Teaching Preschool Partners

At the beginning of the school year, second-grade teacher Madeline Elmer invited her students to think: "How can we care for ourselves, each other, and our materials?"

What followed was not a single lesson, but an ongoing inquiry. Together, children explored feelings, identity, community agreements, and the many ways we care for ourselves and one another. Through books, conversations, documentation, and open-ended materials, students reflected on what helps them navigate big emotions and find their way back to calm. Their responses were thoughtful, poetic, and deeply personal.

We are thrilled to welcome Madeline as one of our keynote speakers at the our Early Learning Conference on June 23rd, where she'll share the full story of this classroom inquiry and what it revealed about empathy, agency, and belonging.

Early bird registration has been extended through June 7th. We hope you'll join us.

Registration is now open for our Summer Virtual Learning Series!

Join us this summer as we explore Playful Inquiry Approaches, Environments, Intro to Story Workshop, and a special session for 1st–5th grade educators: Using Materials as Thinking Tools.
Whether you're looking for fresh inspiration, practical ideas, or a chance to connect with fellow educators, we hope you'll join us.

Visit our website to learn more and register. Link in bio!

The Studio is a place where children learn to think, make, and be together. Collaboration with materials is not just about what children create, it is about the connections they form with ideas, materials, and between one another. In the Studio materials become a shared language. As children work together, they develop social and cognitive skills: listening, adapting, and thinking alongside another person. Collaborative, materials-based inquiry supports language development, executive function, and deepens childrens’ creative thinking. When we offer children open-ended materials and the time to explore them together, we are creating the conditions for deep thinking, creative risk-taking, and genuine relationships in our classrooms.

We Believe in Community Wisdom:
The power to transform education exists within local communities. We co-create change with educators, children, and families.

Good news: Early bird pricing for our annual Early Learning Conference has been extended through June 7th!

Join us on June 23rd for a day of connection, reflection, and learning alongside educators and community members who believe in joyful, relationship-centered education.
Learn more and register through the link in our bio to secure your spot!

At our May Teacher Collaboration Event we gathered at Wildflower Outdoor Learning Center, a program thoughtfully shaped through years of visioning, relationship building, and care for children and families.

Inspired by the Green School, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia approaches, Wildflower invites children to spend their days outdoors: climbing, building, imagining, resting, creating, and moving in close relationship with the natural world. Every part of the environment reflects an intentional belief that children deserve beauty, freedom, connection, and time.

Together, we reflected on the relationship between nature and regulation, and what it means to build responsive environments that truly listen to children’s bodies, emotions, and needs. We also discussed the importance of community and democratic participation: home visits, family gatherings, shared decision making, and the ways strong relationships help shape a culture of belonging.

Thank you Madeline and Meg for welcoming us into your space and sharing your story with such openness and generosity.

Not able to join us in person for our Summer Early Learning Conference? You can still learn with us this summer through our Virtual Learning Series!

Together, we’ll explore Playful Inquiry Approaches, Environments, Intro to Story Workshop, and a special session for 1st–5th grade educators: Using Materials as Thinking Tools.

Mark your calendars! Registration and full details coming soon.

The fourth goal of Anti-Bias Education is Activism.

Children want to make sense of the world around them, and they also want to participate in shaping it. After noticing unfairness and talking about its impact, children begin to imagine what could be different: What can we do? How can we help?

Activism in early childhood often lives in small everyday moments: standing up for a friend, including someone in play, speaking up when something feels hurtful, working together to care for the classroom and community. These moments matter, and they help children experience themselves as capable, caring members of a group whose actions can make a difference.

Classroom invitations can support this thinking:
What could we change?
What would make this more fair?
How can we care for each other?

This post is part of our series exploring the four goals of Anti-Bias Education: Identity, Diversity, Justice and Activism

Exciting news: This year, we’re sharing something new at the conference, our new TPP curriculum resource, Invitation to Explore.

Rooted in open-ended materials, playful inquiry, and thoughtful provocation, this resource is designed to support educators in creating meaningful invitations that center children’s thinking and curiosity.
As part of our launch, conference participants can add Invitation to Explore to their registration at a special 20% discount ($40) through June 1st.

Available exclusively to conference attendees (for now).

More details and registration at the link in bio, we can’t wait to share this with you!

Inspired by the book Not a Box, children explored how something as simple as a box can become… anything.
When we invite children to move beyond the “right” answer, we open space for imagination, storytelling, and possibility!
These small moments remind us: materials don’t have to be complicated to be meaningful, just open enough to become something new.