents. ��

“Never in my years of working at any pediatric institution has there been such extensive guidance for parents on how to navigate these first five years of their child’s life.”

Though Bruno just premiered this fall, it took years to get him on track. Mattel began developing the character in early 2020 and turned to consulting partners to develop his personality traits and behaviors. Psychologists, autistic writers and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network all collaborated with Mattel to help bring Bruno to life.

“We asked our autistic collaborators about misconceptions and stereotypes, as well as their wishes for how they would want to see autism depicted,” Monica Dennis, senior director of preschool content at Mattel told Early Learning Nation in an email. “That conversation guided specific choices about Bruno’s characteristics and our approach to storytelling.”

Daniel Share-Strom, an advocate and writer with autism, led Bruno’s character description and wrote Bruno with other autistic writers, including female autistic writers. Dennis felt it was important to include female voices since autism is often diagnosed in men and therefore men are represented more than women. In the U.S. version of the show, autistic actor Chuck Smith voices Bruno, while .

“Underrepresented kids, including neurodiverse kids, should see themselves celebrated in stories and play,” Dennis said. “Thomas & Friends has a strong affinity in the autistic community, so including an autistic character is an organic validation of our fans.”

Parents may have heard the term “neurodivergent” used more often to refer to kids with autism, but it’s not a medical term. It was coined by the Australian sociologist and autism advocate Judy Singer in the late 90s as a way to acknowledge differences in cognition and behavior. The term has been applied to those who exist on the autism spectrum, as well as those with developmental disabilities like ADHD, .

Autism itself is a developmental disability caused by neurological differences. The disability exists on a spectrum, so the communication, socializing and behavioral issues that people with autism face may vary from person to person. Some people with autism can be more sensitive to stimuli like loud noises or light and might deal with the sensory overload through physical actions like jumping up and down.

“What we like to say is when you’ve got one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism, and everyone displays their personal characteristics differently,” said Dr. Paula Pompa-Craven, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the assessment and diagnosis of people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Pompa-Craven is also chief clinical officer of Easterseals Southern California Autism Therapy Services, which served as one of Mattel’s consultants on the show. She added that some individuals with autism may have intellectual disabilities or are nonverbal, but they communicate in different ways.

“The one thing with autism is if you look at a person, they do not look like they have a developmental disability,” Pompa-Craven said. “Some of the other developmental disabilities are defined. So you might look at someone with Down syndrome and notice this person has Down syndrome. With autism, you may pass someone on the street and they look exactly like the rest of their peers.”

Positive representation of different groups is particularly crucial for preschool children, said Polly Conway, senior TV editor at Common Sense Media.

“The more that they see, the more that they’ll be able to understand,” she said. “Then there’s also scaffolding and ways that parents and teachers can say, ‘Have you met a person like this? Is there someone in your class like this that you know?’ So, I think seeing the character on TV can just sort of be the beginning of a learning process.”

Several children’s shows have introduced characters with autism including Hero Elementary, , and . A decade ago an autistic character named Carl joined PBS’ Arthur and Julia joined Sesame Street in 2017.

“We believe it is important for all kids to see themselves in our content,” Sara DeWitt, senior vice president of PBS KIDS corresponded. “To that end, shows that when children see themselves represented in television shows, the experience boosts and self-worth. This is critical for children in traditionally underrepresented communities, including kids with varying abilities.

The trend of autistic characters on television mirrors representation that’s happening in real life: 1 in 44 children have been identified with autism spectrum disorder according to a . That incidence rate has shot up from where it stood two decades earlier when the CDC estimated that about 1 in 150 children had autism.

Still, Conway argues that this reflects a broader trend of including different kinds of people in children’s TV shows, not just autistic people.

“I haven’t seen a huge rash of new characters who have autism, but I have seen more,” she said. “I think that correlates to what we’re seeing in the world today. The more we learn about people and what’s going on with them, the more we’re going to be able to represent them.”

While it’s not possible to represent every child on the autism spectrum, Bruno exhibits certain behaviors that some people with autism express. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network advised Mattel on how Bruno’s disability would affect him in daily life, how he would react to sensory overload and what facial expressions he would make, said Zoe Gross director of advocacy at ASAN. The advocacy group has consulted on other children’s programming, including advising the development of “Sesame Street’s” autistic character, Julia. However, ASAN after the show ran PSA’s featuring Autism Speaks’ “Screen for Autism” initiative, which ASAN said further stigmatized autistic people.

How certain traits of autism would manifest themselves in a character that isn’t human emerged as an interesting challenge for both ASAN and Mattel, Gross said. Mattel knew from the start that Bruno would be a brake car and approached ASAN with the idea that he would flap the railings on the side of his car, rather than hands.

Bruno has other gestures that don’t have a real-life comparison in autistic people, such as his lantern that flashes red, yellow or green to indicate that he’s excited or cautious. The lantern mimics and are used to demonstrate the person’s communication preferences, Gross said. A green badge means the person wants people to approach them while red means the person doesn’t want to interact with anyone or perhaps only a few people.

“It’s hard because you don’t want to show every kind of characteristic of an individual that you’ve ever come in contact with,” Pompa-Craven said. “We really wanted to look at maybe some of those things that were more persistent within the autism community.”

One of those persistent qualities that Mattel and consultants included in Bruno’s character was a lack of direct eye contact, according to Pompa-Craven. When Bruno’s eye contact is fleeting or moves to the side, that could show his comfort level. He also self-soothes when he hears loud noises by putting on headphones. But Bruno isn’t alone in dealing with hurdles like sensory overload. The program also shows his friends helping him out.

“The other characters would remind him, ‘Hey, Bruno, you seem like you’re getting a little agitated. Why don’t you see him on those headphones?’” Pompa-Craven said. That supportive community teaches children that it’s okay to accept people as they are, she added.

At the same time, Bruno expresses his own agency and helps out the rest of the cast as well. Consultants wanted to create a positive role model for autistic children. They show Bruno excelling at problem solving, examining maps and closely following schedules. In one storyline, the other trains run off schedule and Bruno helps them find a new route to correct their time.

“That was really important as well, that we showed the positive characteristics and the gifts that he added to the team,” Pompa-Craven said.

Another way to avoid harmful stereotypes with an autistic character is to continue including them in various episodes, whether they’re part of the main storyline or the B plot, Conway said. She noted that Sesame Street has now incorporated Julia as part of the team of muppets that go on adventures together.

“It’s always important to steer away from tokenism,” Conway said. “Really keeping a character in the mix is a great way to write them and avoid showing them appearing as just a token basically…giving them a story that they have to tell or opinions that they have regardless of their, you know, communication abilities.”

For those in the autistic community, the portrayal of an autistic character that was developed with the input of autistic people appears to hold some promise.

“No single character can encapsulate autism, just as no single female character can encapsulate ‘womanhood’ and no single Black character can encapsulate ‘Blackness,’” said Kristen Harrison, a professor of communication and media at the University of Michigan who is also autistic herself. “Part of the goal is to get more characters out there so people in a given demographic can be represented onscreen with the same complexity and diversity that exists among them in real life. But, of course, that all has to start with individual portrayals like this one.”

Mark Swartz: Why is diversity especially important in picture books?

Ernestine Benedict: Access to diverse books from the earliest ages is important for so many reasons. First, all children, especially babies and toddlers, need books where they can see themselves and their experiences. Seeing characters that look like them and stories that represent their own experiences tells children that their lives are worthy of being thought about, discussed and celebrated, and we want to be doing that at the earliest ages of life.

These picture books play an important role to help nurture positive self-identity and self-esteem for every child. Books that reflect children’s lives also invite children in: they send a message that books and reading are for them. This is an important entry ramp to literacy and education in general.

The reports that children form their perspectives on race much earlier than most parents realize. Babies as young as 3 months old start to prefer faces from certain racial groups, and by age 4, children can exhibit race-based discrimination. Ensuring that all children — regardless of their own race and ethnicity — grow up with picture books with characters and stories that feature diverse races and cultures contributes to racial equity and empowers children to form better relationships and connections in an increasingly diverse world. Stories that feature a wide variety of characters and experiences are a powerful way for all families to challenge stereotypes and expand our worldview from the start.

Swartz: How did the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and First Book initially come together around the cause of diverse books? What problems are you trying to solve?

Kyle Zimmer: The Diverse Books for All Coalition is working to address three issues: the lack of access to affordable, quality children’s books by and about diverse cultures and races; the need for a clear narrative about the value and benefits of diverse books; and support for parents, caregivers and educators to effectively define, advocate for and integrate diverse books in their programs, classrooms and communities.

What we realized is that, while there have been some promising individual efforts to address these issues, the efforts have been too fragmented and aren’t moving the needle fast enough at a time when our schools and our kids need our support more than ever.

Swartz: Even for children who aren’t reading yet?

Zimmer: Children start learning about their own identities and valuing differences at the very earliest ages. That’s why the coalition is working to include parents, caregivers and educators on the value of providing all children, starting from birth, with beautiful books that celebrate different races and cultures.

Swartz: What values brought the coalition and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation together?

Zimmer: To achieve systemic change, we need to bring the full power of the sector, and that means working together across organizations. The vision of the coalition aligned with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s commitment to diversity and racial equity. The foundation also understands the power of collaboration — so there is considerable common ground between the work of the coalition and Kellogg’s priorities. We are grateful to the Kellogg Foundation for supporting this work, and hope other funders join as well. True systemic change can only happen when we join forces and work across organizations.

After 90% of surveyed educators indicated that children in their programs would be more enthusiastic readers if they had books with characters, stories and images that reflect their lives, First Book launched the in 2013 to increase access to diverse books. The coalition really takes this work to an entirely new level.

And while First Book is the catalyst and backbone for the coalition, this is a shared, co-owned approach: together we are co-creating what we want to accomplish, and how we will measure impact. I’m energized by the prospect of multiplying this effort by 27 organizations with shared values and learnings.

Swartz: How did the group decide to form the coalition?

Zimmer: We used a very intentional, consultative approach, starting the process with one-on-one, individual conversations with each organization. We wanted to hear what specific issues were important to them regarding the need for diverse books; how it impacted their work, and the children and families they served. What did they see as the critical elements for a successful collaboration, and at the end of the process, what did they feel was important to accomplish together?

After conducting those interviews, we provided a report that identified common priorities, and we convened the group to explore those areas. There was definite interest in working collectively. This is not the First Book show. It’s important to us that every member’s voice, needs, expectations and goals were heard and valued from the outset — and continue to be.

Swartz: How did ZERO TO THREE become involved with the Diverse Books for All Coalition?

Benedict: Our mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. So, while we don’t directly distribute children’s books, educating and advocating for parents to integrate diverse books from the youngest ages is very much a part of our mission. Having a number of partner organizations as part of this coalition, we were excited to have the opportunity to take part as we see the critical need for this type of collaborative effort, especially now. ZERO TO THREE intends to use our megaphone to support the work of the coalition.

Swartz: How can educators and caregivers discover and obtain diverse children’s books?

Zimmer: Local booksellers and libraries are great resources for parents and caregivers to learn about and obtain diverse children’s books. In addition, many coalition members regularly lift up titles of diverse books on our respective websites and through our social media platforms. For example, on the , our professional curation team highlights a range of diverse books, searchable by age, topics, format and the like.

Anyone can go on the site and look at the titles, but in keeping with our nonprofit mission, only eligible educators — those at Title I schools and community programs where 70% or more of the children served are from economically challenged neighborhoods — can purchase books from our site.

Swartz: How can libraries and others get involved?

Benedict: Libraries have been focused on diverse books for years as part of their missions. We’ve had initial discussions with the American Library Association so that we’re aware of each other’s work, and we are continuing those discussions to see how we can support each other, share resources and learnings.

We are open to discussions with other organizations that use book distribution as part of their theory of change, and are interested in contributing to the work of the coalition.

Swartz: Which authors or books are you especially excited about?

Zimmer: Sorry — that’s an impossible question to answer. That’s like asking a parent: which child is your favorite? There are so many voices we need to hear from, so many wonderful stories to share. The important thing is that we provide all children with the broadest range of beautiful books featuring characters and experiences—to build understanding and empathy and excite them about reading.

It’s also important that children get to choose their books, with the support and guidance of parents, caregivers and educators. At the end of the day, I’m excited about authors and books that get kids excited to read and help all children feel seen and appreciated for who they are.

Progress, Sure, But So Far to Go

At the end of the five years, the Diverse Books for All Coalition aims to double the number of affordable, quality children’s books by and about diverse cultures and races — which is measured and reported by the .

The most recent numbers show that out of 3,183 children’s books published in the U.S. in 2021, only 436 were about Black/African Americans; 337 were about Asians; 234 were about Latinos; 62 were about Indigenous people; 21 were about those of Arab descent; and 6 were about Pacific Islanders.

Books written by authors from diverse races and cultures were similarly under-represented: out of the 3,183 children’s books published in the U.S., only 307 were written by Black/African American authors; 463 were by Asian authors; 311 were written by Latinos; 47 were written by Indigenous authors; 21 were written by those of Arab descent; and 8 were written by Pacific Islanders.

“We had a huge attrition rate,” acknowledges Dr. Calvin E. Moore, Jr., CEO of the Council for Professional Recognition, which awards Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials. “I really wanted to unpack why so many folks never complete the process.”

As the nation wakes up to the importance of the workforce that educates young children and keeps them safe and protected, Moore and the Council have embarked on a sweeping of the credentialing process, making use of a design-thinking approach that prioritizes equity and access. Ultimately, the initiative could bring more talent into the field at a time when it is needed more than ever.

In the past 37 years, the Council has awarded nearly a million CDAs. Maintaining the standards of early educators and measuring their competencies help families and communities to feel confidence in the professionals trusted to facilitate the brain development of young children. These standards apply to preschool centers, family child care and home-visitors, so getting them right matters.

Upon joining the organization in May 2020 as Interim CEO, Moore realized, “The status quo was not really efficient for candidates or for the council staff.” The board supported his commitment to listen to stakeholders and to heed their voices.

Moore’s career began with the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity in Birmingham, Ala., where he worked as a teacher’s aide. As the organization’s first CEO who has a CDA certification, he has a unique perspective on the value of the credential as well as the potential to make it an even more powerful lever for the sector. “The CDA process jump-started my own career and made me feel more deeply connected to it,” he says.

Inspired by Daniel Coyle’s 2018 book , Moore dedicated himself to “using this period of transition as a way to crystallize our purpose.” To begin, the Council commissioned — a New Jersey-based consulting firm that counts the federal Head Start program among its clients — to facilitate what Moore describes as “an iterative process that allowed us to challenge our assumptions and define our program.” This work entails surveys, focus groups and interviews to gather perspectives from those using the system.

In other words, it involves design thinking, as “a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology and the requirements for business success.”

“Reimagining systems is essential for organizations that want to scale and grow,” says BCT’s Lawrence M. Hibbert. And wholesale, holistic reimagining doesn’t happen in silos. Alongside the credentialing initiative, the Council is also collaborating with the at Arizona State University. Dr. Shantel Meek has been leading the effort, making sure that the latest and greatest information around equity is applied to Council publications as well as the national CDA standards. Reinforcing the Council’s partnership the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has been another priority. The Council also starts high schoolers on the path to early childhood education careers.

“Design thinking begins with empathy,” Hibbert explains. “Who is your user? What is it like to be in his or her shoes?” Subsequent steps in the process are defining the users’ needs, ideating new and challenging concepts, prototyping solutions and testing them out.

Technology has been a recurring theme in the responses. “Candidates had a hard time getting answers to their questions and finding the resources they need,” says Moore. “Depending on what part of the country they were in, some have had internet issues or lack of access to the internet.” Many of the responses detail problems scheduling assessments in Pearson VUE Centers — a pain point that became even more painful during the pandemic. Possible solutions, says Moore, include an online-proctored exam, where someone can take the exam in their home, or at an office or at the library.

While technology is holding candidates back, it also holds powerful solutions. Local libraries were revealed to play a surprisingly major role. “Even if there was a community where there may not have been a large number of high school graduates or college graduates,” Moore reports, “if that community had a lot of libraries and other kinds of resources for those CDA candidates to tap into, then they did better on the assessment than communities that were resource poor.”

The CDA is changing to meet community and workforce needs, but access has always guided the Council’s work. “At last count,” Moore says, “we have done assessments in 23 different languages. If it’s a bilingual program, they can be assessed in a bilingual way. If it’s a monolingual setting, we make sure that assessment is done in the language that is being spoken at the center.”

Fresh dimensions to the credentialing process will start rolling out in 2023, but don’t expect a shiny new CDA assessment process to be unveiled like the latest model of an SUV. It’s an ongoing process, Hibbert stresses, constantly informed by practitioners.

Ultimately, it’s just like education in general. “The more you learn,” Moore says, “the more you want to know.”

Fortunately, Etter says, there’s a delicious alternative to this situation and it pretty much defines win-win-win: Farm to Early Care and Education.

Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) programs have been around for more than a decade and can be found in all types of early childhood settings, from preschools and family child care homes to Head Start/Early Head Start programs and in K-12 school districts. The programs provide nutrient-dense, minimally processed, local foods, and help small children develop food literacy through school gardens, cooking, field trips and a plethora of other activities aimed at helping them understand where their food comes from. Adapting the community-based models found in the (NFSN), Farm to ECE programs teach young kids about food and nutrition, and, by working with local farmers and food producers, boost the local farm economy, build community and help improve public health outcomes. By investing in local producers who are women, Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC), Farm to ECE programs provide a powerful pathway to advance racial and social equity.

“Farm to ECE is such a natural fit for kids in this age group,” Etter says. “The approach is all about hands-on exploration and learning, and kids love that. They love cooking. They love dressing up as farmers or bakers and acting out stories like “The Little Red Hen.” They love exploring dirt and learning about animals.

“The focus of Farm to ECE is promoting access to local, nutrient dense foods for children in child care settings, with a specific eye toward connecting woman-owned farmer or BIPOC-owned farms or producers. The other piece is educating them about where their food comes from,” she says. “Even if a program doesn’t have the space or resources to have a big, outdoor garden, this model can help them do smaller-scale container gardens and let the children watch the magical process of plants growing.”

The idea of Farm to ECE has developed over the past decade from a few scattered providers growing gardens at their preschools, to a movement with thriving programs across the country. Some states now integrate Farm to ECE into their statewide early childhood plans. The aim of these programs is to develop the next generation of responsible food consumers and to support sustainable, equitable and just local food systems. Though the benefits of these programs seem intuitive (little kids, local food, community involvement: What’s not to love?), until now, the actual impacts had not been quantified or evaluated extensively.

It’s one thing to believe that a program is wonderful, but funders and policymakers often want more quantitative evidence. Good metrics drive good strategy.

For the past six years, the Policy Equity Group, a national consultancy devoted to the well-being of children, has provided technical assistance to nine states that are implementing Farm to ECE programs, supported by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Late this summer, the group, in partnership with the National Farm to School Network (NFSN), released the , a powerful resource for families, providers, funders, policymakers and others interested in seeing this sensible model take root in local communities. The resource was two years in the making, headed by former NFSN Program Director Lacy Stephens and Etter, with a team of 13 contributors.

“As Farm to ECE is still growing as a movement and the evidence base is still developing, NFSN and the Policy Equity Group saw a need to identify and refine priority areas both in research and programing,” says Sophia Riemer, Farm to ECE associate at NFSN and one of the project’s contributors. “We developed the resource as a toolkit to help guide and advance the movement and to spotlight priorities, such as a focus on equity, and to identify gaps within existing research and strategy.”

The outcomes and indicators that underpin the toolkit were stakeholder-driven from the beginning, says Etter, based on conversations with those in the Farm to ECE trenches.

“Three years ago, at our last in-person convening before the pandemic, we had all our partners together in a room and we did a Mad Libs-like activity,” Etter says. “We asked them to complete the sentence: When we implement Farm to ECE programs, we expect that [who?]  will experience [what changes?]. We asked them to fill in the blanks, and they put up hundreds of sticky notes showing who they thought their work benefits and in what ways. All those sticky notes became the birth of this framework.

“We wanted to give them a tool where they could say, ‘I think this work is helping shape children’s food preferences at an early age and is increasing market opportunities for local food purveyors,’ and then find the tools and measures they need to prove it.”

To this end, the authors of the shared metrics resource, set about identifying existing metrics — such as surveys for families or child care providers, classroom observation tools, etc. — and compiled them into one easy-to-use toolkit.

The Farm to ECE Shared Metrics resource is organized according to outcomes for the intended beneficiaries of the program including children; families; ECE providers; farmers and food producers; and communities/systems.

The document then organizes each of these areas into priority outcomes — the desired “ends” — and the evidence-based indicators and measures that show whether those outcomes have been achieved.

The authors say the toolkit is useful to all stakeholders in the ECE landscape: program administrators and partner organizations seeking to design, implement and expand Farm to ECE programs; researchers and program evaluators wanting to shape their research; evaluators building evidence for funding and suggesting ways programs can refine their offerings; grant program administrators and funders to align funding priorities and reporting requirements. The resource is truly a one-stop shop for taking the guesswork out of how to thoughtfully evaluate whether and how Farm to ECE programs are working so programs are set up to succeed.

For those who want to start a Farm to ECE program from scratch, NFSN has created a library of “getting started” that provide a roadmap of best practices and lessons learned — including . Farm to ECE with babies! The shared metrics’ accompanying “User Guide and Framing Resource” also can serve as an instruction manual for potential users.

The resource is not intended to be used in its entirety by any stakeholder or community, but to serve as a menu of options depending on the program, policy goals or community interests. Etter stresses that the resource is intended to be a “living document” that will continue to be updated with new information and new resources as the work of evaluating Farm to ECE continues to evolve. It is both inspirational and aspirational, she says, and the hope is that gaps identified in evaluating the programs will help drive development of new approaches to assessing the movement’s impact and outcomes.

Because Farm to ECE comprises many different stakeholders, from children and families to child care providers and local farmers, foundations, and funders to policymakers, codifying its many values is a complicated project. Giving form and substance to those values through this well-thought-out shared metrics toolkit represents a giant step toward developing a vibrant, equitable, community-based food system that begins with the nation’s youngest children and their families.

“Working toward shared priorities and language can help unify the Farm to ECE field toward common goals, which can help us build the argument for continued and greater funding and support,” Riemer says. “Ultimately, this will lead to higher quality, more equitable, and more expansive Farm to ECE programming throughout the country.”

The Montessori method arose across the Atlantic and more than a century ago. How is it rising to the challenges set in motion by the global pandemic and national reckoning over racism? A new generation of Montessori leaders is infusing the approach with a heavier dose of equity.

Since this can be a slippery concept, for our purposes, let’s use this : “To approach education through the lens of equity is to acknowledge the disenfranchisement and discrimination faced by children, families and teachers, and to create schools and systems that eradicate barriers to success, empower children and families, and inspire a more just society.”

Here are some insights from Montessori experts and practitioners Early Learning Nation interviewed about equity.

Montessori Originated During a Social Crisis

Major disruptions have a way of compelling societies to seek new answers. The cause of educating the masses took on added urgency at the end of the 19th century after Italian anarchists assassinated King Umberto I of Italy, Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and Empress Elisabeth of Austria — in separate incidents but in rapid succession.

Newspapers demanded, “What are we teaching in our schools? Are we educating killers?” Maria Montessori gave a speech to the National Congress of Italian Educators and, as educator Larry Schaefer writes, “transformed a national disaster into a civic opportunity that inspired the nation.”

Perhaps this history lesson says something about our own time. Trust for Learning’s Ellen Roche points out that the and the similarly sprung from social crisis.

Maria Montessori’s Example Continues to Inspire Today’s Leaders

Casa dei Bambini, the very first Montessori school, welcomed children living in tenement housing in Rome and embraced a new approach that built upon the work of Édouard Séguin and others who studied ways of teaching those with intellectual disabilities. According to Ayize Sabater, executive director of and cofounder of the  (BMEF), “Montessori used her medical background, particularly observation and experimentation, to design materials and methods that would enable those children to advance in their human development.”

More important than her credentials, however, were her ideals. Sabater cites her advocacy for women’s rights and the rights of the child, especially evident in her fiery :

“Remember that people do not start at the age of 20, at 10 or at 6, but at birth. In your efforts at solving problems, do not forget that children and young people make up a vast population, a population without rights which is being crucified on school benches everywhere, which—for all that we talk about democracy, freedom and human rights—is enslaved by a school order, by intellectual rules which we impose on it.”

“She was shouting from the rooftops!” Sabater says. “She verbally dragged these people over hot coals for not upholding the rights of the child! For me, applying these ideals today to racial justice seems like a natural extension of that speech.”

Montessori is in the Same Boat as the Rest of the Field

As with most other sectors of our economy, early education in the United States has undergone one shock after another in the past three years. Montessori early-learning practitioners face the same challenges that other educators face: insufficient funding, inequitable distribution of assets, families in crisis and an overburdened, underpaid workforce.

Robust public investment can help, says recent Charlotte Petty. “Montessori pedagogy in the U.S.,” she elaborates, “has become a mostly privatized experience available to highly resourced families, which is far from its original vision and population.” She cites the work of Yale University’s , and in St. Louis as demonstrations of “the power and reach that Montessori can have when accessibility and racial justice are woven into the fabric of how the method is carried out.”

Montessori’s Relationship with Black Educators Goes Back Several Decades

“In the Black community,” says Sabater, “educators had an eye toward Montessori early on,” adding that admired Montessori and her philosophy. He’s continuing this tradition with BMEF, which aims to get more Black people engaged as Montessori teachers, more Black Montessori schools started and more Black children in Montessori settings, as well as supporting research into the Black Montessori experience.

Montessori Thrives in a Range of Settings

Montessori education exists in private centers, public and charter schools—even homes. Sabater is a founding group member for , a public charter school in Washington, D.C. and says the public sector is a critical area of focus for Montessori’s growth, particularly if the approach hopes to serve children from all backgrounds.

Roche concurs: “Organizations like and are working to overcome policy barriers and to expand Montessori’s presence in publicly funded programs.”

Marion Geiger, cofounder with Séverine B. Meunier of in Cambridge, Mass., credits the (formerly Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership) for its flexible funding structure. Her school belongs to the , founded in 2014 by Sep Kamvar, a professor at MIT’s Media Lab.

According to Geiger, Montessori teachers start every Wildflower school. “They’re purposefully small micro-schools,” she explains, “so that we can manage doing the administrative piece as well as serve families and children.”

“What’s really beautiful about it,” she continues, “is that every community is different, and every community’s needs are going to be different.

Montessori’s Insights Anticipated Contemporary Brain Science

Education researchers continue to find parallels to Montessori’s vision in today’s classrooms. According to , for example, “Her work is even more relevant today in the context of adversity and trauma research, and that her methods, principles and approaches may be harnessed and used in ways that promote trauma-informed practice in contemporary education settings.”

Geiger grew up in Brazil, where her mother currently trains Montessori teachers. “I didn’t always think I’d follow in her footsteps,” she reflects, “but the more I learned, the more I realized it was what I was looking for.” During her Saul Zaentz fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she found that while the program was not necessarily promoting the method, the research confirmed its validity. Geiger notes that when Montessori is done right, it encompasses such best practices as responsive relationships, sensory exploration of your environment, scientific observation of the child, mastery-based progression, and developing autonomy and executive function skills. Earlier this year, came to the same conclusion: Montessori is based on key principles of ideal early learning environments for young children.”

Geiger says her perspective on adapting Montessori for the present moment is:
“If you are going to make a change, be thoughtful about it. Everything Maria Montessori created was in response to observations. And so I don’t think, if she were here today, she would say, ‘Don’t change anything.’ She’d say, ‘The world has changed, and we need to be responsive to the community that we’re serving’.”

This story is the third part of a 3-part series. Check out and .

Montessori Myths

Founded in the early 20th century by the Italian physician and education iconoclast Maria Montessori, the teaching method that bears her name has taken root all over the United States and around the world. The history of its proliferation and multi-pronged institutional dissemination has fostered a degree of confusion and myths about the founder’s intentions and how the method is practiced. “People use the word Montessori without knowing what they mean,” says , professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and author of .

Lynne Lawrence, Executive Director of , adds, “The reason there are so many myths is that the real answer always lies somewhere in the middle, in the nuance. And because there are so many nuances, it’s very easy for people to go in one direction or another.”

Here are six Montessori myths — and the reality, as set forth by experts.

1. Myth: The Montessori Method Is Rigid (or, alternatively, Montessori is Anarchy). When parents gather on the playground or on a listserv, two of the most common opinions that arise are, curiously, in direct opposition to one another.

First, Montessori is so strict that it will crush young spirits. Yet according to Charlotte Petty, a young educator recently interviewed for , “The most effective Montessori classrooms I’ve worked in and observed are those that bustle with language and movement and the exchange of ideas between children.”

She adds: “When children know what to expect in their learning environments, they feel safe to explore and make their own choices. The structure and routine in the Montessori classroom is in service of the child’s freedom of choice and movement.”

Second, Montessori classrooms are sheer anarchy, with no structure or guidance. Lawrence explains, “We say the child is free to make their way through our framework in the best possible way, but they are limited by what is good for everybody.” This balance—what Lawrence calls “the nuance between absolute allowance and rigid denial”— speaks to the most persistent misunderstanding about Montessori: the supposed ban on imagination.

2. Myth: Montessori Forbids Imagination. As with a lot of myths, this one has a grain of truth to it. In , Maria Montessori writes,

The true basis of the imagination is reality, and its perception is related to exactness of observation, it is necessary to prepare children to perceive the things in their environment exactly, in order to secure for them the material required by the imagination… The fancy which exaggerates and invents coarsely does not put the child on the right road.

As Rita Kramer adds in : “She does not mean to banish fantasy — the symbols of poetry, the imaginative flights of the fairy tale—from the child’s life, but only from school, where, as she has defined the function of the school, it has no business.” Lawrence notes, “Children don’t just live in our schools, right? They have homes with laptop computers and phones.”

Even in the classroom, however, imagination that feeds creativity is encouraged and valid; it’s just when children get carried away in fantasy (what Montessori called ‘fancy’), they might need to be gently brought back to reality. “Would we do it punitively?” asks Lawrence. “No, of course not. We would say, ‘I can see how this block looks like a train. Can I show you something else that we can do with it?’” She further clarifies, “If a child is taking what they’ve learned and producing their own thoughts and ideas, that’s creative. Essentially, the children’s imaginations take off from having building blocks.”

In her research, Lillard has found that most children tend to prefer using real cooking utensils to make real food over make-believe meal preparation, and in that sense, “Montessori is kind of the first manifestation of playful learning.” She adds that Montessori-trained educators learn to pay close attention to children’s fantasy play, saying, “When children are engaging in a lot of fantasy, they may be expressing a need or some unfulfilled desire.”

3. Myth: Montessori is too expensive. Even if it does work in some settings, argue some of Montessori’s detractors, it can’t work at scale because it costs too much money per pupil. In fact, over 500 public Montessori schools in the United States show that it can be executed with a standard public school budget.

Petty argues, “It’s a myth that in order to ‘do Montessori right’ you need branded materials from expensive catalogs or subscription services.” By debunking this myth, she says, the field can better center the core principles of Montessori. The international Montessori efforts implemented by show that these principles can work in even the most inhospitable circumstances.

Ellen Roche, chief media & philanthropy officer with , adds, “It’s ironic that most people think of Montessori as something that private school children have access to, when the entire philosophy was guided by observation and work with very poor children in Italy.” At the same time, Petty contends, “As it exists today, Montessori is often out of reach for those who cannot afford high tuition costs.” Part III of this series will address efforts to make the method more accessible.

4. Myth: Montessori doesn’t do sports. While traditional competitive sports are de-emphasized, Lawrence maintains that health and movement have always been vital aspects of the model. “It’s not about winning at all costs or people yelling at you from the sidelines.”

The object, she says, should be to develop children’s talents and to work in teams—not to win a game. “From our point of view,” she says, “if you’re good with your left foot [in soccer], then just think if you practice with your right. And if you are really a great player, then why don’t you take the role of the referee for a while?”

5. Myth: There’s no evidence that Montessori works. Lillard points to a large and growing body of research that supports the Montessori model for all ages and across populations. “The data speak,” she says, “I go with whatever the data tell us.

A few studies worth noting:

• (Frontiers in Psychology) “Montessori children fared better on measures of academic achievement, social understanding and mastery orientation, and they also reported relatively more liking of scholastic tasks. They also scored higher on executive function when they were 4.”
• (Journal of Montessori Research) “We find that public Montessori education demonstrates strengths in racial diversity, mixed results in student outcomes and promising potential in early childhood, special education and cultural responsiveness.”
• (AMS Research Committee White Paper) “Evidence of the benefits of mixed aged classrooms can be organized into the following categories: its impact on children’s cognitive development, its impact on their social development and the pedagogical advantages it affords teachers.”
• (Child Development) “Cross-sectional analyses in kindergarten and longitudinal analyses over the three years of preschool showed that the adapted Montessori curriculum was associated with outcomes comparable to the conventional curriculum on math, executive functions and social skills. However, disadvantaged kindergarteners from Montessori classrooms outperformed their peers on reading.”

The research continues, within and beyond the Montessori universe.

6. Myth: Everything is Montessori now. Given the sheer number of Montessori schools, on top of those that profess to offer a Montessori-inspired curriculum, it’s tempting to think the Montessori revolution is complete.

Lillard disagrees, saying, “Our whole model of education in this country is still based on this Cartesian input output model, which we know now is not how the brain works. There are so many things about education today that don’t correspond to how we know children learn and how we know the brain works. Montessori is an alternative that actually does correspond to brain science.”

Unless and until young learners are allowed to and encouraged to direct their own education, experts say, the Montessori revolution remains incomplete.

This story is the second part of a 3-part series. Check out  and .

Part I: From Italy to the World

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) might not be quite as famous as her near contemporaries Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and Albert Einstein (1879-1955), but she has arguably had just as sizable an impact on the course of human civilization. Well into the 21st century, Montessori continues to influence how young children are taught, and biographers and scholars continue to study the education pioneer and her thinking. As with Freud and Einstein, debates continue about her relevance, her value and whether or not she has been properly understood.

Origins of a Revolutionary and Visionary

The educator and physician was born just as Italy came into its own as a single country. Biographer Rita Kramer as “self-confident, strong-willed, a little smug. She has the sense of duty that sometimes makes for intolerance of others. In short, a born social reformer.”

These traits helped her to overcome 19th-century prejudices about women, becoming one of the first female medical students in Italy. “Eventually,” she declared, “the woman of the future will have equal rights as well as equal duties. She will have a new self-awareness and will find her true strength in an emancipated maternity. Family life as we know it may change, but it is absurd to think that feminism will destroy maternal feelings.”

In 1907, Montessori founded the Casa dei Bambini for 3- to 6-year-olds in the slums of Rome’s San Lorenzo quarter. A of calls Montessori’s approach “prophetic in ways that remain uncanny,” citing her decision to do away with reward and punishment, and her emphasis on self-regulation.

Influences on these breakthroughs included:

• (1712-1778), author of the treatise “Emile, or On Education,” which states, “The child… wants to touch and handle everything; do not check these movements which teach him invaluable lessons.”
• (1782-1852), considered to be the father of kindergarten as we know it; he introduced “gifts” into the classroom—circles, spheres and other toys designed to stimulate learning through play.
• (1812-1880), who specialized in children with intellectual disabilities; his credo was “Respect for individuality is the first test of a teacher.”

Observation also shaped Montessori’s thought. She often described the epiphany she had while watching a waif in the street playing with a small piece of colored paper, completely absorbed in the scrap. This absorption (a favorite word of hers) she compared favorably to classrooms where the children are “like butterflies mounted on pins, are fastened each to his place, the desk, spreading the useless wings of barren and meaningless knowledge which they have acquired.”

In a throwback to the one-room schoolhouse of yore, a critical aspect of Montessori’s vision was that children of different ages belong in the same classroom. “To segregate by age,” she insisted, “is one of the cruelest and most inhumane things one can do, and this is equally true for children.” (A Montessori “primary” classroom, or Children’s House, typically groups 2.5-6-year-olds together.) Students gained by learning from those older than them and by teaching those younger than them.

Lynne Lawrence, Executive Director of  (AMI), summarizes: “Children’s capacity to learn is multiplied because they are learning mostly from the other children. So the teacher is released into observing and then showing key things to the children, in line with what they think their interests are.”

Spreading the Word

Montessori’s educational outlook arose in a period of intellectual ferment, alongside numerous competing philosophies, some of which survive to this day, including those devised by:

• John Dewey (1859-1952), who advocated for in which learning was an active rather than passive pursuit; the he founded remains active, and his ideas gave rise to
• Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), whose shaped the formation of the Waldorf Schools (named for a cigarette mogul)
• Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), who emphasized ; this approach forms the basis of the curriculum

, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and author of , emphasizes the social context in which Montessori operated—and how it explains one of the most misunderstood aspects of her approach. “People used fantasy to manipulate children,” she says, citing “the whole idea that Santa Claus would give you coal in your stocking or the Sandman would come and hurt you. Montessori was against manipulating children with threats and lies. She thought you need to be honest with children and respect them.” ()

The Montessori approach grew in popularity during the early 20th century, and its influence spread to the United States with the help of magazine publisher S. S. McClure, who saw her as the savior of American education. (“People do sometimes seem to have kind of a religious worship about her,” says Lillard, “and that’s not to the benefit of anybody.”) Quotable pronouncements boosted her fame:

“Education must begin at birth.”
“The hand is the instrument of intelligence.”
“The child who concentrates is immensely happy.”
“It is necessary that the child teach himself.”
“Education is the best weapon for peace.”

Montessori continued to refine and redefine her ideas on education, lecturing and traveling extensively as well as quarreling with rivals and disciples alike — among them and . “She was a genius,” says Lillard, “and geniuses can be prickly.”

Starting in late 1939, she spent seven years in India, having become involved with a spiritual movement known as theosophy. (Other prominent adherents included Lewis Carroll of Alice in Wonderland fame, the Irish poet W. B. Yeats and Wizard of Oz creator L. Frank Baum.) She died at age 81, having taken steps to secure the legacy of the educational theories and techniques that bore her name.

Institutional Legacies

Her son Mario and granddaughter Renilde were also instrumental in helping spread her ideas and keeping them focused. The establishment of namesake institutions suggests both the range of her influence as well as the somewhat circuitous paths her legacy has taken.

Based in Amsterdam, AMI administers training and certification for Montessori teachers all over the world. Its division (see sidebar) helps to spread her methods globally. ���ѱ�’s U.S. affiliate is , led by Ayize Sabater (cofounder of the ). A separate organization, the (AMS), also has international members, despite its name.

Lillard says AMI is committed to keeping the pedagogy similar to what Montessori created and “changing it only where it really seems to make sense,” whereas AMS was founded on the idea of spreading it quickly. “If it weren’t for AMS,” she says, “We might not even have Montessori anymore.”

For Lawrence, the central question is How do we go to scale without losing quality? “We’ve taken hold in over 147 countries,” she says. “That speaks for itself; it’s like a dandelion scattering seeds.”

Today’s schools with Montessori in their name offer varying degrees of fidelity to Maria Montessori’s original vision. Still others offer “Montessori-inspired” curricula. , a project of National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector, collects up-to-date data on public and private Montessori schools around the world as well as the dozens of national and regional associations dedicated to carrying on this rich and complex legacy.

This story is the first part of a 3-part series. Check out  and .

And no wonder. In her , Patricia Jennings quotes Lee S. Shulman’s : “Classroom teaching… is perhaps the most complex, most challenging, and most demanding, subtle, nuanced and frightening activity that our species has ever invented. In fact, when I compared the complexity of teaching with that much more highly rewarded profession, ‘doing medicine,’ I concluded that the only time medicine even approaches the complexity of an average day of classroom teaching is in an emergency room during a natural disaster.” Underpaid and overburdened child care educators might have it even tougher.

Marcia Gadson-Harris, a veteran educator with 39 years of experience, is here to help. After completing Leading for Change — an entrepreneurial leadership development program for early educators created by the at the University of Massachusetts, Boston — she began creating an anti-stress kit for early childhood educators and families.

The core component of Leading for Change, which is available for free to all licensed early educators in Massachusetts through the state’s , as well as early educators enrolled in the at the Sherman Center for Early Childhood Learning in Urban Communities at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. It’s designed to address common problems of practice. Gadson-Harris’s project was her anti-stress kit, which she named A Guiding Hand to H.E.L.P. (Hope, Empowerment, Love and Partner). Gadson-Harris, owner and operator of Marcia’s Little Rascals in Springfield, Massachusetts, shares about her career and her message for educators.

Mark Swartz: What can you tell me about Springfield?

Marcia Gadson-Harris: This is the inner city. The population is extremely multicultural, with immigrants from everywhere. Several colleges are just a short bus ride away, and they offer a lot of resources, not just classes. We have annual picnics and community days with police officers, firefighters, doctors and nurses. We have multicultural days where everyone brings something to the table to share. In our community, we’re big on passing down things like clothes and sneakers.

Swartz: What did you see in your child care business in the wake of the pandemic?

Gadson-Harris: The business side of it got a lot more expensive. Everything has got more expensive. The grants have been a blessing. Now the question is whether they’ll continue or not. Providers like me are afraid to invest until we know things are going to be more stable.

Swartz: How did it affect the children?

Gadson-Harris: At first, to prevent the spread of COVID, we color-coded things to keep the kids apart. ‘This is your sleeping bag, this is your table.’ Some of them were very angry because they really wanted to play with their friends. The anxiety levels went up. The challenging behaviors increased. There was more frustration, more aggression. So we really had to go back with our social skills.

Swartz: Families were undergoing all kinds of trauma.

Gadson-Harris: One parent attempted suicide and another kicked her partner out, but nobody told me. The child started tossing toys and just scribbling in black. Even supposedly good news can bring change and stress. I came across one little boy, whose mother had a new baby, tossing a toy car all over the yard, screaming, “Do I matter anymore?” We’re not where we need to be. Especially during this pandemic. Just look at the number of mental health issues that we have out there right now. I did a survey with educators in the community and with some of my parents, and the top three things were anxiety/depression, separation/divorce and death/grief.

Swartz: What’s your vision for addressing the trauma?

Gadson-Harris: Family child care providers need to have a voice, more of a say. I believe that totally. Parents and educators in the community need to connect, partner and work together to reach our goals. And that’s kind of happening a little bit more.

Swartz: And soon you’ll be distributing these kits. What will teachers and parents find inside?

Gadson-Harris: There are books, stress toys, feeling wheels…

Swartz: What’s a feeling wheel?

Gadson-Harris: We use them in our school. They have pictures of the children, and we’ve personalized them, so each child can identify with what they are feeling. We talk about what the feelings are, and then we say, “Okay, these are your choices. You can get a drink of water. You can do yoga or exercise. Or you can go to the calm-down area, where there are materials to help you calm down and you have your own space.”

Swartz: What’s the distribution plan for the H.E.L.P. kits?

Gadson-Harris: We’re going to try and get them to the families and educators that need them. People will be able to modify the kits for the type of children and the type of community they serve.

Swartz: Who is in your network of support?

Gadson-Harris: My daughter is my assistant. Leading for Change provided a lot of support, empowerment and networking. has been encouraging about the H.E.L.P. kit. My coach, Marcela Simpson of the , had always backed me. She said, “Marcia, you’ve been through some of these situations. You survived them. You’ve helped other people.”