Below are resources for early childhood professionals and those serving the early childhood community.

Practicing Kindergarten: How a Summer Program Eases Kids Into Learning (Video)  The start of kindergarten can be overwhelming for students, and for their parents. In Portland, Ore., a summer program is working to ease that transition.

KIDS: Every Illinois Child Ready for Kindergarten  The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) is an observational tool designed to help teachers, administrators, families and policymakers better understand the developmental readiness of children entering kindergarten.

Moving Away from Magical Thinking: Understanding the Current State of Pre-K Research  Depending on what newspaper or website you’ve read most recently, you may think it’s time for your local municipality or state to fully fund pre-K or that the increasing focus on expanding pre-K is completely overblown.

Why kids in pre-K are more likely to be ready for kindergarten  It’s not just the social aspect of pre-K that benefits students, research shows. If school success is a puzzle, pre-K is like a corner piece, serving as the foundation to build on.

Coordinated home visiting and early care and education referrals can help families get the services they need The third blog in a series on home visiting and early care and education outlines how improved coordination between these two fields can help more families connect with needed social services. Stronger coordination could improve the quality of referrals by connecting home visitors’ knowledge of available services with the deep relationships that ECE providers have with families.

A Prescription for Play The pediatrician’s case for resuscitating play.