strategies for readiness in each developmental domain … · strategies for readiness in each...

Strategies for Readiness in Each Developmental Domain

Ready Child + Ready Family + Ready School = Successful School Readiness

This 2006 definition expanded understanding of school readiness to recognize the influence of

families and schools on young children. This group of papers focuses on the Ready Child

developmental domains. The All Children Ready for School series combined information from

research literature and the authors' practical knowledge of the topics. Each is a four page paper.

Cole, P. (2006). Health and Physical Well-Being.

Conn-Powers, M. (2006). Approaches to Learning.

Cross, A. F. (2006). Cognition and General Knowledge.

Dixon, S. D. (2006). Communication, Language, and Literacy.

Hutter-Pishgahi, L. (2006). Social-Emotional Development.

Bibliography for the Series.

http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/ECC/SRUD-Health.pdf

http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/ECC/SR-Approaches%20to%20Learning.pdf

http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/ECC/SRUD-Cognition-GenlKnowledge.pdf

http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/ECC/CommLangLiteracy.pdf

http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/ECC/SRUD-SocialEmotional.pdf

http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/ECC/SRUD-Bibliography.pdf

While Luis is hard at work on that puzzle, he is demonstrating important skills that will serve him well when he enters kinder-

garten next year: the ability to “stick with it” and persist with a task, especially when it is challenging; the disposition to try something different when the first strategy doesn’t work; and the self control he maintains in keeping his attention on the task when it would be easier to see what else is going on in the classroom.

When we think of what early educators can do to prepare children for kindergarten and school, we tend to think of the skills and knowledge they may teach children to get them ready for kindergarten. This may include knowledge of books and early literacy skills, basic concepts, social competence, and the ability to get along with others. Another important dimension, demonstrated by Luis, is how children approach and engage their learning environment.

Approaches to learning is one of five key dimensions of children’s school readiness identified by the National Education Goals Panel (1995). This facet of school readiness pertains to children’s inclinations, dispositions, and learning styles in using their knowledge and skills to interact with their learning environment. For example, when educators present children with new tasks or activities, do the children approach these novel undertakings with curiosity and enthusiasm or with caution and tentativeness? Do they persist in investigating and master-ing the task or materials, or do they quickly move on to activities that are more familiar or less difficult?

© 2006—Indiana University. All Rights Reserved. The Early Childhood Briefi ng Paper Series: All Children Ready for School is a publication of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Early Childhood Center. (www.iidc.indiana.edu/ecc). The information presented herein does not necessarily refl ect the position or policy of the Trustees of Indiana University, and no offi cial endorsement should be inferred.

Early Childhood Center, Indiana Institute on Disability and CommunityIndiana’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

2853 East Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN 47408-2696. 812-855-6508. 812-855-9396 TTY.

EARLYCHILDHOODCENTER


Early Childhood Briefi ng Paper Series

All Children Ready for School:Approaches to Learning


This working paper focuses on positive approaches to learning associated with ready children. It is part of ga series identifying early education practices associated with successful school readiness for all children.

Topics in this series include ready children (health and physical well-being, language and literacy, cognition andgeneral knowledge, social-emotional skills), ready families, and ready schools.

—Michael Conn-Powers

Four-year-old Luis is hard at work completing a puzzle. The puzzle, given to him by his teacher, is a little harder than the ones he has worked on before. He picks up a puzzle piece and looks at the puzzle, trying to decide where it might go. He tries it one way. It doesn’t fit. He turns it around and tries again. Success! He has been working at the puzzle for a long time. His teacher comments, “Luis, you are working so hard to finish that puzzle.”

What We Know: Important Child Outcomes Associated with Approaches to Learning

Children differ in how they approach new and novel tasks, difficult problems or challenges, and teacher-

directed tasks. An individual child’s approach to learning may have little association with his or her level of knowledge or skill. For example, children may have considerable knowledge and skills they can bring to bear on a task or activity; however, their inclination to use their skills may be influenced by their temperament (for example, shyness), the way they were raised (girls politely wait), or their cultural values (showing initiative may be considered rude).

Approaches to learning may vary in their origin (such as gender expectations, cultural patterns, learned approaches) and malleability. Some researchers believe that there are approaches to learning that reflect predispositions, and are shaped at birth or developed very early. These include temperament, gender expectations, and cultural patterns and values. Approaches to learning that are predisposed may be less conducive to change. Learning styles, however, are approaches to learning that reflect the child’s attitudes toward the learning process, and are much more malleable. Learning styles include openness to new tasks and challeng-es, initiative, persistence, reflection, imagination, and problem solving.

There is research that suggests strong links between positive approaches to learning and children’s success in school. For example, one study found that children with higher levels of attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness to learn, learning independence, flexibility, and organization, generally did better in literacy and math at the end of the kindergarten school year and the beginning of their first grade year. In addition, children who approach learning tasks or novel

Figure 1Approaches to Learning: Important Learning

OutcomesCuriosity/Initiative. The child chooses to engage and participate in a variety of new and challenging activi-ties.

Persistence. The child is able to persist in and com-plete a variety of tasks and activities.

Attention. The child demonstrates increased attentive-ness during teacher-directed activities.

Self-direction. The child is able to set goals, make choices, and manage time and effort with increased independence.

Problem solving. The child is able to solve problems in a number of ways, including finding more than one solution, exploration, and interactions with peers (Edu-cation Development Center, Inc., 2004).

Creativity. The child is able to approach tasks with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness (Education Development Center, Inc., 2004).

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situations with these positive approaches to learning are better able to regulate their learning experiences, and more quickly acquire general knowledge and cognitive skills. A review of the literature identifies six key skills or learning dispositions that reflect important approaches to learning (Figure 1).

What We Know: Effective Early Education Practices

How can early childhood educators promote these positive approaches to learning that successfully

prepare young children for school? Research is scant in this area. Much of the information and recommended practices come from longstanding beliefs and traditions about young children’s learning and development. A review of this literature suggests four strategies.

Approaches to Learning included in the program’s curriculum.

The first and most straightforward strategy is to make these positive approaches to learning a goal of early education, to include them as part of the program’s curriculum goals. This strategy is important because it emphasizes children’s capacity for change. While a child’s early temperament may be difficult to change, the approaches identified above are malleable and early educators can influence their presence in children. A child who is less persistent and unable to complete tasks can receive support and encouragement to

nurture and strengthen this learning style. Children who are less organized in managing their time and efforts can receive the guidance and models for approaching tasks to increase concentration and organization skills.

Provide opportunities that elicit these skills. The second strategy for promoting positive approaches to learning is to include child-directed activities during the daily routine. By providing multiple activities from which children can choose, early educators offer opportunities for children to explore activities of their interest. This presents an environment in which children’s curiosity and initiative in approaching tasks is stimulated. It also gives children opportunities to practice how well they can self-direct and organize their time and actions. If the bulk of the activities planned by early educators are more teacher-directed, then children have fewer opportunities to initiate and practice their explorations, self-direction, or problem solving.

Challenge children with moderately difficult tasks. The third strategy involves choosing activities and materials that are moderately difficult and offer multiple possibilities for child interaction. In order to encourage children’s curios-ity and initiative, persistence, and problem solving, early educators should choose materials that are neither too easy nor too difficult for the child. If the materials are too easy and familiar, they may not grab the child’s interest, and he or she will be less eager to explore. If the materials are too complex or difficult to interact with, children may quickly become frustrated and lose interest. Choosing activities and materials that are just beyond children’s level of understand-ing and skill, and in which they have shown some interest, provides the necessary stimulus for children to approach challenging tasks with some eagerness and self-direction. Likewise, materials that offer more than one right way to interact provide the stimulus for problem solving and creativity.

Directly teach and support children to use these approaches.

The first three strategies work to create opportunities that elicit the desired approaches to learning. The fourth strategy is the set of early educator behaviors and interactions that prompt, guide, support, and reinforce the child to engage in the desired approaches to learning. Early educators face the difficult task of providing the right amount of guidance and support without being overly directive and stifling. The goal is to prompt, suggest, and guide children’s actions, without helping too much, to preserve the child’s sense of self-direction and autonomy. Providing the right amount of support to scaffold children’s interests and engagement, so they take initiative and persist on their own, is key. Early educators’ encouragement, praise, and feedback in response to the child’s actions communicate expectations, acknowledge the child’s attempts and/or success, and provide language models for the child and other children to internalize and use to figure out and describe what happened.

The strategies summarized above answer the question, “How can early childhood

educators promote these positive approaches to learning that successfully prepare young children for school?” The next question to answer is, “What do early educators need to do to insure these strategies will work for all learners, regardless of differences in abilities, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and economic status?” The focus of this section is on the universal design of early education—designing our physical, social, and instruction-al environments to ensure every child is able to participate, learn, and benefit (see Figure 2).

The principles of universal design are appli-cable to the field of early care and education because of the increasingly diverse groups of children entering into early childhood pro-grams. We know that a one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work. We know that some children may struggle in learning specific skills for reasons related to their abilities, cultural and linguistic background, and economic status. We need to design or redesign our approach because although all children can learn and bring specific gifts to the classroom, some children may also face challenges due to their diverse backgrounds and ability levels.

Figure 2 offers suggestions for universally designing the recommended practices presented earlier.

Figure 2Application of Universal Design Principles to

Early EducationThe design of the physical environment enables all children to have access and equitable opportunities for full participation in all program activities. This includes structures, permanent and movable equip-ment and furnishings, storage, and materials.

The design of health and safety program components minimizes risks and hazards for all children. It ensures all children, regardless of health status or condition, have ongoing access to early care and education by minimizing interruptions to their learning due to illness and injury.

The design of the social-emotional environment offers all children equitable access and full membership to the social-emotional life of the group, and supports their social-emotional development.

The design of the instructional environment enables all children equitable access to learning opportunities and multiple means for engagement and learning. This includes the curriculum, instructional practices, materials, and activities.

The design of individual assessment and program evaluation practices provides multiple approaches to finding out what children know and can do in order to equitably assess individual learning, development, and educational progress.

The design of family involvement practices supports the equitable access and engagement of all families in the full range of experiences. This includes ongoing communication, learning opportunities, and program involvement activities.

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Making These Practices Work for ALL Children: The Universal Design of Early Education

Evidence-Based Practices Universal Design Considerations for the Early Educator

The early educator includes positive approaches to learning as part of his/her program’s curricular goals targeting what all children should be learning

1.Recognize that all children need to acquire positive approaches to learning, including children with significant disabilities or from diverse cultural back-grounds.Gradually introduce and teach children to learn positive approaches to learn-ing, particularly children who have had minimal learning experiences.Explain to families the importance of these positive approaches to learning (e.g., taking initiative, being independent, organizing and managing their time), and how they can encourage their children to acquire these dispositions.

The early educator balances teacher-directed with child-directed activities to provide children opportunities to take the initiative in exploring their environment and to organize and manage their time and effort.

2.Design the physical environment to enable all children to engage in child- and adult-directed activities, and provide easy access to spaces and materials regard-less of children’s body sizes or means for moving around (e.g., wheelchair, crawling).Use a variety of communication techniques to help children know how to use the environment, for example to put away toys and materials, by including children’s home language, English, signs, pictures, labels, signals, and other means.Design activities that accommodate a wide range of individual interests, experiences, understanding, and abilities.

The early educator chooses activities and materials that are moderately difficult and offer multiple possibilities for each child’s interactions.

3.Arrange the storage and display of materials to allow for access and reach by all children, including children with different motor abilities, and which support children to take on clean-up responsibilities.

Plan activities and materials that support different means of exploration and manipulation, accommodating different skill levels and abilities.

Communicate with families to identify culturally appropriate activities and materials they can carry out at home.

The early educator directly teaches children to use more positive approaches to learning by prompt-ing and modeling their use, encour-aging and supporting their initial attempts, and reinforcing their efforts and successes.

4.Provide culturally and linguistically appropriate language models for children to use in figuring out and describing what happened and what happens next.

Clearly communicate the desired expectations of the child- and teacher- directed activities, using multiple ways for presenting the directions and tasks (e.g., simple sentences, pictures, and models).

Use different levels of prompting, modeling, and guidance to initiate a specific positive approach to learning. Through minimal cueing or prompting in the beginning, then gradually increased levels of assistance as needed, the child can be encouraged to act.

Support multiple means of expression (e.g., words, actions, symbols) among children.

Table 1Universal Design Applications

Positive approaches to learning are important for children to successfully enter school. Early educators can teach and

nurture these approaches to learning by creating opportuni-ties, designing appropriate activities and materials, and providing children with the guidance, support, and encour-agement they need. These same positive approaches to learning are important for all children to learn, including children who may struggle to implement them because they have had little experience (e.g., poverty, family culture) or because of the presence of physical and cognitive disabilities.

Early educators can design their activities and lessons to ensure all children acquire these positive approaches to learning.

Effectively designing early education environments to nurture curiosity, independent exploration, problem solving, persistence, etc. is challenging in programs that include children with diverse family backgrounds and/or skill levels. The need to ensure that all early education programs can embrace this diversity and design effective physical, social, and instructional environments is critical, however. The principles, ideas, and strategies in this brief represent a starting point for giving early educators the tools to make this happen.

Summary & Implications

The bibliography for this briefing paper series is online at: http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/ecc/products_research.htm

Many people think that a child who is ready for school is one who knows numbers, letters, and colors. These are indeed important

for a child to know and are a part of cognitive skills and general knowledge. However, looking at the readiness equation above, one can see that cognition and general knowledge are only one part of the school readiness equation.







All Children Ready for School:Cognition and General Knowledge


This working paper examines cognition and general knowledge associated with ready children. It is part of a series identifying early education practices associated with successful school readiness for all children.

Topics in this series focus on ready children (health and physical well-being, language and literacy, cognition andgeneral knowledge, social-emotional skills), ready families, and ready schools.

—Alice Frazeur Cross

Two children in Ms. Mary’s Head Start class have been building with blocks. Ms. Mary calls out, “It’s time for clean-up.” Anna and Jimmy continue to build. Ms. Mary helps them begin by saying, “Can you put four blocks away?” Jimmy isn’t sure how many four is and picks up as many as he can hold in his arms. The teacher says, “Wow, you’ve got a lot of blocks. Let’s count them together” and helps Jimmy count his six blocks as he slides them onto their places on the shelf. Anna puts her four away and gets another four, saying, “That’s eight so far!” Later at circle time, Ms. Mary guides the children in remembering what they saw on a walk. She asks, “What did we see when we looked up high? Do you remember?” A child says, “The sky had clouds.” Ms. Mary adds it to the remembering list.

What We Know: Important Child Outcomes Associated with Cognition and General Knowledge

Cognition is how we know, learn, and remember. It involves the thinking skills that children use to make sense of all the general

knowledge that they acquire. Cognitive skills enable children to make meanings, patterns, and relationships in their learning, for example, the ability to understand how to count objects in order to pick up four blocks. Among the most basic cognitive skills are perception, attention, imitation, and memory. Children’s ability to retain memories increases over time, and they learn strategies to help with remembering, for example, practicing what they want to remember.

The ability to combine cognitive skills helps children to expand their learning. Children begin to make observations, understand cause and effect, learn intentionally, and use symbolic and representational thinking for reading, writing, mathematics, and other skills. At the same time, children begin developing the ability to see relationships among objects by putting them in order and sorting them by type. As they develop and learn, children also learn to solve problems, think logically, and form explanations.

General knowledge has two components. One component is details about the world in which we live, such as, “The sky has clouds.” This component of general knowledge also includes social under-standings, such as, “People have jobs like firefighter, teacher, and doctor.” The second component is the processes of how things work —“Balls fall down when dropped” and “The light comes on when you move the switch,” for example. An important part of process knowledge that contributes to learning is the idea that a process conducted twice in the same way will have the same result.

Cognitive skills and general knowledge are building blocks for school readiness. Cognitive development, along with language and social-emotional development, predicts academic outcomes. Readiness checklists include many items that educators and family members may think of as a single skill, such as naming colors. However, it is important to remember that naming colors involves perception, observation, memory, and language, all cognitive skills, plus being one discrete bit of general knowledge.

Figure 1 presents the cognitive skills and general knowledge that a child has when ready for school. Included are examples of traditional readiness checklist items that relate to each outcome.

Figure 1Cognition and General Knowledge:

Important Learning OutcomesThe child uses intentional strategies to remember, learn, and do, including practice, private speech, planning, and reflecting. (Traditional checklist items: follows a two-step direction; sings a song or retells a story.)

The child explores, observes, and compares things about himself and his world using color, size, shape, number, and other charac-teristics. (Traditional checklist items: sorts items by color, size, and shape; orders three objects by size; identifies bigger/smaller.)

The child uses representation, as well as invented and common number and letter symbols, to communicate observations, ideas, experiences, and experiments. (Traditional checklist items: recognizes name in print; recognizes some letters and single digit numbers; draws a person with head, eyes, mouth, body, arms, legs.)

The child makes predictions, conducts investigations, solves problems, and provides explanations by combining his knowledge and various cognitive skills. (Traditional checklist items: completes a ten piece puzzle.)

The child acquires and uses knowledge about the world including names and attributes of things, categories, and relationships. This includes the traditional learning areas of mathematics, science, language and literacy, social studies, music, and art.

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What We Know: Effective Practices to Promote Cognition and General Knowledge

Educational research clearly indicates that there are things early educators can do to increase the amount of cognitive

skills and general knowledge children attain. The focus of the research has been to determine the effectiveness of early mathematics and science curricula and instructional strategies.

One important research finding is that there is a developmen-tal sequence to how children acquire certain mathematics skills and concepts. Many early educators have thought that providing the right environment and exposure to the right activities would be enough to promote learning. However, educators also need to plan the order of the ideas they introduce to children, so that they present activities that build from one idea and skill to the next. A good way to do this is to choose a curriculum that research has shown to be effective. When educators are continuously aware of how children are developing and learning, they can offer new activities at the best time for each child.

Another research finding pertains to the critical role of the early educator’s communication with the child and how that communication takes place. Language is important to the learning process, and since children are just acquiring lan-guage, early educators must provide the vocabulary and descriptions of children’s mathematics and science activities and other projects for them. Conversations and questions are techniques that early educators use, but research shows that educators should also explicitly describe to the children what they observe them doing, use the “think out loud” technique to help children understand the problem-solving process, and

ask questions that help a child move to the next level of understanding. In addition, early educators can support and reinforce children’s learning by writing what children say about their activities, using photos and work samples to help children remember what they have done, and recording key points that have been learned in their math and science activities.

Research on early math and science learning has also found that children acquire more mathematics and science knowl-edge and skills when provided with a balance of open explora-tion and focused investigation. Offering the open exploration of well-equipped learning centers during free choice and small group times gives children a chance to become comfortable and learn with the equipment and materials. Focused investiga-tions ask children to use the equipment and materials in new or specific ways, find new solutions, and solve problems in order to stretch their learning. Research has also identified the value of an organized learning environment that includes equipment, materials, games, books, and computer programs that specifi-cally promote exploration and investigation of math, science, and other learning areas.

In summary, the early educator promotes children’s cognitive skills and general knowledge when she:

1. Plans math, science, and other learning goals for the children using (a) a coherent, integrated, standards-based curriculum and (b) knowledge of each child’s developmental characteristics, knowledge, skills, learning styles, and preferences.

2. Provides children with a well-organized environment with equipment, materials, games, books, and computer programs that specifically promote exploration and investiga-tion of math, science, and the other learning areas.

3. Promotes learning in math, science, and other areas by providing a balance of open exploration and focused investigation activities.

4. Uses “thinking out loud,” prompting, conversation, games, and other strategies to enable each child to acquire thinking skills.

5. Uses open-ended questions, provides examples, writes what children say, and verbalizes connections between ideas, skills, activities, and routines to enable each child to acquire knowledge and skills in math, science, and the other learning areas.

An early educator might find it easy to say, “I’ll use ‘thinking out loud,’ prompting, conversation,

games, and other strategies to enable each child to acquire thinking skills.” As usual, saying and doing it for each child are two different things. The children who come to our settings bring a wide range of individual characteristics that influence their ability to learn. The data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study and other research have shown that there are differences in school readiness associated with the child’s health and well-being, the kinds of early learning experiences the child has previously had, the child’s home language, the child’s abilities and disabilities, and more. Each of these could prevent a child from being able to be ready for school. Furthermore, children who do not have school readiness tend not to catch-up.

A critical question that every early educator must answer is, “What practices should I use to make sure each child is able to access the learning needed for school readiness?” The principles of universal design for school readiness, presented in Figure 2, are an effective approach to ensuring that each child is able to access learning. The basis of the universal design concept is that an object, environment, or other thing has been designed in a way that ensures that everyone can use or access it from the start. An early educator can use the principles to guide her thinking as she adds or fine tunes the evidence-based instructional strategies to respond to children’s learning characteristics.

Table 1 presents the strategies and offers suggestions for implementing them based on universal design.

Figure 2Application of Universal Design Principles to Early Education

The design of the physical environment enables all children to have access and equitable opportunities for full participa-tion in all program activities. This includes structures, perma-nent and movable equipment and furnishings, storage, and materials.


The design of the social-emotional environment offers all children equitable access and full membership to the social-emotional life of the group, and supports their social-emo-tional development.


The design of individual assessment and program evalua-tion practices provides multiple approaches to finding out what children know and can do in order to equitably assess individual learning, development, and educational progress.


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Recent research has contributed to our knowledge of young children’s cognition and general knowledge. Examples of

cognitive skills include attention, representational and sym-bolic thinking, and problem solving. General knowledge includes the details of the world in which we live. Research has also identified practices that are effective for promoting children’s development and learning in this area. Strategies for promoting children’s readiness include planning the sequential introduction of concepts and skills, providing a learning environment that is thoughtfully organized to give children the equipment and materials that encourage learning in math, science, and other areas, and using strategic conversations and questions to prompt children’s learning.

Furthermore, application of the principles of the universal design of early education to these strategies can ensure that each child will be able to access the learning needed for school readiness. The first step is adopting the personal goal of ensuring that each child will access the needed learning, just as Ms. Mary in Head Start is doing for Jimmy. The next is to begin refining and adding the instructional practices that support each child’s learning. The third is the step of increas-ing professional learning to take advantage of new results coming from research and practice in the area of cognitive skills and general knowledge, as well as in the other aspects of school readiness. Following these steps, each early educator can contribute to a child’s success in school.


The early educator plans math, science, and other learning goals for the children using (a) a standards-based curriculum and (b) knowledge of each child’s developmental characteristics, knowledge, skills, learning styles, and preferences.

1.Choose a curriculum that addresses the sequential development of skills in math, science, and other learning areas, and that has guidance for adjusting activities, ideas, and skills to meet each child’s needs.

Enable each child to demonstrate his learning by using multiple, but compa-rable, methods of assessment that take into consideration the child’s develop-mental and experiential characteristics.

Talk to each child’s family to understand the goals they have for their child and to learn about the family’s preferences and culture.

Offer activities that incorporate children’s interests, experiences, and local culture and that help children to reach goals by participating and learning in multiple ways.

The early educator provides chil-dren with a well-organized environ-ment, with equipment, materials, games, books, and computer programs that specifically promote exploration and investigation of math, science, and other learning areas.

2.Create a physical environment that ensures each child’s easy and independent access to all activities, spaces, equipment, and materials by considering each child’s sensory, motor, linguistic, cognitive and experiential characteristics.

Provide equipment, materials, games/toys, books, and computer programs that use children’s home languages and English, and which reflect family experiences and local culture.

Offer multiple types of equipment, materials, games, books, and computer programs that provide each child with equal access to the concepts and skills in math, science, and other learning areas.

The early educator promotes learning in math, science, and other learning areas by providing a balance of open exploration and focused investigation.

3.Provide guidance and support that enables each child to explore learning centers and the larger environment by motivating some children, helping others to play, or assisting others to try new activities based on individual learning styles and skills.

Present children with focused investigations in math, science, and other learning areas by communicating in languages children understand, using pictures, symbols, graphics, and other means.Communicates with families to identify culturally appropriate activities and materials they can carry out at home.

Help each child learn to investigate by modeling, prompting, and elaborating on what each is doing and by providing multiple guided practice opportunities.

Arrange the environment and the schedule in ways that let children continue projects later in the day or on other days, in response to children’s individual energy levels, attention spans, or interests.

The early educator uses thinking out loud, prompting, conversation, games, etc. to enable each child to acquire thinking skills (recall, logical thinking, prediction, planning and reflection, and problem solving).

4.Offer activities that facilitate each child’s thinking skills, such as individual and small group planning and playing word, card, and tile games to facilitate memory, while considering each child’s various cognitive skills.

Explicitly name and demonstrate thinking skills by “thinking aloud” using the child’s home language, English, or communication system.Uses different levels of prompting, modeling, and guidance to initiate a specific positive approach to learning. S/he may begin with minimal assistance and gradually increase his/her level of assistance to assist the child to act.

Adjust activities that promote thinking skills by shifting the pace of the activity, including adequate wait time for any child to respond, and by providing devices to support memory and communication.

Use individualized questioning and prompting techniques to nudge each child’s thinking to the next level.



A child’s physical well-being is the cornerstone for all components of school readiness. Researchers agree that children’s physical well-

being frames their learning opportunities, either expanding or limiting them. A child’s physical well-being can affect the ability to actively engage, physically and mentally, in the intended and unintended learning opportunities during the most formative years. Disruption in continuous or full engagement with learning, resulting from injury or from chronic or communicable disease, can have a negative impact on the attainment of the breadth and complexity of skills necessary for school readiness.

Researchers and health professionals define physical well-being as the ability to be fully engaged, on a regular basis, in all developmentally appropriate activities. Activities of preschool-age children that are critical to school readiness require energy, stamina, visual and auditory acuity, and large and fine motor skills. The promotion and mainte-nance of a child’s physical well-being in early care and education require a focus on prevention through safe and healthy environments and safe and healthy practices by staff and children.

Equally important is comprehensive health care for children, and support for effective communication between early education and care providers and parents to ensure access to, and utilization of, services and supports for the child’s physical well-being. Without an investment of resources equal to that in other school readiness areas, a child’s ability to take full advantage of an early childhood education program may be compromised.







All Children Ready for School:Health and Physical Well-Being


This working paper focuses on the health and physical well-being of ready children. It is part of a seriesgidentifying early education practices associated with successful school readiness for all children. Topics in

this series focus on ready children (health and physical well-being, language and literacy, cognition and generalknowledge, social-emotional skills), ready families, and ready schools.

—Pat Cole

Tilly, age 4, didn’t follow directions, always spoke in a loud voice, and her attention span was short for a child her age. The child care program examined Tilly’s physical exam records to see if there might be a physical connection to the behavior, and noted a loss of hearing acuity from the previous year. The program director arranged to meet with Tilly’s parents at a time convenient for them. At the meeting, the parents shared that they also noticed the changes in Tilly’s voice volume and ability to follow directions. The program director asked the parents if they would be able to return to her medical provider for further assessment. After the visit to the medical provider, the parents informed the child care director that Tilly had a wax build-up creating the hearing loss and they noticed an immediate change in Tilly’s voice level and ability to focus once the wax was removed. The program director noted the same changes and shared her observation with the parents.

What We Know: Important Physical Health Attributes Associated with School Readiness

Health and early care and education experts have identified several physical health attributes that

are crucial to ensuring that young children are ready and able to succeed when they enter school (Figure 1). Research has found that the presence of these attri-butes is significantly influenced by the socio-economic status of the family. Children from lower socio-economic families are less likely to receive routine health care, including immunizations, developmental and other screening, and dental care. Lack of screen-ing and assessment for physical and developmental needs decreases children’s enrollment in programs that provide supportive services to meet identified needs, often resulting in developmental delays. Research has shown that pre- and post-natal exposure to environ-mental toxins (e.g., lead, mercury) has a lifelong negative impact on children’s cognitive development.

Figure 1Physical Health Attributes Associated with

School ReadinessChildren have up-to-date recommended immunizations.

Physical and developmental disabilities, mental health, and chronic health conditions are identified and treated.

Children are free of communicable disease and accidental, unintentional, or intentional injuries.

Children have sufficient energy and stamina to engage in age-appropriate activities.

Children’s teeth are free of decay and pain, and children have good oral hygiene and healthy teeth.

Children have age-appropriate large and small muscle development.

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How can early childhood educators promote these health indicators, to help successfully prepare young children

for school?

Implement policies and practices that promote physical well-being.

Children depend on adults to make healthy choices for them and to teach them to make healthy choices for themselves. While some degree of risk taking is desirable for learning, a quality early care and education program prevents hazard-ous situations and practices that are likely to result in adverse health and safety consequences for children. Development of policies and recommended practices based on research, combined with input from local subject experts, parents, and staff can result in greater adherence to policies. Enrollment, nutrition, sanitation, transportation, exclusion of ill children, sleep, and emergency preparedness are exam-ples of policy and procedures necessary to promote physical well-being of children and staff. Children mimic the actions of adults, creating the need for sound health and safety practices on the part of early care and education professionals. Research cites nutrition, physical activity, and hand washing as staff practices that have the greatest impact on children’s health habit develop-ment.

Provide safe and healthy environments.Programs must develop and maintain a safe and healthy environment that provides appropriate and well-maintained indoor and outdoor physical environments to minimize exposure to illness and injury. Environments are never neutral in their impact on children. Too little or poorly designed free space creates risks for injury and disease for children and staff. Interaction between the space and the furnishings helps direct people to desired activities. For example, placement of the eating area and the toileting area adjacent to sinks promotes the practice of hand washing.Careful attention to large motor equipment and spaces is

critical due to the exploratory nature of young children. Also, the creation of different areas for large and small muscle play encourages appropriate use of materials and decreases the likelihood of injury resulting from an incompletely developed sense of body image and coordination. Sufficient ventilation and air circulation, removal of toxic materials such as lead and mercury, moderate room tem-perature and humidity, a combination of natural and artificial light, and easy to clean wall and floor surfaces are all important environmental elements in early care and educa-tion settings that affect a child’s physical health.

Provide and maintain age-appropriate equipment, furnishings, and materials.

Properly maintained and cleaned equipment, furnishings, and materials will result in fewer outbreaks of communicable disease and injuries. Additionally, the arrangement of furnishings to facilitate a child’s ability to focus and interpret the experiences provided by the program is critical to the development of all good health habits, as well as other related school readiness skills. Provision of too little or too much equipment and materials will result in less than optimal safety for the children. Children’s non-engagement due to a lack of materials, or overstimulation due to a cluttered environment, increases their risk of injury. Adhering to a regular schedule of equipment and toy inspection and cleaning is important to reduce the potential for injury from unsafe materials and illness spread by con-taminated objects.

Ensure that staff is knowledgeable about health services in the community.

The attainment and maintenance of optimal physical health, to facilitate a child’s consistent attendance at and engage-ment in all components of early care and education, require the utilization of health services for immunizations, well-child checks, treatment of illness, and identification of special health issues. Early care and education providers’

knowledge about available community health services, eligibility, and processes for enrollment in those services is crucial to the health status of individual children and, consequently, to the overall level of health in the facility. Equally important is familiarity with eligibility for and enroll-ment in Medicaid and Hoosier Healthwise, programs that provide healthcare cost coverage for children.

Ensure that staff communication with families and health care providers is consistent, timely, and meaningful.

Implementation of and support for consistent, timely, and meaningful communication between the program, the child’s family, and the child’s community-based health professionals and agencies, to address any health, mental health, or safety matter that affects a child, are critical components of school readiness. It is estimated that over 12 percent of children under five live in poverty, increasing the likelihood that access to preventive and therapeutic health services is extremely limited or nonexistent.

Requesting support, consultation, and education for staff from community-based health professionals increases the ability of the staff to meet the needs of all children, and helps health professionals become more knowledgeable about early care and education, increasing their ability to talk with parents about childcare concerns.

6. Obtain health histories.Children’s chronic and temporary health conditions can affect their ability to fully engage in the activities critical to the development of school readiness skills. When conditions such as hearing and vision impairments, respiratory condi-tions, chronic ear infections, food allergies, physical and mental disabilities, and diabetes are unknown to early care and education providers, the implementation of accommo-dations to ensure the acquisition of school readiness skills is compromised. To prevent this, childcare programs should obtain child and family health histories upon children’s enrollment, and then update records yearly at a minimum. All information provided must be kept confidential by staff.

The strategies summarized above answer the question, “How can early childhood educa-

tors promote these positive approaches to learn-ing that successfully prepare young children for school?” The next question to answer is, “What do early educators need to do to insure these strategies will work for all learners, regardless of differences in abilities, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and economic status?” The focus of this section is on the universal design of early education—designing our physical, social, and instructional environments to ensure that every child is able to participate, learn, and benefit (see Figure 2).

The principles of universal design are applicable to the field of early care and education because increasingly diverse groups of children are enter-ing into early childhood programs. We know that a one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work. We know that some children may struggle in learning specific skills for reasons related to their abilities, cultural and linguistic background, or economic status. All children can learn and all bring specific gifts to the classroom, but some children may also face challenges related to their diverse backgrounds and ability levels. Figure 2 offers suggestions for universally designing the recommended practices presented earlier.


The design of the physical environment enables all children to have access and equitable opportunities for full participation in all program activities. This includes structures, permanent and movable equipment and furnishings, storage, and materials.The design of health and safety program components minimizes risks and hazards for all children. It ensures all children, regardless of health status or condition, have ongoing access to early care and education by minimizing interruptions to their learning due to illness and injury. The design of the social-emotional environment offers all children equitable access and full membership to the social-emotional life of the group, and supports their social-emotional development. The design of the instructional environment enables all children equitable access to learning opportunities and multiple means for engagement and learning. This includes the curriculum, instructional practices, materials, and activities.The design of individual assessment and program evaluation prac-tices provides multiple approaches to finding out what children know and can do in order to equitably assess individual learning, develop-ment, and educational progress. The design of family involvement practices supports the equitable access and engagement of all families in the full range of experiences. This includes ongoing communication, learning opportunities, and program involvement activities.

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Physical and mental health and well-being are important for children to be successful in school and later in life. Early

care and education professionals profoundly affect children’s physical and mental health status through a program’s environ-ment, equipment and materials, practices, collaboration with health service providers, and partnership with parents to

address health issues. These same early education concerns are even more critical for children who have had limited interac-tions with the health care system because of poverty, family culture, or inadequate health services. The application of the principles of universal design to meeting children’s early health needs can help to ensure that each child will enjoy the health and well-being necessary for school readiness and success. The principles, ideas, and strategies in this brief represent a starting point for giving early educators the tools to make this happen.


Evidence-Based Practices Universal Design Considerations for the Early Educator Health and safety policies and practices exist that address the promotion of good health habits (e.g., disease transmission preven-tion, nutrition, physical activity), responses to emergency situations (fire, natural disasters, serious injury, and illness), and sanitation.

1. Ensure that emergency evacuation policies include provisions for children or staff with physical limitations.

Establish practices that ensure children with dietary restrictions due to food allergies and/or religious preferences receive proper nutrition.

Ensure that children with chronic health conditions requiring medication or medical procedures are included in care.

Implement policies and practices that minimize risk of exposure of children and staff to communicable diseases, but that enable enrollment of children with life-threatening health conditions.

The outdoor and indoor environ-ments are safe, clean, attractive, and comfortable for all children and ensure their personal health and safety.

2. Ensure that protective surfacing in fall zones allows maximum mobility for children with motor impairments.

Make passageways between furniture and equipment wide enough to accommo-date all children.

Ensure that environments are free of clutter to allow equal access to all areas by staff and children.

Place bathroom fixtures to allow easy access to toilets and hand-washing sinks by all children.

All equipment, furnishings, and learning materials, including toys, are in good repair, easily cleaned, and developmentally appropriate for the children enrolled.

3. Arrange furnishings to ensure access to learning materials by all children. Make sure shelf height and fasteners do not limit access.

Choose and arrange furnishings, such as tables and chairs, to promote and facilitate small and large group activities for children of all physical statures.

Choose learning materials, including books and clothes for role playing, that reflect multiple cultures in socially acceptable ways.

Early care and education staff are knowledgeable about the availability of health services in the community, eligibility requirements for the services, and the process for enrollment.

4. Have a directory of services available on site that includes those that support chil-dren’s physical, mental, and social-emotional health.

Make accommodations for interpretation to avoid language barriers to access.

Provide sufficient staffing to allow review of copies of applications for enrollment in health services.

Consistent, timely, and meaningful communication between the program, the child’s family, and the child’s community-based health professionals is implemented and supported in order to effectively address health, mental health, or safety matters.

5. Use a variety of communication strategies to accommodate all families’ literacy levels, languages, and physical challenges.

Convey communication, both written and oral, in a culturally sensitive manner.

Schedule staff to allow time for the meaningful and timely exchange of informa-tion in the preferred language of the parent.

Ensure that the timing and volume of communication reflect an understanding of families’ life circumstances.

Child and family health histories are obtained upon enrollment and updated yearly, at a minimum. All information provided is kept confidential by staff.

6. Use health history forms that include information from the family and any health professionals involved with the child.

Ensure that questions included on the form are easily understandable by parents and presented in a culturally sensitive way.

Post notices of dietary restrictions, alternative positioning of infants as request-ed by a physician, and necessary medication records in key locations, with adequate covering to ensure confidentiality.



Our ability to interact with others is one of the key skills developed

throughout the early years. An individual’s ability to understand

and use language determines largely

how successful he or she will be not

only in school, but also in life. Over

the past decade, the conversation

on the growth of language has

evolved to an understanding that

early literacy skills can be seen as

one facet of language. Many of the

conditions that support the growth

of language skills that allow a child to interact on a meaningful level with

others are also those needed to support growth in literacy skills. In ad-

dition, without doubt, the conditions required for the growth of literacy

skills support language development.

This brief examines four aspects of communication development—

spoken and heard oral language, and written and read print lan-

guage— and how universally designed early childhood education

supports the child’s development of these critical communication skills

in anticipation of entry into school.







All Children Ready for School:Communication, Language,

and Literacy


This working paper focuses on communication, language and literacy skills and approaches associated withready children. It is part of a series identifying early education practices associated with successful school

readiness for all children. Topics in this series focus on ready children (health and physical well-being, languageand literacy, cognition and general knowledge, social-emotional skills), ready families, and ready schools.

—Susan D. Dixon

Four-year-old Kim is being picked up from her child care. She is excited because she has drawn a picture for her mom. “Look at my picture, Mommy.”

“I see. It’s beautiful. Tell me about it.”

“It’s a picture about the ‘Wheels on the Bus’ song. See? It’s raining. The wipers are going swish swish swish, and Ms. Linda helped me write ‘swish’ right here. Here’s my name, and ‘I love you Mommy’ right here,” Kim says, pointing to her writing on the page.

“It’s beautiful,” says Kim’s mom, giving her a big hug. “We can put it on the refrigerator with the other pictures when we get home.”

“Reading, writing, listening and speaking are streams that flow into the same pool: they are constantly refreshing each other.”

(Braunger & Lewis, 1997)

What We Know: Important Child Outcomes Associated with Language and Literacy

By the time children enter kindergarten, they should be demonstrating several important

language and literacy skills. Figure 1 identifies six key skills children should have.

This is not where we start, however. Even babies are observing the world around them. The early interactions between caregiver and child lay the foundation for later social communication interac-tions and language growth. Everything a child does during the day, whether at home or in child care, has the potential for communication interactions. From the first cooing hugs between an infant and caregiver, we are shaping knowledge not only of how the social dance of communication happens, but also of how sounds work, how words are formed, how sentences are put together, and how we get information from all of these symbols. Babies are beginning to make connections between sounds and events, words and people, and this early awareness of the sounds in the environment is, in a way, the beginning of learning to read.

Figure 1Language and Literacy: Important Learning Outcomes

By the time children enter kindergarten, they should be:

Using language to get information, give information, and explore ideas.

Telling and retelling familiar stories (both favorite fictional stories and narratives about their own lives).

Understanding that pictures and print represent objects or ideas.

Matching spoken words with familiar written ones, such as their name or signs in their environment.

Identifying some letters and making some letter-sound matches for familiar words.

Engaging in writing attempts that demonstrate understanding of the use of writing to share information, and that approximate known letters in written language.

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Engage children in conversations that encourage them to use language to get information, give information, and explore ideas.

Research tells us that children who grow up in environments where the adults engage in meaningful conversations with them develop knowledge of how language works. Extensive research on mother-child interactions, and nonparental child care providers, has demonstrated how well linguistic respon-siveness supports children’s language development.

Children whose communication interactions are encour-aged and expanded by adults have advantages in school over children who have more limited access to meaning-ful conversation. Since language proficiency is a strong predictor of reading success, it is important to recognize that our language-based interactions play a critical role in our children’s development of both sets of skills.

Children who hear more words develop knowledge about their world, and have a larger vocabulary by age 3. Research tells us that vocabulary size is another indicator of later reading success.

Children who play with sounds (nursery rhymes, finger plays, songs) have an increased understanding of the sounds and letters that make words. Another important factor research has identified in successful reading is phonemic awareness, or the ability to hear and manipu-late separate sounds in words. The early sound play, rhymes, finger plays, and songs all prepare a child’s brain for the eventual task of learning that those sounds

translate to the letters on the page. Research further shows that instruction in phonemic awareness helps all types of children improve their reading.

Plan activities to help children develop story-telling skills.

Story-telling is an activity that meets many language and literacy needs. Through telling stories about daily activities, we provide vocabulary and language experiences, and we introduce the child to constructing narratives that have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Conversations about what you are currently doing together, at home or in child care, set the stage, followed by conversations about what you have done in the past, and will be doing in the future. Story-telling can be as simple as talking about daily events, but clearly has parallel opportunities using books. By reading and re-reading favorite books, children are learning about how words work, how language works, and how print works.

Design environments in which books and other print and writing materials are available to children throughout the day.

Research has found that print awareness is another critical factor influencing literacy development. Children who have had early experience with books enter school having knowledge and skills that are important for learning to read:

They know how books work;

They know that the words on the page have meaning;

They know that words are made up of sounds which fit together to make meaningful units; and

They have experience with the types of behaviors expected when reading.

Integrate writing instruction into routines and play, and across learning areas.

Another way children can see and use print in functional ways is through writing. Researchers have shown that children who have repeated exposure to writing as an activity have an increased understanding of the way print works. Research further shows that teaching reading and writing together improves children’s skills in both areas. Writing encourages children to break down the components

of the words, furthering their phonemic awareness, understanding of the letters, and word recognition. Reading improves children’s writing, and teaching both together improves both areas.

Provide families with opportunities, information, and materials that help them facilitate their child’s language, literacy, and writing skills at home.

One of the most important things adults can do to en-hance a child’s language and literacy skills is to talk with children, and this includes reading with them. One of the most important things early educators can do is to pro-mote a continuity of experiences between home and the early care and education setting.

As educators, how do we ensure that all children

and families, whatever their economic, academic, social, or cultural differences, ability level, or health status, have access to information and activities that can support school-readiness?

Figure 2 discusses the univer-sal design of programs to ensure that each and every child can access and engage in the learning opportunities available, and can benefit from that learning environment.

We can begin to consider these principles in relation to a child’s language and literacy needs in a number of ways. Table 1 presents several ideas for universally designing the practices described earlier.


The design of the physical environment enables all children to have access and equitable opportunities for full participation in all program activities. This includes structures, permanent and movable equipment and furnishings, storage, and materials.


The design of the social-emotional environment offers all children equitable access and full membership to the social-emotional life of the group, and supports their social-emotional development.




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From the moment a baby is born, the chain of events that creates a child who is ready to enter kindergarten begins.

The many relationships in which the child engages are the first and most critical support in learning the language which will enable the child to explore ideas and interact with the world. Early educators and families provide experiences with sound play, words, print, and activities that expand the child’s understanding of the world around him or her, and the meaningful symbol system that is our spoken and print means of communicating.

Through exploration and experience with sounds and words, through conversations that provide a significant source of new ideas and vocabulary, and through exposure to the variety of print media that informs our lives, our children can enter kindergarten with the language and literacy tools necessary for success. By ensuring that our practices are universally designed, we can ensure that all children and families can not only access and engage in the experiences, but also benefit from them.



Engage children in conversations that encourage them to use lan-guage to get information, give information, and explore ideas.

1.Demonstrate social and communication interactions that respect all children’s abilities, health status, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and social and educational experiences.Immerse children in multiple ways of representing and interpreting information around them.Utilize different modes (speech, pictures, gestures, sign language) for presenting information.

Provide information and ask questions at varied levels of language comprehension.

Positively reinforce all communication attempts, then expand or restate attempts to use new vocabulary or language.

Ask open-ended questions, allowing exploration of ideas at varied levels as well as multiple means of responding.

Plan activities to help children develop story-telling skills which give them experience with narrative styles, with vocabulary and lan-guage, with phonological awareness, and with story structures.

2.Embed story-telling opportunities into multiple routines or activities throughout the day.Adjust language, pace, content, and repetition.

Integrate the use of varied formats in the construction and sharing of stories.

Repeat the story multiple times over time.

Use pictures, props, etc. to prompt children’s recall based on individual learning styles.

Record children’s stories via written language, audio, or video.

Design environments in which books and other print and writing materials are available to children throughout the day for children to use for pleasure and as resources.

3.Provide books and other print materials that represent varied ability levels and health status, and reflect economic, academic, social, cultural, and linguistic diversity.

Design contexts in which the many uses of print materials are embedded, encouraging their use for a wide variety or purposes.

Illustrate written instructions or labels with photos or pictures.

Present multiple examples of differences in ability levels, health status, economic, academic, social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds over time.

Schedule time for direct instruction in reading skills.

Integrate writing instruction into routines, into play, and across learning areas.

4.Plan writing experiences that engage children on multiple levels of difficulty.

Include time for both exploration and explicitly taught skills in writing letters.

Take into account varied physical needs (e.g., materials are available for writing that are thick and thin, large and small, have grips to assist with proper grasp, etc.).

Provide families with opportunities, information, and materials that help them facilitate their child’s language, literacy and writing skills at home.

5.Strive to provide opportunities, information, and materials that are responsive to the wide range of families’ ability levels and health status, and reflect economic, academic, social, cultural, and linguistic diversity.



Increasing numbers of children enter school without the skills or abilities necessary to succeed, and ongoing research confirms the

need to think about children’s readiness for school as multi-faceted. There is growing consensus among researchers and educators that we must consider social and emotional maturity as part of school readi-ness, rather than simply focusing on a limited set of academic skills. This brief focuses on the skills young children need in the area of social-emotional development, and how best practices that support these skills can be implemented in order to help all children and their families benefit, regardless of differences in their abilities or cultural, linguistic, or economic backgrounds.







All Children Ready for School:Social-Emotional Development


This working paper focuses on the social-emotional development of ready children. It is part of a seriesidentifying early education practices associated with successful school readiness for all children. Topics in

this series focus on ready children (health and physical well-being, language and literacy, cognition and generalknowledge, social-emotional skills), ready families, and ready schools.

—Lois Hutter-Pishgahi

Omeed and his mother arrive at preschool hand-in-hand. The teacher greets them by name, and both Omeed and his mother look down and smile shyly. Omeed greets some of his peers enthusiastically, but then he hovers near them as an onlooker, not sure of how to join in their play. His teacher approaches him and asks if he would like to make something with the blocks. She gives him the words he needs to enter their play, and then she asks his mother how to say this in her native language. The children in the block corner have fun trying out these new and unusual words. However, Omeed’s playmates have difficulty understanding his request to play, and his first response is to lash out at them in frustration. Luckily, the teacher is ready to intervene, and she helps Omeed to enter the group by modeling simple words and gestures for him to use. He is welcomed into the block corner. Mom leaves with a smile on her face knowing that her son is in good hands in this classroom.

What We Know: Important Skills

Numerous studies have found that a lack of social skills and emotional maturity contribute to the deficit in school readiness. In order to avoid

difficulties at school entry, identifying and addressing these skills in young children is important while there is still time for improvement.

Key social-emotional skills include the following:

The child is able to understand and talk about his/her own feelings.

The child understands the perspective of others and realizes that their feelings may be different from his/her own feelings.

The child is able to establish relationships with adults and maintains an ongoing friendship with at least one other child.

The child is able to enter a group successfully.

The child is able to engage in and stay with an activity for a reasonable amount of time with minimal adult support.

The child is cooperative with companions most of the time and understands the need for rules and fair play.

What We Know: Effective Practices

What are the evidence-based practices that research shows are effective in enhancing or supporting the

social-emotional skills young children need for school readiness? Numerous studies view strategies to support social-emotional development as a pyramid of practices. Inherent to such models is the idea that basic strategies must be in place before more intensive strategies. Each model describes the levels of the pyramid as a hierarchy that begins with building positive relationships with children, families, and colleagues, and it continues with classroom preventive practices, social and emotional teaching strategies, and intensive individualized interventions. The strategies that make up the base of the pyramid must be in place in order to support the higher, more intensive levels.

Research also supports the idea that, on all but the top level of the pyramid, using either incidental or explicit teaching strategies supports social skills. Incidental strategies are those that are embedded within the routines of the day, and educators use them during unstructured activities for brief periods. This type of intervention is effective in encouraging both communication and social skill development, and it supports children who may require numerous opportunities to practice skills in order to ensure they develop compe-tence. Early educators look for opportunities that may occur during a variety of activities, and then use this knowledge to embed an occasion for either an individual child or a group of children to practice social skills. In contrast, explicit strategies are those that have been planned ahead of time, and they can target either one child or the whole group. For example, anger and impulse control includes being able to calm down instead of acting out. Specific interventions are utilized incorporate these skills into activities that children understand, can remember when needed, and enjoy doing. Early educators provide specific times throughout the day for children to practice this self-calming response so that it becomes a natural part of their repertoire of behaviors.

The literature demonstrates that the following strategies are effective in supporting social-emotional skills in young children:

Adopting a specific social skills curriculum: The early educator adopts and implements a specific social skills curriculum on a classroom-wide basis. The reinforce-ment of social skills becomes an explicit part of the curricu-lum, and specific activities that support social skills become a part of the routine (e.g., a daily or weekly circle time where children explore emotions). The presence of a specific social skills curriculum also provides opportunities for the inciden-tal support of social skills because the early educator is tuned into embedding the practice of these skills within the routines of the day. The frequency and duration of children’s social interactions increase as a result of friendship activities, along with generalization of the skills to free-play periods.

Manipulating the schedule, routines, materials, and activities:

The early educator manipulates these variables in order to support social skills. Everyday activities and routines, such as coming and going or meal and snack times, provide ideal incidental occasions to embed opportunities to practice social skills. Friendship skills, like sharing and taking a turn, can also be explicitly introduced and reinforced through activities that are adapted to promote social interactions, by purposefully embedding pro-social responses in common early childhood songs, games, and activities. Materials such as the sand table or games that require give and take among children are available to support and promote social/friendship skills.

Peer modeling, peer tutoring, and peer proximity: Through these strategies, socially competent peers, rather than the teacher, serve as the direct intervention agents to teach social behaviors. Teachers provide instruction to peers on ways to initiate and prolong social interactions with children needing help with their social skills, and they prompt or reinforce peers’ initiations. They naturally embed these strategies within the routine of the day, or plan the strategies as an intervention for a specific child. Increased rates of social interaction, increased use of language, and longer interactions between children have resulted from the use of such peer-mediated techniques. These strategies can be very effective because children tend to learn more from watching and imitating their peers than from adults.

Adult priming, modeling, prompting or reinforcing:

In these strategies, the early educator/adult serves as the direct intervention agent. The teacher may provide the initial structure for social interactions/activities and then pull back to allow the activity to develop naturally. For example, the teacher might help the children to set up a play situation such as playing store, assigning roles and helping the children get involved in the play, and then leave when the children become engaged and capable of continuing on their own. In other situations, the teacher models a behavior, prompts a child to imitate other children’s appropriate behavior, or reinforces appropriate, effective social behavior that is being displayed by the target child. The implementation of these strategies may be either incidental or planned ahead of time.

Social integration activities: The early educator designs or arranges individualized peer interaction interventions that require advance planning and some level of expertise. The early educator arranges for a child with limited peer interaction skills to have planned opportunities on a daily basis to interact with children who are socially competent and responsive to the other child.

The child is able to manage feelings of anger, frustration, and distress when faced with emotionally charged situa-tions (e.g., another child tries to take a favorite toy away).

The strategies summarized above answer the question, “How can early childhood educators promote these

positive approaches to learning that successfully prepare young children for school?” The next question to answer is, “What do early educators need to do to insure these strate-gies will work for all learners, regardless of differences in abilities, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and economic status?” The focus of this section is on the universal design of early education—designing our physical, social, and instruc-tional environments to ensure that every child is able to participate, learn, and benefit (see Figure 1).

The principles of universal design are applicable to the field of early care and education because increasingly diverse groups of children are entering into early childhood pro-grams. We know that a one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work. We know that some children may struggle in learning specific skills for reasons related to their abilities, cultural and linguistic background, or economic status. All children can learn and all bring specific gifts to the class-room, but some children may also face challenges related to their diverse backgrounds.

Research highlights the social-emotional challenges that specific groups of children may face. Several major factors appear to build or maintain individual social-emotional resiliency, including three that speak to the importance of universal design: access to culturally appropriate support, continuance of rituals, celebrations, and practices, and interaction with positive role models from one’s own cultural tradition. Another factor that may influence pro-social behav-iors is the language used in the child’s home. Parents and teachers have reported that children whose home language is one other than English are less likely to engage in three important pro-social behaviors: joining others in play, making friends, and comforting or helping other children. Children who exhibit these pro-social skills may have an easier time adjusting to school because the ability to make friends and to be sensitive to others contributes to a more positive learning environment. In addition, children with developmental delays may have feelings of being different from peers and adults other than their parents, which can affect their school experiences. Finally, additional research points out that children from low-income households have increased risks for being socially rejected or withdrawn from peers and teachers. This increases their risk of later school failure.

Therefore, as we look at the strategies we use to support socio-emotional development in young children, we must implement these strategies in ways that are meaningful to all individual children. In a universally designed early childhood setting, this goal should guide the design of the curriculum, practices, and environment so that children’s individual needs and strengths are acknowledged and addressed by the early childhood educator.

Table 1 offers suggestions for universally designing the recommended practices presented earlier.

Figure 1Application of Universal Design Principles to Early

EducationThe design of the physical environment enables all children to have access and equitable opportunities for full participation in all program activities. This includes structures, permanent and movable equipment and furnishings, storage, and materials.


The design of the social-emotional environment offers all children equitable access and full member-ship to the social-emotional life of the group, and supports their social-emotional development.




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Our current educational system places emphasis on academic goals for children. As we move forward and

make efforts to improve the outcomes that children are achieving, we must keep in mind that emotional develop-ment and behavioral self-regulation are as important to early development as learning to read. We must pay attention to the whole child. As we consider the social-emotional development of young children in relationship to their school readiness, we are reminded of the key role it plays and the need to provide support in ways that acknowledge differ-ences in abilities as well as in cultural, linguistic, and eco-nomic backgrounds, in ways that reflect a philosophy of Universal Design. The principles, ideas, and strategies in this brief represent a starting point for giving early educators the tools to make this happen.


Evidence-Based Practices Universal Design Considerations for the Early Educator The early educator adopts a specific social skills curriculum that is implemented on a classroom-wide basis so that the support of social skills becomes an explicit part of the curriculum, and specific activities that support social skills become a part of the routine. For example, the curriculum includes a circle time activity devoted to identifying emotions.

1. Use a variety of materials and/or methods to portray the different emotions. Children may respond to pictures, act out an emotion, describe it, or draw their own picture portraying the emotion.

Allow for different ways of responding and demonstrating understanding of the emotions. Children may make a choice by pointing, vocalizing, responding with words, or picking up the picture that represents their answer.

Understand that a child’s response to or comfort with different emotions may vary. Reassure children in order to increase their comfort level in the classroom.

Ask parents and families to share their cultural experiences and expressions of different emotions, so that children understand that there are differences in how people express emotions. Discuss and reinforce the classroom norms, so that parents have a better understanding of the expectations for social-emo-tional behavior within the classroom.

The early educator manipulates the schedule, routines, materials, and activities in order to support social skills. Everyday activities and routines, such as coming and going or meal and snack times, provide ideal incidental opportunities to embed and practice social (friend-ship) skills like sharing and taking a turn. For example, a water table provides the activity for supporting children’s social interactions.

2. Arrange the physical aspect of the circle time activity to ensure that all children are able to engage and participate as independently as possible (e.g., toys/materials in the water, sand, or bean table allow for the fact that children have different abilities in physically manipulating materials).

Acknowledge that some children will not have had an opportunity to play in a water table. Add some familiar element to the activity in order to gain the child’s interest and comfort in participating in this activity.

Know that sensory-motor issues may prevent positive play for some children. Consider the best way to introduce children to this activity.

The early educator utilizes peer modeling in which he or she provides instruction to the child’s peers on ways to initiate and prolong social interactions with children needing help with their social skills, and prompts or reinforces peers’ initiations. For example, the early educator prompts one child to help another with his puzzle while modeling appropriate social skills.

3. Consider the verbal repertoire of both children by giving the helper (child) the words to use in offering help so that the offer is understood and/or acknowl-edged.

Provide the receiving child with a nonverbal way of responding, if needed.

Be available initially to interpret communicative attempts (e.g., vocalizations, body language, facial expressions, etc.) for this strategy to be successful.

Provide a puzzle that portrays an image that is familiar to both children to support their interest and extended engagement in this social opportunity.

Provide a choice of puzzles that reflects the physical and cognitive needs of the target child and supports his involvement.

The early educator Includes social integration activities in his or her classroom by arranging for a child with limited peer interaction skills to have planned opportunities on a daily basis to interact with children who are socially competent and responsive to that child. For exam-ple, one child has the responsibility of greeting everyone entering the classroom in the morning

4. Support each child’s individual way of communicating his or her greeting (e.g., verbally, through a communication device, with a written sign, by a gesture, etc.).

Accept that greetings may take many forms (e.g., eye contact, smiling, nodding the head, shaking hands, a small bow at the waist, a high five, etc.).

Provide for a variety of physical needs in this activity. Some children may physically tire before greeting everyone, and an alternative means of communicating a greeting may need to be substituted.

Be flexible and responsive to a broad range of emotional needs and abilities. Some children may not have the emotional regulation to stay with the activity long enough to greet the whole class, so a backup plan should be in place.




All Children Ready for School:Bibliographies by Topic


This bibliography references the eight topics covered in All Children Ready for School, the briefing paperseries identifying early education practices associated with successful school readiness for all children.

Topics in this series focus on ready children (health and physical well-being, language and literacy, approaches to learning, cognition and general knowledge, social-emotional skills), ready families, and ready schools.



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Contents

Approaches to Learning - Michael Conn-Powers

Cognition and General Knowledge - Alice Frazeur Cross

Communication, Language, and Literacy - Susan D. Dixon

Getting a Good Start with Infants and Toddlers - Elizabeth Traub

Health and Physical Well-Being - Pat Cole

Ready Families - Cathy Beard

Ready Schools - Jim Ansaldo

Social-Emotional Development - Lois Hutter-Pishgahi

Barnett, W. S., Young, J. W., & Schweinhert, L. J. (1998). How preschool education influences long-term cognitive development and school success: A causal model. In W. S. Barnett, S. Spence, & S. S. Boocock (Eds.), Early care and education for children in poverty: Promises, programs and long-term results (pp. 167-184). New York: State University of New York Press.

Baroody, A. J. (2000). Does mathematics instruction for three- to five year-olds really make sense? Young Children, 55(4), 61-67.Boggiano, A. K., Main, D. S., & Katz, P. A. (1988). Children’s preference for challenge: The role of perceived competence and control.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(1), 134-141.

Bowman, B. T., Donovan, S., & Burns, M. S. (2001). Eager to learn: Educating our preschoolers. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Carlton, M. P., & Winsler, A. (1998). Fostering intrinsic motivation in early childhood classrooms. Early Childhood Education Journal, 25(3), 159-166.

Carr, M. (2001). A sociocultural approach to learning orientation in an early childhood setting. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 14(4), 525-542.

Carson, D. K., & Bittner, M. T. (1994). Temperament and school-aged children’s coping abilities and responses to stress. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 155(3), 289-302.

Fantuzzo, J. W., Bulotsky-Shearer, R., Fusco, R. A., & McWayne, C. (2005). An investigation of preschool classroom behavioral adjustment problems and social-emotional school readiness competencies. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20(3), 259-275.

George, J., & Greenfield, D. B. (2005). Examination of a structured problem-solving flexibility task for assessing approaches to learning in young children: Relation to teacher ratings and children’s achievement. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology: An Interna-tional Lifespan Journal 26(1), 69-84.

Gilliam, W. S., & Zigler, E. (2000). A critical meta-analysis of all evaluations of state-funded preschool from 1977-1998: Implications for policy, service delivery, and program evaluation. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 15(4), 441-473.

Gredler, G. R. (1978). A look at some important factors in assessing readiness for school. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 11(5), 284-90.

Hauser-Cram, P. (1996). Mastery motivation in toddlers with developmental disabilities. Child Development, 67, 236-248.

Hauser-Cram, P. (1998). I think I can, I think I can: Understanding and encouraging mastery motivation in young children. Young Children, 53, 67-71

Hyson, M. (2003). Putting early academics in their place. Educational Leadership, 60(7), 20-23.

Johnson, L. J., Gallagher, R. J., Cook, M., & Wong, P. (1995). Critical skills for kindergarten: Perceptions from kindergarten teachers. Journal of Early Intervention 19(4), 315-327.

Kagan, S. L., Moore, E., & Bredekamp, S. (Eds.). (1995). Reconsidering children’s early development and learning: Toward common views and vocabulary. Washington, DC: National Education Goals Panel.

Katz, L. G. (2000). Another look at what young children should be learning. ERIC Digest. http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-1/look.html

Lewit, E. M., & Baker, L. S. (1995). Child indicators: School readiness. The Future of Children, 5(2), 128-139.

McWilliams, M. S. (1999, March). Fostering wonder in young children: Baseline study of two first grade classrooms. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Boston, MA.

The National Education Goals Panel. (1997). Getting a good start in school. Washington, DC: Author.

Noble, K. G., Tottenham, N., & Casey, B. J. (2005). Neuroscience perspectives on disparities in school readiness and cognitive achieve-ment. The Future of Children, 15(1), 71-89.

Palmer, S. B., & Wehmeyer, M. L. (2003). Promoting self-determination in early elementary school: Teaching self-regulated problem-solving and goal-setting skills. Remedial and Special Education, 24(2), 115-126.

Stipek, D. (1996). Motivation and instruction. In D.C. Berliner & R.C. Calfee (Eds.). Handbook of educational psychology (pp. 85-113). New York: Macmillan.

Wald, G. S. (2000). Moving from “I think I can” to “I know I can.” Young Children, 55(4), 14-15.

West, J., Denton, K., & Germino-Hausken, E. (2000). America’s kindergartners: Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99: Fall 1998. Education Statistics Quarterly 2(1), 7-13.

Willson-Quayle, A., &. Winsler, A. (2000, June). How much teacher direction is best for promoting low-income Latino preschoolers’ learning, motivation, and private speech? A controlled experiment. Paper presented at the Head Start National Research Conference on Development and Contextual Transitions of Children and Families, Washington DC.

Zero to Three. (2002). Curiosity. National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. Retrieved October 2, 2006 from http://www.zerotothree.org/tips/CURIOSIT.HTM

Zero to Three. (2002). Goal-directed behavior (intentionality, persistence). National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. Retrieved October 2, 2006, from http://www.zerotothree.org/tips/INTENTIO.HTM

Approaches to Learning

Cognition and General Knowledge

Casey, B., Kersh, J. E., & Young, J. M. (2004). Storytelling sagas: An effective medium for teaching early childhood mathematics. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 167-172.

Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2007). Building Blocks-SRA Real Math, Grade PreK. Columbus, OH: SRA/McGraw-Hill.

Currie, J. M. (2005). Health disparities and gaps in school readiness. School readiness: Closing racial and ethnic gaps: The Future of Children, 15(1) 117-138. Retrieved February 6, 2006 from http://www.futureofchildren.org/usr_doc/pg_117_currie.pdf

Diezmann, C., & Yelland, N. J. (2000). Developing mathematical literacy in the early childhood years. In N. J. Yelland (Ed.), Promoting meaning-ful learning: Innovations in educating early childhood professionals (pp. 47-58). Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Dodge, D. T., Colker, L. J., & Heroman, C. (2002). The creative curriculum® for preschool (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Teaching Strategies.

Duncan, G. J., & Magnuson, K. A. (2005). Can family socio-economic resources account for racial and ethnic test score gaps? School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps: The Future of Children, 15(1) 35-54. Retrieved February 6, 2006 from http://www.futureofchildren.org/usr_doc/pg35_duncan-magnuson.pdf

French, L. (2004). Science as the center of a coherent, integrated early childhood curriculum. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 138-149.

Gelman, R., & Brenneman, K. (2004). Science learning pathways for young children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 150-158.

Ginsburg, H. P., Greenes, C., & Balfanz, R. (2003). Big math for little kids. Parsippany, NJ: Dale Seymour.

Griffin, S. (2004). Building number sense with Number Worlds: A mathematics program for young children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 173-180.

Hair, E., Halle, T., Terry-Humen, E., & Calkins, J. (2003). Naturally occurring patterns of school readiness: How the multiple dimensions of school readiness fit together. Presentation at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Retrieved February 6, 2006 from http://www.childtrends.org/Files/HairSRCDPPT2.pdf

Hohmann, M., & Weikart, D. P. (2002). Educating young children: Active learning practices for preschool and child care programs, 2nd ed. Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope.

Indiana Department of Education. (2004). Foundations for Young Children to the Indiana Academic Standards, revised. Retrieved February 24, 2006 from http://doe.state.in.us/primetime/

Lee, V. E., & Burkam, D. T. (2002). Inequality at the starting gate: Social background differences in achievement as children begin school. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.

Murphey, D. A. (2003). Discriminant validity of a community-level measure of children’s readiness for school. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 5(2). Retrieved February 24, 2006 from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v5n2/murphey.html

Noble, K. G., Tottenham, N., & Casey, B. J. (2005). Neuroscience perspectives on disparities in school readiness and cognitive achieve-ment. School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps: The Future of Children, 15(1) 71-89. Retrieved February 6, 2006 from http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info_show.htm?doc_id=255946

Peisner-Feinberg, E. S., Burchinal, M. R., Clifford, R. M., Culkin, M.L., Howes, C., Kagan, S. L., et al. (1999). The children of the cost, quality, and outcomes study go to school: Executive summary. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center. Retrieved February 6, 2006 from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncedl/pdfs/CQO-es.pdf.

Rathbun, A., & West, J. (2004). Early childhood longitudinal study from kindergarten through third grade: Children’s beginning school experiences. NCES Quarterly Report, 6(3). Retrieved February 24, 2006 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/quarterly/vol_6/6_3/2_1.asp

Sarama, J., & Clements, J. (2004). Building Blocks for early childhood mathematics. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 181-189.

Sophian, C. (2004). Mathematics for the future: Developing a Head Start curriculum to support mathematics learning. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 59-81.

Starkey, P., Klein, A., & Wakeley, A. (2004). Enhancing young children’s mathematical knowledge through a prekindergarten mathematics intervention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 99-120.

Young-Loveridge, J. M. (2004). Effects on early numeracy of a program using number books and games. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 82-98.

Zill, N., & West, J. (2001). Entering kindergarten: A portrait of American children when they begin school: Findings from The Condition of Education 2000 (NCES Publication 2001–035). Retrieved February 24, 2006 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001035.pdf

Zur, O., & Gelman, R. (2004). Young children can add and subtract by predicting and checking. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 121-137.

Getting a Good Start with Infants and ToddlersFinneran, K. (1997, Summer). Roundtable: Infant care and child development. Issues in Science and Technology. Retrieved February 6,

2006 from http://www.issues.org/13.4/roundt.htmHeart start: the emotional foundation of school readiness. (1992). Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE.Kimes, L. (2003). Early childhood mental health: Assuring school readiness by promoting healthy social and emotional development.

Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE.McCormick, M. C., McCartin, C., Tonascia, J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1993). Early educational intervention for very low birth weight infants:

Results from the Infant Health and Development Program. The Journal of Pediatrics, 123(4), 527-533.National Center for Children in Poverty (2006, January). Basic facts about low-income children: Birth to age 3. New York: Columbia

University, Mailman School of Public Health. Retrieved February 16, 2006, from http://www.nccp.org/media/lic06_text.pdf .NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2002). Child care structure, process to outcome: Direct and indirect effects of childcare

quality on young children’s development. Psychological Science, 13, 199-206.Parlkian, R. (2003). Before the ABCs: Promoting school readiness in infants and toddlers. Washington DC: ZERO TO THREE.Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. H. (Eds.). (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington,

DC: National Academy Press.White, N. (Ed.). (2005). The early childhood foundation for lifelong learning. R&D Alert,7(3). Retrieved February 28, 2006 from http://

www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/794.Wilen, J. R. (2003). Toward the ABCs: Building a healthy social and emotional foundation for learning and living. Chicago: Ounce of

Prevention. Retrieved April 4, 2006 from http://www.ounceofprevention.org/ZERO TO THREE Infant Mental Health Task Force. (2002, August). What is infant mental health and what does it mean for my program?

Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE, Center for Program Excellence. Retrieved February 23, 2006, from http://www.zerotothree.org/cpe/tip_2002_08.html

Communication, Language, and Literacy

Baridge, B. & Segal, M. (2004). Conversations in Child Care. Zero to Three 25(1), 16-22.

Blach, B., Tangel, D., Wynne Ball, E., Black, R., & McGraw, C. (1999). Developing phonological awareness and word recognition skills: A two-year intervention with low-income, inner-city children. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 11, 239-273.

Braunger, J., & Lewis, J. P. (1997). Building a knowledge base in reading. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory; Urbana IL: National Council of Teachers of English; & Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Dickinson, D. & Tabors, P. (Eds.). (2001). Beginning literacy with language: Young children learning at home and school. Baltimore: Brookes.

Girolametto, L. & Weitzman, E. (2002). Responsiveness in caregiver-child interaction. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 33, 268-281.

Goelman, H. (2002). The language of caregiving and caretaking in child care settings. In L. Girolametto and E. Weitzman (Eds.), Enhancing caregiver language facilitation in child care settings: Proceedings from the Symposium, October 18, 2002 (pp 2-1 - 2-11). Toronto: The Hanen Centre.

Goelman, H., Doherty, G., Lero, D., LaGrange, A. & Tougas, J. (2000). Caring and learning in child care centres across Canada. Guelph, ON: University of Guelph Centre for Families, Work, and Well-Being.

Hart, B. & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experiences of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

Howes, C. & Wishard, A. (2004). Linking shared meaning to emergent literacy: Looking through the lens of culture. Zero to Three 25(1), 10-14.

Makin, L., & Jones Diaz, C. (2002). Literacies in early childhood: Changing views challenging practice. Sydney: Maclennan + Petty.

Koralek, D. (Ed.). (2003). Spotlight on young children and language. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Owocki, G. (1999). Literacy through play. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Pikulski, J. J. (1994). Preventing reading failure: A review of five effective programs. The Reading Teacher, 48(1), 30-39.

Scarborough, H. S. (2000, September) Predictive and causal links between language and literacy development: Current knowledge and future directions. Paper presented at the Workshop on Emergent and Early Literacy: Current Status and Research Directions, Rockville, MD.

Snow, C., Burns, M. S., & Griffen, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Bornstein, M. H., & Baumwell, L. (2001). Maternal responsiveness and children’s achievement of language milestones. Child Development, 72(3), 748-767.

Treiman, R., Tincoff, R., Rodriquez, K., Mouzaki, A., & Francis, D. (1998). The foundations of literacy: Learning the sounds of letters. Child Development, 69, 1524-1540.

Weitzman, E. (1992). Learning language and loving it: A guide to promoting children’s social and language development in early childhood settings. Toronto, CA: The Hanen Centre.

Health and Physical Well-Being

American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Environmental Health. (2003). Pediatric environmental health. Elk Grove Village, IL: Author.

Aronson, S. (Ed.). (2002). Healthy young children: A manual for programs. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Biggar, H., & Peter, P. (2004) School readiness and more. Young Children, 59(3), 64-66.

Brown, B., Zaslow, M., & Weitzman, M. (2006). Studying and tracking early childhood development from a health perspective: A review of available data sources. Washington, DC: The Commonwealth Fund.

Carnegie Corporation on Meeting the Needs of Young Children. (1994). Starting points: Meeting the needs of our youngest children. New York: Author.

Cassidy, D., & Lawrence, J. (2000). Teachers’ beliefs: The “whys” behind the “how tos” in child care classrooms. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 14(2), 193-204.

Committee on Early Childhood Adoption and Dependent Care. (2005). Quality early education and child care from birth to kindergarten. Pediatrics in Review, 115(1), 187-191.

Gupta, R. S., Shuman, S., Taveras, E. M., Kuldorff, M., & and Finkelstein, J. A. (2005). Opportunities for health promotion education in child care. Pediatrics, 116, 499-505.

Involve parents, experts in determining children’s school preparedness. (2006, January). Early Childhood Report, 17(1), 1, 9.

Karoly, A., Kilburn, R. A., & Cannon, J. S. (2005). Children at risk: Consequences for school readiness and beyond. Retrieved September 20, 2006, from http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9144

Karoly, L. A., Kilburn, R. A., & Cannon, J. S. (2005). Early childhood interventions: Proven results, future promise. Retrieved September 20, 2006, from http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG341

Knitzer, J., & Lefkowitz, J. (2006). Pathways to early school success: Helping the most vulnerable infants, toddlers, and their families. New York, NY: National Center for Children in Poverty.

National Association of Child Advocates. (2000) Making investments in young children: What the research on early care and education tells us. Washington, DC: Author.

National Association of School Nurses, & The American Academy of Pediatrics. (2005). Health, mental health, and safety guidelines for schools. Elk Grove Village, IL: Author.

Rhode Island Kids Count. (2005). Getting ready: Findings from the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative. Providence, RI: Author.

Sells, J. M., (2006, March). Why health and school readiness are inseparable. Paper presented at the Association of Maternal & Child Health Annual Conference, Arlington, VA.

Shonkoff, J. P., & and Phillips, D. H. (Eds.). (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washing-ton, DC: National Academy Press.

Shope, T., & Aronson, S. (2005). Improving the health and safety of children in nonparental early education and child care. Pediatrics in Review, 26(3), 86-95.

Walker, K. & Bowie, A. (2004). Linking the child care and health care systems: A consideration of options. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures.

Ready Families

School Readiness Indicators Task Force. (2004). Colorado’s School Readiness Indicators: Making Progress for Young Children: Ready Family (pp. 37-43). Denver, CO: Author. Retrieved February 4, 2006, from http://www.schoolreadinesscolorado.org/PDF/SRI-Report.pdf

Diamond, K. E., Reagan, A. J., & Bandyk, J. E. (2000). Parents’ conceptions of kindergarten readiness: Relationships with race, ethnicity, and development. Journal of Educational Research, 94(2), 93-100.

Epstein, J. L., & Salinas, K. C. (2004, May). Partnering with families and communities. Educational Leadership, 61(8), 12-17.

Karoly, L. A., Kilburn, M. R., & Cannon, J. S. (2005). Children at risk: Consequences for school readiness and beyond. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.

Michigan Education Association. (2004, November 14). Your child: Parents are truant: Student achievement at risk [press release]. Re-trieved February 9, 2006, from http://www.rcs.k12.in.us/news/2004/pdf/Parents_are_Truant.pdf

Powell, D. R. (2003). Relations between families and early childhood programs. In J. Mendoza, L. G. Katz, A. S. Robertson, & D. Rothen-berg, Connecting with parents in the early years (pp. 141-154). Champaign, IL: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. (2004). Child health USA 2004: Population characteristics. Rockville, MD: Author. Retrieved on February 2006, from http://www.mchb.hrsa.gov/mchirc/chusa_04/pages/0300pc.htm

Ready Schools

The Access Center. (1994). Universal design to support access to the general education curriculum. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved October 3, 2006, from http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/UniversalDesign.asp

The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2006). Strengthening schools: Ready schools. Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved October 6, 2006, from http://www.aecf.org/initiatives/mc/sf/schools/ready.htm

Child Trends. (2001). School readiness: Helping communities get children ready for school and schools ready for children. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved October 3, 2006 from http://www.childtrends.org

The National Association for the Education of Young Children, & the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Depart-ments of Education. (2002). Where we stand on early learning standards. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved October 3, 2006, from http://www.naeyc.org/about/positions/pdf/elstandardsstand.pdf

The National Educational Goals Panel. (1998). Ready Schools. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved October 3, 2006, from http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/negp/Reports/readysch.pdf

National Governor’s Association Task Force on School Readiness. (2005). Building the foundation for bright futures: Final report of the NGA Task Force on School Readiness. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved October 3, 2006, from http://www. nga.org/Files/pdf/0501TaskForceReadiness.pdf

Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved October 3, 2006, from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

Rosenkoetter, S., & Taylor, S. (2005). Ready schools: Concluding thoughts and questions. A presentation at the Ready Schools National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, November 3-4, 2005. Retrieved October 4, 2006, from http://www.ccsso.org/projects/School_Readiness/6340.cfm

School Readiness Indicators Task Force. (2004). Colorado’s school readiness indicators: Making progress for young children: Ready school (pp. 44-52). Denver, CO: Author. Retrieved October 4, 2006, from http://www.schoolreadinesscolorado.org/PDF/SRI-Report.pdf

Social-Emotional Development

Brown, W., McEvoy, M., & Bishop, N. (1991). Incidental teaching of social behavior: A naturalistic approach for promoting young children’s peer interactions. Teaching Exceptional Children, 24(1), 35-38.

Brown, W. H., Odom, S., & Conroy, M. (2001). An intervention hierarchy for promoting young children’s peer interactions in natural environments. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 21(3), 162-175.

Eric Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (1992). Having friends, making friends & keeping friends. Urbana, IL: Author. Retrieved February 9, 2005, from http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Having-Friends1.htm

Fox, L., Dunlap, G., Hemmeter, M. L., Joseph, G., & Strain, P. (2003). The teaching pyramid: A model for supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior in young children. Young Children, 58(4), 48-52.

Gordon, S., Mulligan, S., Miller, K., Green, & Morris, S. (1995, September). Creating an environment that supports the developing social skills of all children. Child Care Information Exchange, 105, 47-50.

Kohler, F., Anthony, L., Steighner, S., & Hoyson, M. (2001). Teaching social interaction skills in the integrated preschool: An examination of naturalistic tactics. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 21(2), 93-103.

West, J., Denton, K., & Germino-Hausken, E. (2000). America’s kindergartners [Statistical analysis report]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 9, 2005, from http://nces.ed.gov/pub2000/2000070.pdf

Odom, S., McConnell, S., McEvoy, M., Peterson, C., Ostrosky, M., Chandler, L., et al. (1999). Relative effects of interventions supporting the social competence of young children with disabilities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 19(2), 75-91.

Ragozzino, K., Resnik, H., Utne-O’Brien, M., & Weissberg, R. (2003). Promoting academic achievement through social and emotional learning. Educational Horizons, 81(4), 169-171. Retrieved June 23, 2005, from http://www.pilambda.org/horizons/v81-4/Ragozzino.pdf

Raver, C. C. (2002). Emotions matter: Making the case for the role of young children’s emotional development for early school readiness. Social Policy Report 16(3), 3-6. C. Retrieved June 23, 2005 from http://www.srcd.org/Documents/Publications/SPR/spr16-3.pdf.

Raver, C. C., & Knitze, J. (2002). Ready to enter: What research tells policy makers about strategies to promote social and emotional school readiness among three- and four-year-old children. New York: Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, National Center for Children in Poverty. Retrieved February 15, 2006, from http://www.nccp.org/media/pew02c-text.pdf

Taylor, A. S., Peterson, C., McMurray-Schwarz, P., & Guillou, T. S. (2002). Social skills interventions: Not just for children with special needs. Young Exceptional Children, 5(4), 19-26.

Teach More/Love More. (2001). A good beginning: Social and emotional competence for school readiness. Miami, FL: The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation. Retrieved June 23, 2005, from http://www.teachmorelovemore.org/BestTrendsDetails.asp?faqid=191