The James A. Kelly Award—named after James A. Kelly, founding President and CEO of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards—is given to individuals who have made a substantial impact on the advancement of accomplished teaching. In receiving this award, Dr. Palacios joins an esteemed group of educators and advocates who have shaped American education, including President Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton, The Honorable Richard Riley, Arlen Specter, and James B. Hunt, Jr.

For over three decades, Dr. Palacios has been a pioneer in early childhood education and dual-language learning. Her journey, marked by dedication and expertise, began as a preschool teacher in Corpus Christi, Texas. She then went on to earn her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Texas at Austin, further solidifying her role as an educational leader.

At Age of Learning, Dr. Palacios serves as the Senior Curriculum Advisor, where her insights and strategies in curriculum design and English language learning have been invaluable. She has played a pivotal role in curricular strategy, crafting age-appropriate Learning Activities and creating content tailored for English language learners. Her contributions have significantly bolstered our evidence-based programs, My Math Academy® and My Reading Academy, helping ensure that they are impactful for all students.

This commitment to excellence in education was recognized on a national scale in 2014, when Dr. Palacios became the first Latina inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. This accolade, alongside the esteemed James A. Kelly Award, underscores the breadth of her influence in improving early childhood education and championing equitable learning opportunities for children everywhere.

We are not just colleagues of Dr. Palacios; we are her supporters. As we celebrate this well-deserved recognition, we look forward to continuing to work closely with Dr. Palacios, creating innovative educational solutions and making learning accessible for children worldwide.

Congratulations, Dr. Palacios, and thank you for being an essential part of Age of Learning!

The post Celebrating Dr. Rebecca Palacios: A Pillar of Educational Excellence first appeared on Age of Learning.

The list below includes some of the early academic indicators of kindergarten readiness. It’s by no means comprehensive, but it will provide you with an understanding of what will be expected of your child as well as offer tips to help you prepare him or her for a successful transition to kindergarten.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child listens to and understands stories.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Begin to read board books to your child as an infant.
• Read the complete story first, for enjoyment, without interruptions.
• During additional readings, ask questions about the story, and encourage your child to ask questions.
• Let your child turn pages, showing that he or she knows it’s a story.
• Gradually introduce longer books that require more patience and focus.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can retell stories that have been read to him or her
or tell original stories.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child reread a familiar book and try to retell it.
• Read nursery rhymes together, and encourage your child retell them.
• Provide puppets or flannel board cutouts that your child can use in retelling the stories.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can find matching objects.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child practice matching objects, such as:
  • socks from the laundry,
  • pencils or pens,
  • earrings, and
  • food cans in the pantry.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can sort objects by their attributes: color, shape,
size, and function, such as things that roll and things he
or she can write with.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Once your child can match objects, encourage him or her to practice sorting them into categories like these:
  • Color: Find all the blue shirts, silver coins, and red blocks.
  • Size: Put big bath towels in one stack and small face towels in another.
  • Shape: Find all the round objects in the room.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify words that rhyme.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Talk about how some words rhyme: that is, the last part of the words sounds the same.
• Have your child find the rhyming words in nursery rhymes; for example,
  • Jill and hill rhyme in Jack and Jill;
  • Humpty and Dumpty rhyme in Humpty Dumpty; and
  • dock and clock rhyme in Hickory Dickory Dock.
• Play rhyming word games, such as “I know a word that rhymes with house. . . . It is a little animal. . . . It is a . . . mouse!”

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify patterns.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Point out patterns as you go about your day, such as patterns in clothing,
  in plants along a street, and in books you read.
• Play pattern-guessing games by arranging objects in a pattern
  (for example, two red, one blue; two red, one blue), and ask your
  child to identify the pattern.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can name colors.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Discuss the names of the colors; show how some colors can be made by combining other colors (For example, red and white makes pink.).
• Read books about colors, such as The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown and A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni.
• Use watercolors to paint, and ask your child to mix colors and name them.
• Ask your child to name the colors around him or her, such as in his or her room, on his or her clothes, and in the crayon box.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify some letters and numbers.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Help your child start to distinguish letters in simple words that he or she often sees written. Begin with the letters in his or her name.
• Point out numbers on everything, such as on money, clocks, signs, phones, and the TV remote.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to understand that letters stand for the sounds
he or she hears in words.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Talk about sounds for some of the letters in your child’s name, in books, and in other words that he or she often sees during the day.
• Write your child’s name and other simple words on a piece of paper or a dry-erase board to show how letters form words.
• Use magnetic letters on a refrigerator to make real and nonsense words, and sound them out with your child.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child recognizes some signs.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Ask your child to “read” words seen during his or her daily routine, such as stop on the stop sign, walk at a crosswalk, gas at a gas station, and the names of favorite stores or restaurants.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to recognize some sight words.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child point out words, such as the, a, an, and, I, me, is, was, are, go, and stop, that he or she sees often as you read books together.
• Write sight words on index cards, and play word games, such as a memory matching game, with your child.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to “write” by scribbling; drawing; or imitating letters, numbers, forms, or shapes.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Give your child paper and writing tools in a shoebox that he or she can use to begin to write, draw, or create shapes.
• Give your child a paintbrush and a bowl of water to “paint” on the sidewalk or driveway. (Talk about evaporation as his or her creations disappear.)

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child understands how numbers are used.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Show your child how numbers are used in everyday life, such as:
  • to count items;
  • to keep track of money, distance, weight, and length; and
  • to measure amounts used in cooking.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can count to 20.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Look for opportunities to count items out loud for and with your child, such as:
  • setting the table,
  • sorting clothes,
  • measuring ingredients, and
  • organizing toys.
• Encourage and help your child to count objects he or she sees during the day, such as:
  • stairs,
  • cups of water, and
  • streetlights

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child understands how some words are opposites: up and down, big and little, tall and short, quiet and loud, as well as light and heavy.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Point out examples of opposites that you see.
• Play an opposite-guessing game: “The opposite of day is . . . night!”

Remember, while kindergarten-readiness skills are important and will contribute to a strong foundation for future academic success, the activities that lead up to kindergarten readiness should be enjoyable for your child. Make them fun family times and part of your daily routine so that your child begins to view learning as a positive and natural experience.

The post Kindergarten Readiness: Academic Indicators first appeared on Age of Learning.

A small bin full of water placed on a table can provide young children with hours of learning. I found that when my class of four-year-olds was involved in water-play experiences, there was no such thing as a limited attention span!

Creating this kind of experience is a simple three-step process:

1. Provide objects for your child to use to explore with, like these:
   • plastic measuring cups that float
   • ceramic cups of similar sizes that do not float (non-fragile)
   • tubes
   • small PVC pipes
   • sieves
   • boats
   • plastic bottles
   • measuring spoons
   • feathers
   • rocks
   • funnels
   • small plastic toys
   • wooden blocks
   • an old-fashioned hand mixer
2. Join in the fun:
   • Fill up and pour out the containers.
   • Use the measurement lines on the measuring cups to help teach words and develop language, such as: full, empty, half-full, 1 cup, and 2 cups.
   • Compare objects that float with those that sink.
3. Talk about what you and your child are observing, as in these examples:
   • Since water is a liquid, it changes shape to fit whatever container it’s in.
   • Some things float on water, and some things sink.
   • The way an object is shaped can help determine whether it floats or sinks.

Sometimes, step 3 is difficult to do in the midst of the activity, because your child can become so engrossed that he or she doesn’t have time for you! That’s a good thing, so in my classroom, I would take a few pictures of the children as they played; then I showed them the pictures afterward and posed questions about what they were doing or what they observed. Having a discussion like this will help your child construct understandings and learn to describe ideas, including liquid, density, buoyancy, measurement, matter, and weight—all of which are physical science concepts that he or she will need to understand in later grades. Your child won’t necessarily be able to use or understand these words yet; but through exploration, he or she will have gained experience with the concepts that the words stand for.

Of course, these days, you don’t have to limit yourself to still pictures—you can capture and present short videos that illustrate the things you want your child to observe and discuss. You also don’t have to do this activity with a bin or water on a table; it can be perfect during bathtime, followed by a conversation at bedtime.

As with many science topics, there are some wonderful children’s books about water; one of my favorites is Water’s Way by Lisa Westberg Peters. Share this book with your child to help develop his or her understanding about evaporation, condensation, erosion, and how water flows—through text and pictures designed for a young child’s reading level.

Here are some more ideas for water explorations:

• Place a small amount of water in a plastic bowl. Give your child a thick paintbrush and tell him or her to “paint” with water on the sidewalk or at the park or on the concrete slab in your backyard. Talk about the “disappearing” pictures or letters, which can be a wonderful introduction to a discussion about evaporation!
• Buy an eggbeater or hand mixer at the dollar store. Have your child play with bubbles not just by blowing bubbles, but also by placing dish detergent in a large bin and using the beater to make lots and lots of bubbles. This will also provide hand coordination practice for your child!
• Place ice cubes on a napkin, and have your child watch the ice melt. Have him or her hold the cube for a minute or so, and discuss how his or her warm hand makes the ice melt faster.
• During bathtime, talk about sponges and how they absorb water. Compare and contrast the sponge with a bar of soap, which does not absorb water. Compare whether both can float. Try floating and sinking other objects. Ask questions about why your child thinks this happens and how weight and shape can make a difference.

Remember, you don’t have to be a science teacher to teach concepts like these to your child. All you have to do is create an environment with interesting things to explore and objects to explore with. Put your child in the environment, and become curious and interested in what he or she sees, hears, and touches, and explore right along with him or her. As you do this, you will be planting seeds of understanding about physical science concepts that your child will formally encounter in school before too long.

The post Learning Through Water Play first appeared on Age of Learning.

One of first learning experiences that you can provide for your young child is counting. However, counting is really a complex experience and an important building block for understanding the concepts of numbers and mathematics.

Usually, the first counting-related skill that children learn is the ability to recite the words for the numbers in the correct order: one, two, three, four, five. . . . This memory skill is important (just as it is useful to know The Alphabet Song in order to learn the names and order of the letters of the alphabet), yet even as children begin to recite the numbers in order, they typically don’t have any understanding of what the words one, two, three, and so forth actually mean. According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the standard for numbers and operations for prekindergarten through grade 2 is “count with understanding and recognize ‘how many’ in sets of objects. . . . ”

When children “count with understanding,” they understand that the word one refers to one object of any kind, the word two refers to two objects, and so on.

Everyday experiences can lead children to discover and understand the relationship between quantities and the words that are used to talk about numbers. For example, when counting, children need to learn that there is a one-to-one correspondence of object and number (like matching one person to one cookie) and also that counting two after one means that the first and second objects need to be added together to make the two, and so on!

When you give your child things to count, start with the objects displayed in a line, so that he or she can see each object individually and count the objects sequentially:

X X X X X X X X X X (10)

Counting from left to right and touching each object as it is counted helps your child to understand the one-to-one correspondence of an object to a number. In addition, moving the objects closer together while he or she counts will help your child to understand that the number four, for instance, refers to all of the objects counted up to four and not just the one called four:

XXXX (4) X X X X X X

You can also provide practice in recognizing sets of objects by the way they are grouped, like the dots on a six-sided die. Children can count the dots, recognize the pattern, and learn that they won’t have to count again as the set/pattern becomes associated with the quantity it represents. This simple game can help:

1. Hold five or six small objects (buttons, grapes, pennies) in your hand.
2. Roll out a different number of them.
3. Tell your child to look at the objects you rolled and quickly name the quantity without counting.
4. Repeat this activity.

After a while, your child will very quickly be able to identify and tell you the number for each quantity of objects.

Additionally, provide practice in recognizing sets of objects by the way they are grouped in a line, like this:

X

X X

X X X

X X X X

X X X X X

The most important thing about teaching counting and other early mathematics concepts to your child is that he or she should see numbers as part of his or her real-life experiences. Look for opportunities to count with your child whenever possible. For example, you might count everyday items, such as these:

• packages of macaroni or beans in the kitchen
• leaves that have fallen off of a tree
• buttons on a jacket or sweater
• school buses you see on the drive to school
• forks, spoons, knives, plates, and napkins to match the total number of people eating together

To nurture your child’s grasp of numbers and counting, continue to ask him or her questions like these:

• How many shells did you find? Please count them one by one to find out.
• Did you look at all of the petals on this flower? Please count them to find out how many petals there are in all.
• See these two beans? Let’s add two more beans. Please put them together and count them to find out how many beans you have in all.

Integrating counting into your child’s life will help him or her to understand that counting is an essential skill that’s important to learn—like learning to read.

And speaking of reading, here are a few captivating children’s books that will help your child develop the concept of counting:

• Doggies by Sandra Boynton
• 1-2-3: A Child’s First Counting Book by Alison Jay
• Roar! A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards
• Miss Spider’s Tea Party: The Counting Book by David Kirk
• Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

The time you spend with your child on this subject will reap helpful rewards when he or she encounters numbers—in preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten—and already understands that these symbols and words actually represent quantities. Mathematics educators call this understanding number sense, and it’s an essential foundation for your child’s future mathematics learning.

The key foundation skill of counting and the concept of quantity will help your child develop an awareness about numbers that will serve him or her forever. This is vital, because your youngster can count on counting being around for his or her whole life!

The post Learning to Count and Counting on Learning first appeared on Age of Learning.

Research shows that the summer slide has a significant, cumulative impact on academic achievement, particularly for children in low-income households. The summer slide is a key factor behind a stunning statistic: by the end of 5th grade, disadvantaged children are, on average, nearly three grade levels behind their more affluent peers in reading (source: The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading). And, according to the National Summer Learning Association, summer learning loss accounts for two-thirds of the achievement gap in reading between children from low- and middle-income households by 9th grade.

But there is hope. While the school year will start before we know it, there’s still time for children to reinforce what they learned the previous year and prepare for the next one. Engaging and effective learning experiences can help prevent the summer slide by getting children excited to continue learning over their summer break.

Below are some helpful tips that families can use to maintain academic achievement over the summer from National Teachers’ Hall of Fame inductee Dr. Rebecca Palacios, Senior Curriculum Advisor at Age of Learning.

Visit Your Local Public Library

Visiting the library can help develop a love of reading and learning at an early age. In addition to thousands of books, libraries offer technology access, research areas, and fun learning activities.

More than 8,000 public libraries nationwide make ABCmouse.com available for families to use on site at no cost. Families get full access to the more than 10,000 ABCmouse Learning Activities, including books, songs, puzzles, and games that encompass key academic subjects. Patrons in some areas, including the San Francisco Bay Area and Detroit can also check out ABCmouse accounts from their local library to use at home through the Bring Learning to All initiative.

Read, Read, Read!

A 2004 American Academy of Arts and Sciences study concluded that children should read at least 4 to 5 books over the summer break to prevent summer  learning loss. Research shows that books that are “just right”for children–those that aren’t frustratingly hard or too easy–make the best learning experiences.

Regular reading matters: Choose a fun and engaging weekly book that you can read aloud as a family. Read a chapter each night, if it’s a longer book. Here are a few tips for making these reading sessions even more interactive and engaging:

1. Talk to your child about words in the book that rhyme or begin with the same letter.
2. Ask your child questions about what is happening in the story as you’re reading.
3. Discuss the book’s characters: their names, appearance, feelings, and actions.

With thousands of books to choose from, ABCmouse provides rich reading experiences for children in preschool through 2nd grade at their listening-comprehension or independent reading level.

Be Prepared for On-the-Go Learning 

Whether you’re on a plane, at the park, or in a store, every outing can be a learning opportunity! Ask questions and show kids different colors, shapes, words, and numbers in the world around them.

Listening and singing along to music is also a wonderful way for children to learn about the world around them and build a rich vocabulary. You can now access 175 ABCmouse children’s songs, including a special summer playlist that teaches the alphabet, numbers and operations, shapes, colors, and geography, on major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Google Play, and Pandora. Children can sing along to “The Letter S Song, “The Statue of Liberty,” “Five Little Monkeys,” and more.

Families can also download seven ABCmouse apps that offer ABCmouse content for offline use, making ABCmouse even easier for families to access—no matter where they go.

A recent research study showed that students who regularly used ABCmouse for at least 70 minutes per week over the summer demonstrated literacy gains equivalent to one month of academic instruction! These gains were sustained well into the following school year. Invest in summer learning today and reap benefits for your children this fall, and in all school years ahead.

The post Closing the Achievement Gap: Tips for Preventing Summer Learning Loss first appeared on Age of Learning.

The ABCmouse music collection features dozens of original compositions, including a song for each letter of the alphabet, songs that teach about numbers, shapes, colors, geography, and much more. The collection also includes many new arrangements of classic children’s songs. We produce and record all our songs in our on-site recording studios in our headquarters in Los Angeles.

“Listening and singing along to music is a wonderful way for children to learn about the world around them and build rich vocabularies, particularly for young children who are not yet able to read,” said Dr. Rebecca Palacios, a Senior Curriculum Advisor and Curriculum Board Member at Age of Learning. “These ABCmouse songs will delight kids while developing important pre-literacy and literacy skills, and at the same time introduce young listeners to a wide range of musical styles.”

Families can find our music under ABCmouse on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Google Play, Pandora, and several other music platforms. Happy listening!

The post Complete Collection of ABCmouse Songs Now Available on Major Music Platforms! first appeared on Age of Learning.

We are delighted to share that ABCmouse.com® Early Learning Academy now includes more than 800 Learning Activities in Spanish, in addition to offering Spanish-language user navigation for children and parents. These Learning Activities include books, puzzles, and art activities in math, science, social studies, and art.

“There is a real need for high-quality digital education resources to support dual language learners,” said Dr. Rebecca Palacios, an Age of Learning Academic Board Member and dual-language learning expert. “This is a wonderful opportunity for Spanish-speaking children as well as children learning Spanish to expand their knowledge through exceptional Spanish-language activities.”

Our Spanish activities and features make ABCmouse even more accessible to families across the U.S., empowering and supporting children, their parents, and teachers both at home and in school. At home, native Spanish-speaking parents can now take a more active role in their child’s learning by being able to understand and help with assignments and activities.

With these Spanish language capabilities, teachers can use ABCmouse to support English-language learners (ELLs) who are being introduced to new concepts in key subject areas. They can work with their students to build a strong understanding of academic concepts in their native language as they develop their English vocabulary.

All 800+ Spanish activities on ABCmouse are organized by type, and can be found in the Basics section (accessed through the Student Homepage or the Classroom), or by using the Search feature.

We will continue to expand our offering of Spanish-language Learning Activities. Check back for updates on these and other developments!

The post Introducing New ABCmouse Spanish Activities first appeared on Age of Learning.

Estamos muy contentos de compartir que ahora La Academia del Aprendizaje Temprano de ABCmouse.com®, además de ofrecer una interfaz amigable para la navegación del sitio para niños y padres, incluye más de 800 actividades de aprendizaje en español. Estas actividades incluyen libros, rompecabezas, y actividades artísticas en matemáticas, ciencias, estudios sociales y arte.

“Existe una necesidad real de proveer recursos de educación digital de alta calidad para apoyar a los estudiantes de dos idiomas”, dijo la Dra. Rebecca Palacios, miembro de la Junta Ejecutiva de Currículo de Age of Learning y una experta en el aprendizaje de dos idiomas. “Esta es una oportunidad maravillosa para los niños de habla hispana y para que los niños que están aprendiendo español expandan sus conocimientos a través de actividades excepcionales en español”.

Nuestras actividades y características en español hacen que ABCmouse sea aún más accesible para las familias en todo EE. UU., habilitando y apoyando a los niños, sus padres y maestros tanto en el hogar como en la escuela. En casa cuando los padres, cuya lengua materna es el español, entienden las actividades y asignaciones, ellos pueden tomar un papel más activo en el aprendizaje de sus niños.

Con estas capacidades en español, los maestros pueden usar ABCmouse para apoyar a los estudiantes de inglés (ELL) que están siendo introducidos a nuevos conceptos en áreas temáticas clave. Pueden trabajar con sus alumnos para desarrollar una sólida comprensión de los conceptos académicos en su lengua materna a medida que desarrollan su vocabulario en inglés.

Las más de 800 actividades en español en ABCmouse están organizadas por tipo, y se pueden encontrar en la sección de Básicos (a la que se accede a través de la página principal del alumno o del salón de clase) o utilizando la función de búsqueda.

Continuaremos expandiendo nuestra oferta de actividades de aprendizaje en español. ¡Regrese para actualizaciones sobre estos y otras novedades!

The post ¡Actividades en español de ABCmouse! first appeared on Age of Learning.

Age of Learning was recently a proud sponsor at the 2015 National Head Start Association conference in Washington, D.C., which celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the Head Start program. Dr. Rebecca Palacios, Senior Curriculum Advisor at Age of Learning, was invited to address the more than 5,000 people attending the conference. Speaking prior to Cornell Brooks, President and CEO of the NAACP, and “father of Head Start” Edward Zigler, Dr. Palacios delivered personal and inspirational words that resonated with the large audience of Head Start Directors, teachers, and other supporters.

To share her story with a broader audience, we’re posting her conference address here:

I am so honored and pleased to be here with you today. For me, it is an important milestone and the next step in a teaching adventure that I would like to share with you.

I was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, where I still live. For those who haven’t been there, Corpus Christi is a beautiful city by the Corpus Christi Bay. My family has been there for five generations.

Fifty years ago this spring, our local school district was one of thousands across the country preparing to open Head Start classrooms for the first time.

I was 10 years old and looking forward to finishing fifth grade. My hair was a little longer then. And I was precocious.

When I was three, I had announced that I wanted to become a teacher. That big school down the street where my sister attended was always like a magnet for me. My abuelita and I would walk down there and pick my sister up from school, and I could only stare with awe at all the wonderful, exciting things that I could see at my eye level.

So you can only imagine how excited I was when, about seven years after that, my mother told me about the need for volunteers to work with the young children at my own elementary school. I wanted to learn all about the ways that the teachers would work with the children and the activities that they would prepare for them.

I found myself doing the “Hokey Pokey,” matching pieces of lost puzzles, helping open milk cartons, and asking questions of the students after I had read to them.

My teaching adventure began that summer. And starting with that experience, I developed a deep appreciation and respect for Head Start—for every child that Head Start has served, and there are so many success stories. Not only the successes of the children, but also the success stories for teachers, families, the country, and, yes, volunteers.

My love for teaching and learning has increased since that time. I tried to put everything I learned into an early childhood lesson, and when the children would simultaneously burst into applause at the end of the lesson, well, to tell you the truth, it kept me going back every day to teach.

I am grateful that I have been able to lead children to find their gifts, to use teaching and learning experiences to carry through their lifetimes. That, for me, was the greatest reward. My teaching career was an opportunity to meet my lifetime goal.

But another opportunity was afforded to me—one that I never expected. Six years ago, a friend and colleague from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards introduced me to Age of Learning, the company building what would become ABCmouse.com.

I learned about their mission—to blend education best practices, innovative technology, and insightful creativity to bring learning to life for children everywhere. They were developing the most comprehensive online curriculum ever created for early learners, using the power of the Internet to make high-quality education resources available at low cost to every child.

I’m an idealist. And in ABCmouse.com I saw an ideal. I saw the promise of what America’s best early childhood education program could be. A program that could help prepare the youngest learners for success early on, and also throughout their lives. Here was a way to teach and reach children, not just in my school community, but around the world.

I joined Age of Learning as a member of the Curriculum Board and a Senior Advisor, and over the last six years, I’ve seen the company’s promise become reality. ABCmouse.com is now the leading and most comprehensive online early learning resource available.

A few quick points I’d like to share:

• First, ABCmouse.com is completely free for Head Start programs. We make it free—with no strings attached—as part of our commitment to helping every child learn, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances. Any Head Start teacher or administrator can create a free account at www.ABCmouse.com/HeadStart.
• Second, ABCmouse.com’s interactive learning approach is not only for young children; it is also a connection between the Head Start teacher and the family. All 5,000-plus activities on our website are available for teachers to share with parents individually to meet students’ specific educational needs. There is even a Spanish tool that will help Spanish-speaking parents understand the topics their children are learning.
• Finally, since last year’s National Head Start Association conference, a number of research studies on ABCmouse.com have been completed. These studies—some of which are summarized on our website at www.ageoflearning.com—demonstrate that using ABCmouse.com accelerates children’s learning of basic literacy and numeracy, improving kindergarten readiness and building a strong foundation for academic success.

My teaching adventure started 50 years ago in a Head Start classroom, and it continues to this day.

I hope ABCmouse.com can help you in your teaching adventure and that, 50 years from now, your students will share with YOU and others their own adventures.

The post Age of Learning Celebrates 50 Years of Head Start first appeared on Age of Learning.

As a participant in Invest in US, Age of Learning is making a commitment to provide free access to the complete, award-winning ABCmouse.com curriculum in every U.S. preschool, Head Start, pre-k, and kindergarten classroom over the next two years.

“Age of Learning is proud to support this vitally important White House initiative to expand access to high-quality and effective early childhood education resources,” said founder and CEO Doug Dohring. “This initiative aligns with our goal to advance educational equity and help all children learn.”

The Invest in US campaign challenges public and private sector leaders across the U.S. to build a better nation by investing in and providing high-quality early childhood programs from birth to age five, including expanding access to digital learning resources.

Early childhood education experts, researchers, and teachers agree that the foundation for educational success begins to be developed long before children enter formal K-12 schooling. Creating and making available effective early childhood education resources can pay huge dividends both for individual families and for the nation as a whole.

“It’s thrilling to see early childhood education truly becoming a priority for our nation,” said Dr. Rebecca Palacios, who is attending the Summit as Senior Curriculum Advisor at Age of Learning. “This is an exciting and hopeful time for the early education community and for our most precious national resource: our children.”

For more information about Age of Learning’s Education Access Initiatives, including ABCmouse.com for Schools and ABCmouse.com for Libraries, visit our Education Access Initiatives page.

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