Early Learning Standards

Linking Standards to Curriculum and Assessment

Quality early learning environments are essential for preparing children to be successful learners as they go through elementary school. One means of attaining high quality learning environments is to implement curriculum that meets the needs of all children. A curriculum reflects the program's philosophy, goals and objectives for children as well as the guidelines to target children's development in such areas as cognitive, social-emotional, language, and fine and gross motor domains (Freede & Ackerman, 2006). The intent of a curriculum is to provide the framework for what happens within a planned environment to allow for learning and interactions with materials, peers and adults. The curriculum framework also helps to guide the evaluation criteria that are appropriate for the program.

The Pennsylvania Learning Standards for Early Childhood are a critical piece for assisting teachers in designing classrooms that meet the developmental needs of children to help them succeed in school. In conjunction with the curriculum, a second equally important piece in an early childhood classroom, is conducting on-going assessments of children. Assessments that are implemented in the classroom and aligned with Pennsylvania's Learning Standards for Early Childhood (birth to 3rd grade) will help inform teachers about designing a curriculum that provides multiple learning opportunities that best suits how each child learns. Developmental assessments allow one to understand a child's competencies and to design learning environments which will help a child grow to his or her developmental potential.

Choosing a Curriculum

There are many needs to be considered when planning a preschool curriculum. The physical environment should contribute to well-planned activities that can help young learners meet their goals, but it should also allow for spontaneous and unplanned learning to occur. The following resources from the Office of Child Development and Early Learning helps clarify the fundamentals of assessments in Early Childhood in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The resources advocate and promote the responsible and accurate use of assessments linked with curriculum and Pennsylvania Learning Standards for Early Childhood, so our children's needs of young learning in an early childhood environment will be met.

Publisher Curricular Alignments to the 2014 Pennsylvania Learning Standards for Early Childhood (in alphabetical order): Please note the Office of Child Development and Early Learning is not recommending the use of any specific curriculum.

Comprehensive Coverage
(aligns to ALL domains)

Infant/Toddler

4BELS Living Education Series
Circle of Education® - peaPOD™
Early Learning Success
Experience Early Learning, home of Mother Goose Time
Frog Street Press, Inc. - Infant/Toddler
Funnydaffer
FunShine Digital by FunShine Express for 0-3 Years
FunShine Digital in HiMama for 0-3 Years
Funshine® Express – Buttercups
Gee Whiz Education™
HighScope
Kaplan - Connect4Learning
Kaplan - Learn Every Day
Learning Beyong Paper
Second Step®
Teaching Strategies® - Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers and Twos 3^rd ed.

Pre-Kindergarten

4BELS Living Education Series
Benchmark Education Company PreK - Ready to Advance
Blueprint for Early Learning
Circle of Education® - EduPod Pre-Kindergarten
Curiosity Corner
Early Learning Success, LLC
Experience Early Learning, home of Mother Goose Time
Frog Street Press, Inc. - 2020
Frog Street Press, Inc. - DIG - Develop. Inspire. Grow.™
Frog Street Press, Inc. – Excel Pre-K
Frog Street Press, Inc. - Frog Street Pre-K/Frog Street Threes
Frog Street Press, Inc. - Frog Street Pre-K/Fours
Funnydaffer
FunShine Digital by FunShine Express for 3-5 Years
FunShine Digital in HiMama for 3-5 Years
Funshine® Express – Fireflies
Gee Whiz Education™
HighScope
Investigator Club®
Kaplan - Connect4Learning - Prekindergarten
Kaplan - Learn Every Day
Learning Beyong Paper
Get Set for School by Learning without Tears
Kaplan - Learn Every Day Preschool Curriculum 2nd Edition
McGraw Hill - World of Wonders
Pearson – Open the World to Learning (OWL)
Big Day for PreK
Scholastic - On My Way
Starfall Education – Starfall PreK 2nd Edition
Teaching Strategies® - Creative Curriculum for Preschool 5^th ed.
Teaching Strategies: The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool, 6^th Edition
Teaching Strategies: The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool, Guided Edition
Three Cheers for Pre-K
Voyager Sopris Learning - We Can Early Learning Curriculum

Domain Specific Coverage

ABCs for Me! Interactive Strategies for the new learner, Pre-K to K (student workbook)- Social and Emotional Development
ABCs for Me! A workbook for the young learner (instructor workbook) - (Pre-Kindergarten) - Social and Emotional Development
Carrie Flower – Social and Emotional Development (Pre-Kindergarten)
Children's Literacy Initiative - Blueprint for Early Literacy (Pre-Kindergarten) Language and Literacy
GrapeSEED - Language and Literacy
I Can Problem Solve (Pre-Kindergarten) - Approaches to Learning through Play, Language and Literacy and Social and Emotional
Investigator Club® (Infant Toddler) - all domains BUT Social Studies
ORIGO Stepping Stones Pre-K
ScienceStart - Science
Tools of the Mind - all domains BUT Social Studies