George Lucas Educational Foundation

Pre-K

Explore and share tips, strategies, and resources for helping students develop in prekindergarten and preschool.

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  • How to Build Autonomy in Early Childhood Classrooms

    Establishing predictable routines and clear roles in preschool helps even the youngest students grow in their ability to make decisions, take on responsibilities, and accomplish tasks independently.
    440
  • Teaching Young Learners Self-Calming Skills

    To help early elementary students manage big emotions, try breathing exercises and sharing how you deal with overpowering feelings.
    Marieke van Woerkom
  • Tips to Help Students With Their Handwriting

    These simple tricks to improve motor skills can empower young learners to feel more in control of their handwriting.
  • An illustration concept of a child internalizing knowledge

    Why Ages 2-7 Matter So Much for Brain Development

    Rich experiences—from play to the arts and relationships—fundamentally shape a young child’s development.
    125.1k
  • Profile of little girl writing at home.

    Teach Kids When They’re Ready

    A new book for parents on developing their kids’ sense of autonomy has some useful insights for teachers as well.
    106.4k
  • Self-Regulation Strategies for Transitions

    To help young students learn to manage transitions between activities, consider these simple whole class exercises.
    6
    3.4k
  • Using Board Games to Teach Math to Young Children

    Playing board and card games can improve number sense among children as young as 3—and it’s fun!
    2
    2.5k
  • 4 Theater Games That Make Great Morning Meeting Activities

    These games can spark creativity, boost engagement, and teach important executive function skills such as turn-taking.
    10
    393
  • Practicing writing the letter R with a pencil on a worksheet

    How to Teach Handwriting—and Why It Matters

    Teaching young students how to write by hand before moving on to keyboarding can help improve their reading fluency as well.
    59.1k
  • A dog lying patiently on the floor in a classroom between rows of chairs

    Bringing a Dog to School

    A veteran teacher and administrator makes the case for having a therapy dog in elementary school.
    61.5k
  • What to Do About Increasing Dysregulation in the Early Grades

    Conflict at school is a normal part of learning how to interact with others—and early-grade teachers have always had to manage misbehavior in class. But not at the levels they’re seeing now.
    2.9k
  • An illustration of a little boy riding a paper airplane to the moon

    What’s Lost When We Rush Kids Through Childhood

    The author of "The Importance of Being Little" on the costs of our collective failure to see the world through the eyes of children.
    43k
  • Child swinging on a swing

    Time to Play: More State Laws Require Recess

    Unstructured playtime is making a comeback in schools as frustrated teachers, parents, and advocacy groups demand legislative action.
    46.6k
  • For Young Kids, The Power of Play-Based Learning

    New research shows play-based learning can be more effective than direct instruction at improving outcomes for early learners—particularly in the development of mathematical and spatial skills.
    12.6k
  • Children playing with pine cones in forest

    Why Learning at Home Should Be More Self-Directed—and Less Structured

    On March 18, 2020, Simone Kern tweeted that simply “recreating schools at home” passes up a golden opportunity to engage kids in authentic, self-directed learning.
    31.6k

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George Lucas Educational Foundation

Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.
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