Early Childhood Resources for the New Learning Year!

Kindergarten Sturdy Bridge Learning Community

The kindergarten year presents a crucial opportunity to build partnerships and trust with parents and families, and to work with them on nurturing habits and routines, including everyday attendance, for early school success. To support efforts for a transformational kindergarten year, ED released a Dear Colleague Letter launching a multistate community of practice: Kindergarten Sturdy Bridge Learning Community. State educational agencies and local educational agencies will have the opportunity to participate in peer learning, receive technical assistance, share and learn about best practices, and strengthen and build new collaborative networks to transform how students experience kindergarten. States can learn more about the learning community and indicate their interest in participating by completing an online form

Protecting Early Childhood Programs from Infection

Keeping early childhood settings clean reduces the risk of infection for children and educators. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has resources on hand hygiene and cleaning and disinfecting. A free online clean hands and spaces training is  available in English and Spanish. Additional resources are available on CDC’s early care and education portal.

The Importance of Health Literacy

Ensuring that people have access to and can understand health information is an important role of early childhood providers, programs, and organizations. Health and Human Services’ National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety developed a resource to support health literacy in early childhood programs.