By Aimee Currier When I have a stressful day, I like to turn to music to help me decompress. Some days I need to play some soft, quiet music. Other days, the louder the better. I can even remember back to when I was a child and I would play the piano in a way...Read More

The Pennsylvania Key PQA Team is supporting researchers at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill to examine the widely used program observation instrument, the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Third Edition (ECERS-3). The ECERS-3 is a global quality assessment used in classrooms serving children ages 3-5...Read More

By Kelli Harris I recently watched a webinar on setting up intentional preschool classroom displays. Although most of the information was not new to me, it provided me with some new things to think about when I look inside a classroom. Read More

Leah Zabari During the spring and summer months, I enjoy hiking, camping, and paddling on the lake. Last summer, I decided I was going to start visiting as many of the state parks in Pennsylvania as I could, explore hidden gems of our state, and start enjoying the outdoors even more than before. Each weekend...Read More

Kelli Harris What does it mean to have diversity in your classroom? High quality early childhood education provides experiences to nurture acceptance of diversity by encouraging children to view others as individuals without preconceived notions. By having diverse materials in the classroom, it gives children the chance to see themselves represented and encourages learning about...Read More

by Pam Schaffner    The assessment team in PA is often asked if they have any tips to make meeting quality standards easier. Since they have experiences visiting many programs in their professional careers, they have seen many programs employ strategies to make things easier, more efficient, and more effective. Implementing quality can be stressful...Read More

by Natalie Grebe When chatting with a friend recently, she teased me about my love of chickpeas. I could eat them every day! Luckily for me, they can be prepared many ways as a healthy snack or side dish. My friend mentioned how frustrating it was for her to try to eat a well-balanced diet...Read More

By: Tracy Walter When you hear the word “literacy”, what do you think? Do you think of literacy for children, in adults or does it make you think of literacy throughout a community?Read More

Amy Hoffman During a recent holiday I saw many of my friends post photos on social media of their children or pets playing with their favorite gift – a cardboard box! It reminded me of how much I enjoyed playing with boxes when I was younger, and even as an adult I struggle with, “Should...Read More

Kitty Syster Sorting and counting are great activities for preschool-age children, but children can lose interest in the activities when the items they are sorting and counting are always the same. Although there are plenty of commercially produced items available to purchase, they can seem repetitive in style and be costly. So, why not make...Read More