In preparation for the 2022-2023 school year, Teaching Strategies, the country's leading developer of early childhood curriculum, assessment, professional learning, and family engagement solutions, has released a free toolkit of resources to support early childhood educators in today’s evolving classroom and to engage families along the way.

The Ready. Set. Go! Teacher Toolkit is designed for all teachers, despite their level of experience, but will prove especially helpful for teachers entering the profession. An unprecedented level of brand-new teachers is expected to enter the field in response to states shifting requirements amid staffing shortages and burnout.

“Teachers have always been heroes, but in the last two years we’ve asked them to be superhuman. Whether you’re brand new to the profession, or have been teaching for a decade, we all want to feel confident and prepared to welcome the children in our classroom,” said Breeyn Mack, Senior Vice President of Education at Teaching Strategies, who is a former preschool teacher and director. “Especially for new teachers, getting started right can be overwhelming. This kit distills the fundamentals of early childhood education into a set of bite-sized resources to help even brand new teachers get a quick, healthy start on establishing best practices in the classroom.”

The Ready. Set. Go! Teacher Toolkit draws from existing products across the Teaching Strategies ecosystem and provides research-based information on topics that matter most to teachers. These topics include:

• Building a caring classroom community based on positive, trusting relationships with each child and family;
• Creating welcoming environments that invite learning and promote creativity, independence, and collaboration;
• Planning and facilitating meaningful classroom experiences that inspire wonder, honor curiosity, and intentionally foster development and learning;
• Gathering and leveraging assessment information as a means of supporting each child’s unique strengths, needs, and interests; and
• Creating a sustainable routine of self-care.

For every topic area, the toolkit includes resources, like informational videos, learning prompts, and activities for both the classroom and home. The toolkit is now available on the Teaching Strategies website for free to all educators, regardless of whether they are existing customers.