Early Childhood Programs

High-quality early childhood education is essential. Early educational experiences can have well-documented long-term positive impacts on young children’s cognitive and social emotional development. Early childhood programs not only provide formative experiences for our nation’s youngest children but they also provide safe and high-quality care for children while parents and caregivers work.

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Throughout the pandemic, early childhood providers continued to provide high-quality education and care in extraordinary times. Programs and providers in the fields of early childhood education, early intervention, and early childhood special education responded quickly to provide services in modified learning environments and meet the health, safety, social, emotional, and other needs of children and their families. Now, as early childhood programs and providers work to maintain safe in-person operations and help their communities recover from the impacts of the pandemic, these supports must remain responsive and ongoing.

The resources on this page share information for supporting the nation’s youngest children and their families; maintaining safe and healthy environments; and ensuring teacher, faculty, and staff well-being, professional development, and supports that are specific to early childhood education providers. Early childhood providers may use these best practices and lessons learned to inform their strategies for responding to young children’s and their families’ needs as children and their families continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

Preschool children singing together
Attendance Works - Early and Often - Education Toolkit

Early and Often: Showing Up in Preschool Matters

This toolkit presents strategies that recognize that getting children to school every day on time is contingent on engaging families and helping them understand the importance of regular attendance and how missing too many days impacts their child’s success. This three-tiered system of intervention can make addressing chronic absence more manageable and nurtures a culture of attendance.

Image of two young elementary students shaking hands in a classroom

SEL Center - From Vision to Action: Transforming Kindergarten Into a Sturdy Bridge From Early Learning to K-12 Education

This webinar features presenters from the Transforming Kindergarten Collaborative discussing their states’ efforts to support young children transitioning into kindergarten.

Image of an African American woman reading to her infant child.

A Resource Guide for Developing Integrated Strategies to Support the Social and Emotional Wellness of Children

This resource guide highlights strategies and provides information on how some Child Care and Development Fund grantees have leveraged partnerships and funding to support implementation. Topics include support for the social and emotional wellness of children, families, and providers; implementation considerations; social and emotional wellness initiatives and delivery strategies; promotion of social and emotional competence, as well as mental health, in infants and young children; and more.

Submit Your Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Have a lessons learned or best practice for helping early childhood centers continue to recover from the pandemic? Visit the Best Practices Submission page to view details on submission requirements, and then e-mail Bestpracticesclearinghouse@ed.gov to share your lessons learned or best practice.

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Have feedback to share on a resource accessed on the Clearinghouse site? We want to hear from you. Select the button below to share your feedback with the U.S. Department of Education and the Clearinghouse team.

Image of a young girl with her face framed by a toy stating Buenos Dias

Early Literacy Development and Instruction for Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Education

The purpose of this paper is to inform early childhood practitioners, educational leaders, curriculum developers, and policymakers about literacy development and effective literacy instruction for young, developing bilingual children who are learning English as a new language.

Image of pages from the Research-Based Resources to Support Early Literacy newsletter

REL Resource | Research-Based Resources to Support Early Literacy

REL Northwest developed two products that list readily accessible resources for caregivers, practitioners, and policymakers to use to support early literacy. The resources to support children ages 0–3 are organized into two parts: (1) effective and promising programs and (2) research-based practices.

Submit Your Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Have a lessons learned or best practice for helping early childhood centers continue to recover from the pandemic? Visit the Best Practices Submission page to view details on submission requirements, and then e-mail Bestpracticesclearinghouse@ed.gov to share your lessons learned or best practice.

Provide Feedback

Have feedback to share on a resource accessed on the Clearinghouse site? We want to hear from you. Select the button below to share your feedback with the U.S. Department of Education and the Clearinghouse team.

View Resources