Kitsap Early Learning Professionals

10/06/2026

09/24/2026

True story

09/23/2026

Does your child need a little extra support to grow and thrive?

The Bremerton School District offers Child Find—a FREE program for children living in the BSD boundaries! Our Child Find team works directly with families who have questions or concerns about their child's development, including:

🗣️ Speech & communication
🏃 Movement & physical skills
🧠 Learning & pre-academics
💛 Behavior & emotional supports

How we help:
🌟Free Screenings: Comprehensive developmental evaluations tailored to your child.
🌟Additional Testing: Specialized assessments to see if support services are needed.
🌟Connecting Resources: Guidance on early learning opportunities, community partners, and preschool options.
🌟Integrated Preschool: Qualifying students may be eligible for free preschool services in our district classrooms.

Every child deserves the tools to be school-ready!

🌐 Learn More: bremertonschools.org/ChildFind

09/23/2026

Won't you come build with us?

09/14/2026

Movement is directly connected to learning.

Physical activity increases circulation to the brain and supports the release of neurochemicals involved in alertness, attention, motivation, and neural plasticity. Vestibular and proprioceptive input also helps the nervous system organize sensory information, regulate arousal, and maintain an alert state for learning. All of this supports the prefrontal cortex and the executive functions children rely on to focus, hold information in mind, control impulses, shift between ideas, solve problems, and comprehend what they’re being taught.

Yet adults remain fixated on control and stillness. We stop the rocking, redirect the climbing, discourage the fidgeting, and repeatedly tell children to sit still while simultaneously demanding greater attention and self-control. But the movement, fidgeting, and squirming you’re trying to stop may be the very things helping that child’s brain become organized enough to focus, process, and comprehend.

Of course, supporting movement doesn’t mean allowing children to scale every piece of furniture or move in ways that are unsafe. Children still need firm, reliable boundaries. But when we provide ample opportunities for big-body movement, prioritize outdoor time, and offer flexibility within the classroom, we stop battling a biological need all day long. Children might stand, rock, change positions, work on the floor, carry materials, or move while listening. You may not like how learning looks when it isn’t still and quiet, but repeatedly redirecting children into stillness doesn’t mean you’re achieving learning. It may only mean you’re achieving compliance.

In our attempt to make children look ready to learn, we may be removing one of the biological tools their brains use to get there.

09/12/2026

What actually is play-based learning?

With so many different classroom practices being labeled “play-based,” it can get confusing.

Let’s break down the spectrum of play, from free play to guided play, games, and playful instruction, and talk about how they can all have a place in the early childhood classroom.

Read it here!

https://www.movinglittleminds.com/post/play-based-learning

09/05/2026

25 years later, a very special Bedtime Books at Bethany: Patriot Day Edition, to keep the promise to never forget and to thank our community heroes.