A strong sense of belonging in the early years has fundamental benefits for children and flow-on effects for their learning, development and wellbeing. This guide outlines best-practice approaches for improving a sense of belonging and connectedness in children aged birth to 5 years. Educators and teachers working across diverse early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings can use the guide to support their practice and inform their future planning.

EngageNY.org is developed and maintained by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to support the implementation of key aspects of the New York State Board of Regents Reform Agenda. This is the official web site for current materials and resources related to the Regents Reform Agenda. The agenda includes the implementation of the New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS), Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (TLE), and Data-Driven Instruction (DDI). EngageNY.org is dedicated to providing educators across New York State with real-time, professional learning tools and resources to support educators in reaching the State‰ŰŞs vision for a college- and career-ready education for all students.

This guide makes recommendations based on the best available research evidence about how early childhood services with 3-5 year-olds can engage with families to enhance children’s early learning and development.
1 It sets out ‘promising’ and ‘not promising’ approaches drawn from multiple studies which have measured the effects of different strategies. While there is room for improvements in the quality of available research evidence,
2 these approaches provide ‘best bets’ for guiding practice. This guide also sets out next steps for early childhood services and practitioners to consider how the findings are relevant to them.

There is a great deal of evidence that families play a critical role in their child’s early learning and development. This resource details strategies for engaging families from culturally diverse backgrounds, families with English as an additional language, and families from refugee backgrounds by elaborating on the ‘promising approaches’ outlined in AERO’s family engagement for early learning practice guides (which target early childhood services with 3 to 5 year-olds).

There is a great deal of evidence that families play a critical role in their child’s learning. This resource details strategies for engaging with families of children in out-of-home care (OOHC) to support children’s learning outcomes. These strategies elaborate on the ‘promising approaches’ outlined in AERO’s family engagement for learning practice guides.

The promising approaches include:

- recognising and supporting family engagement in learning at home
- supporting two-way, positive communication and providing light touch updates about learning
- promoting a literacy-rich environment at home (primary school guide)
- collaboratively planning and problem solving with families.

There is a great deal of evidence that families play a critical role in their child’s learning and development. This resource details engagement strategies for families of children with disability by elaborating on the ‘promising approaches’ outlined in the Australian Education Research Organisation’s (AERO) family engagement for early learning practice guides (which target early childhood services for 3- to 5-year-olds). In this resource, the term ‘disability’ also encompasses any children with developmental delay who may require additional support within an education and care setting. The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 protects Australians from discrimination based on disability. A child with a disability is entitled by law to be provided with an education program that is appropriate for their development and academic needs. Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (‘the standards’), education providers are obligated to make reasonable adjustments, consult with children and their families, and eliminate harassment and victimisation. The standards place responsibility for family
engagement on services, educators and teachers. This supports the requirements to build partnerships with families set out in the Early Years Learning Framework and National Quality Standard.

Architecture is the practice of designing and building structures. Architecture can vary in its scope from functional bridges, houses and buildings to the aesthetic principles of landscape architecture. Architecture is a human endeavor that spans thousands of years. Students will be introduces to Engineering Design Process via the study of Architecture and building their own gingerbread house

In this lesson, students will learn what erosion is and how human actions influence erosion. Includes introduction, demonstration instructions, and questions for wrap-up discussion.

NGSS: K-ESS3-3

Time: 50 minutes

Materials: plastic containers with sand and gravel, sponges, and plastic cups.

This lesson is focused around a case study created by Julia Omarzu with the Department of Psychology at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. The case study addresses the moral, ethical, and medical issues surrounding the treatment for a young girl suffering from a rare genetic disorder called Fanconi anemia. The case study is written as a scripted discussion between medical and biotechnology professionals in regards to the processes, risks, and ethical concerns surrounding the use of genetic diagnosis, stem cells, and in-vitro fertilization. Students will be asked to respond to the ethical issues from the perspective of one of the seven characters from the case study as well as share their personal opinions.

This session is meant to engage participants in discussions around the evaluation of open educational resources (OER) and the practice of using rubrics to access OER. The participants will compare resources by content using rubrics to evaluate their effectiveness. 

Nursery (or Kindergarten or Preschool) students enjoy seeing the evening sky with the teacher from the playground or through a big window (indoor). This is especially relevant for students who stay for extra-hour care. During late evening hours, some students feel a little lonely waiting for their parents, but they have a wonderful natural treasure: the evening sky. By observing the evening sky with the naked eye, they will notice many colours, changing colours, the first star, the subtle colours of stars, twinkling stars, and the movement of stars. Nursery teachers who think they are not science-oriented will also gain guidance skills of introducing science to students. This activity is also useful for primary school students, especially younger-grade students.

ELLO is short for Everyday Language & Learning Opportunities. And as an organization, ELLO has
the overarching goal of increasing the number of quality, language-rich interactions between
caregivers and young children.
We seek to connect with home routines and community spaces that are routinely accessed
by families, such as grocery stores, laundry mats, public transit, libraries, and outdoor spaces.
Our resources encourage caregivers to talk with their children and are thematically tailored to fit
into familiar routines and community settings.
This is intentional and provides opportunities for conversations throughout everyday routines that
can empower all caregivers to realize how much they have the ability to benefit their child’s life
through something completely free, talking!

This list presents a basic set of verbs that deal with everyday activities, including walking, running, eating, working, and sleeping. The verbs are presented in third person masculine past and present tense, with the masdar (verbal noun/gerund) listed, as well. The verbs are presented in both modern standard and colloquial Egypt, and feature Arabic text and transliteration.

Physical Development Weekly Plan This lesson plan gives an example of a weekly plan a teacher might use that will include activities that promote physical development.

Creating a social story requires 4 elements:
Descriptive statements relate to the most important aspect of the story and guide the telling of the story. Perspective sentences refer to other people's feelings or opinions in the story. Directive sentences provide literal behavioral choices for the reader. Affirmative statements highlight a commonly shared value with a culture.

Executive function and self-regulation contribute to all five outcomes in the Early Years Learning Framework by enabling children to engage in learning, develop strong relationships with others and make choices that enhance their wellbeing.

This guide is one in AERO’s Tried and Tested series on evidenceinformed teaching practices in early childhood education and care settings that make a difference. Educators and teachers can use these guides to reflect on their practice and inform their planning for future instruction.

Executive functions enable humans to control impulses, stay focused, prioritise, and achieve our goals. They include 3 higher-order thinking skills that emerge during early childhood: working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility.

This early childhood learning trajectory looks at children’s progress in executive functions, to help you plan the next steps in their learning and development.