On January 1, the PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) kicked off the We Are Pennsylvania Early Care and Education campaign. During this 14-week campaign, visitors will be able to meet some of the faces of staff who work with families, early learning programs, and community partners to ensure that families have access to safe and supportive...Read More

By Kweli Archie “Child care professionals have a unique opportunity to counteract unhealthy influences in a child’s early childhood. They have the power to affect a child’s life for better or for worse.  A child becomes what he/she experiences. While parents possess the original key to their offspring’s experience, child care professionals have a spare...Read More

Let’s Talk Quality! Program Quality Assessment in PA   Celebrate with us!! The Program Quality Assessment Team’s Blog “Let’s Talk Quality!” is turning 1! Help us celebrate by visiting the blog in January and completing the survey that will be attached to each weekly blog article throughout the month! You may also subscribe to our...Read More

By Lisa Mulliken In playground safety resources, the terms “fall zone” and “use zone” are often referenced and sometimes used interchangeably. Both of these terms are used to describe an important aspect of a safe gross motor environment. The following resources provide information on the expectations for a fall or use zone:Read More

The Commonwealth has transitioned to a new vendor for digital fingerprinting.  The new vendor, IDEMIA, is now accepting registrations and completing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprinting for Pennsylvania agencies. Get more info.Read More

By Lisa Mulliken During the snowy weather and cold winter months, do you find it more challenging to get the children in your classroom outside? Here in Pennsylvania, wintertime may feel like a difficult time of the year for children to engage in daily outdoor play. From the additional time it takes to put on...Read More

Kitty Syster As teachers you have “everyday interactions” with children every day. These occur naturally with or without thought or intention. Everyday interactions can be good, bad or neutral. As you continue reading you will find ways to turn some of those everyday interactions into powerful interactions. A “Powerful Interaction” is a very intentional and...Read More

  Bobbi Philson Music is a powerful tool that early childhood teachers can use to support and nurture many developmental domains: social-emotional, physical, cognitive, and language/literacy. Additionally, vital brain connections are being formed during these early years from 0-3. Being intentional about integrating music into your classroom routines will help you to identify developmental milestones...Read More

Angel L. Avery-Wright I recently attended my fourth Early Childhood Education Summit in State College, PA. As a returning participant, I had some general ideas of what to expect but, as always, there were surprises. I’m going to share some facts about the Summit as well as some of my opinions. One of the things...Read More

How did the Environment Rating Scales evolve? The family of Environment Rating Scales (ECERS, ITERS, FCCERS, & SACERS) initially grew out of my many years of experience teaching in different types of Early Childhood Education programs including as a Family Child Care provider, Parent CO-OP Preschool Teacher, Head Start teacher, Head Teacher of the four...Read More