Head Start Alignment 2025
How Our Early Childhood Products
help strengthen
Program Quality && School Readiness
With these high-quality, research-based books and assessment tools from Brookes Publishing, you’ll strengthen the quality of your Head Start program and address key domains of school readiness in The Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework.
Strengthen Program Quality
These research-based books and reliable screening and assessment tools are all aligned with the goals mapped out by the Head Start Program Performance Standards.
IMPROVE SCREENING
Head Start program standards require age-appropriate,
culturally sensitive screening for developmental, sensory,
and behavioral concerns. Improve your program and
catch delays early with our trusted ASQ screeners.
Social-emotional screener
CONDUCT REGULAR DEVELOPMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Follow screenings with in-depth
assessment to determine a child’s
functioning in key developmental
areas—and use that information to
plan activities and supports.
- Complete assessment, intervention & programming for birth-6
- Play-based assessment & intervention
SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH
Monitor social-emotional
progress in infants, toddlers,
and preschoolers and build a
safe, supportive, trauma-
sensitive environment.
- In-depth social-emotional assessment
These resources can help you fully include children with disabilities and build better IEPs so children and families can meet their goals.
Develop strong, trusting partnerships with parents and help them identify their goals, strengths, and required supports. These reliable tools can help!
BUILD FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS
- Assess & monitor the quality of parent-child interactions
- Screen for risk and protective factors in the home environment
ADVANCE EQUITY FOR ALL CHILDREN
With these important books, promote equitable practices and policies so that every child learns, belongs, and thrives:
PROVIDE THE BEST TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Support your staff to provide responsive care, effective teaching, and an organized learning environment with these resources:
- Quick Reference Guides for Early Childhood Best Practices
IMPLEMENT A COORDINATED COACHING STRATEGY
Use these accessible guides to support your staff with research-based coaching models:
SUPPORT DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Work effectively with bilingual children and make informed decisions about assessment and intervention.
Improve School Readiness
Use the practical, research-based resources on the next few pages to address the key domains of school readiness in the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework.
Quick Reference Guides for Early Childhood Best Practices
By Kathy L. Reschke, Ph.D.
First: invest in these short, practical Quick Reference Guides for your staff. Perfect for professional learning, these 16 guides will put ready-to-use knowledge and strategies in the hands of every early educator. Developed by an early childhood expert with more than 40 years of experience, these laminated, six-page primers cover topics with explicit links to core developmental domains. Teachers will get tips they can trust on developmentally appropriate practices not only within developmental domains, but in other key areas with a broad effect on a child's life.
Invest in the whole set or buy each guide in convenient packs of 5 for staff training!
ORDER at www.brookespublishing.com
16 Quick Reference Guides on key topics:
- School Readiness
- Early Language: First Sounds and Words
- Becoming a Writer
- Made to Move
- Curiosity and Scientific Thinking
- Growing As Thinkers
- Understanding Numbers
- Memory
- Pretend Play
- Early Friendships
- Belonging
School readiness domains addressed by the Quick Reference Guides:
- Approaches to Learning
- Social and Emotional Development
- Cognition
- Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development
- Language and Literacy
- Mathematics Development
- Scientific Reasoning
Improve School Readiness
| BOOK | DESCRIPTION | AGES | DOMAIN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpacking Pyramid Model | Unpacking the Pyramid Model: A Practical Guide for Preschool Teachers. This is the first book to provide a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of the Pyramid Model for children ages 2-5. Early childhood educators will get a complete overview of the framework, plus in-depth guidance, evidence-based strategies, and helpful checklists for implementing all tiers of the Pyramid Model: universal, targeted, and individualized. | Toddlers, Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
| Unpacking the Infant-Toddler Pyramid Model | A Practical Guide for Teachers and Providers. This one-of-a-kind book provides a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of the widely used Pyramid Model Practices for children from birth to three. With this accessible guide, teachers and providers will use research-based practices to meet the unique needs of infants and toddlers—and boost their social-emotional development in the critical first years of life. | Infants, Toddlers | Social and Emotional Development |
| Early Social-Emotional Development | Your Guide to Promoting Children's Positive Behavior. Behavior is one of the biggest and most pressing challenges faced by early childhood educators and providers. Find research-based guidance and strategies in this book, an essential resource for professionals working with children from birth to age 5. | Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
| Breathe-Move-Learn With Young Children | 70 Activities in Mindfulness, Brain-Friendly Movement, and Social-Emotional Learning. Get every young child ready to learn—and support their social-emotional development—with these fun, quick, and effective activities, designed to increase focus and nurture the essential skills every kid needs for social and academic success. | Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
| Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children | The Early Childhood Model of Individualized Positive Behavior Support, Second Edition. Resolve persistent behavior challenges in early childhood settings with this practical guide to the popular Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC) model, ideal for strengthening social-emotional development in preschool children. | Toddlers, Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
| Addressing Anxiety in Young Learners | A Teacher's Guide to Recognizing Needs and Resolving Behaviors. A concise, reader-friendly guide written especially for teachers, this urgently needed book will prepare early educators to recognize anxiety issues in young children, identify the associated behaviors, and work effectively with students who have anxiety symptoms. | Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
| Addressing Challenging Behaviors in Early Childhood Settings | A Teacher's Guide. Understand young children's challenging behaviors and get solutions that work. This book-and-CD set is a complete professional development package filled with practical tools, worksheets, and strategies. | Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merrell's Strong Start—Pre-K | A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum, Second Edition. Teach social-emotional skills to preschoolers the fun and easy way with this kid-friendly, field-tested social and emotional learning curriculum. Help kids manage anger, deal with anxiety, resolve conflicts, and more. | Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
| ePyramid Online Learning Modules | Need to train your staff on the Pyramid Model for Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children? With these convenient online modules, you'll have a comprehensive training program to help early childhood professionals master all three tiers of the Pyramid Model: universal, targeted, and individualized supports. | Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
| TEACHING DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS | What Early Childhood Educators Need to Know. Extending the groundbreaking work of Patton O. Tabors and ideal for use as an in-service guide, this concise book compiles everything teachers need to know about working with young DLLs—and setting them up for a lifetime of school success. | Toddlers, Preschoolers | Language and Literacy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 STRATEGIES that Support Young Dual Language Learners | Discover 45 of today's best strategies for teaching young dual language learners and supporting their families. Includes practical guidance on how to apply each strategy in real-world classrooms! | Toddlers, Preschoolers | Language and Literacy |
| Talk to Me, Baby! | How You Can Support Young Children's Language Development, Second Edition. This practical guidebook reveals how to talk to and play with young children in ways that support their emerging language skills. The second edition includes critical new research and updates, plus an invaluable toolbox of downloadable resources that help you put the strategies into practice. | Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers | Language and Literacy |
| Sing&Sign for Young Children | A Guide for Early Childhood Professionals. A fun, easy, and highly effective way to teach and practice key ASL sign vocabulary through music and play during everyday classroom routines. Packed with engaging sign language activities and original, kid-friendly songs, this innovative program shows you how to transform daily activities into joyful learning opportunities for all children. | Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers | Approaches to Learning, Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development, Language and Literacy |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Project Approach for All Learners | A Hands-On Guide for Inclusive Early Childhood Classrooms. Developed by a team of experts that includes Project Approach leader Lilian G. Katz, this book is your go-to guide to implementing project-based learning in inclusive early childhood classrooms. | Toddlers, Preschoolers | Approaches to Learning |
| Meaningful Mealtimes | Practical Strategies for All Young Eaters. Make the most of mealtimes—and prevent and address common feeding challenges—with this user-friendly planning guide, the first of its kind for early childhood educators and care providers. | Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers | Physical Development |
| Early Intervention Every Day! | Embedding Activities in Daily Routines for Young Children and Their Families. Targeting 80 skills in 6 key developmental domains for children birth to three, this reader-friendly guide gives professionals dozens of ready-to-use ideas for helping caregivers embed learning opportunities in everyday routines. | Infants, Toddlers | Approaches to Learning, Social and Emotional Development, Cognition, Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development, Language and Literacy |
| Children in Action Motor Program for Preschoolers (CHAMPPS) | This fun, effective, and research-based motor program for inclusive preschool classrooms uses universal design for learning strategies to increase all children's physical activity while supporting key school readiness skills. | Preschoolers | Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development |
| ASQ®-3 Learning Activities | Enhance the development of infants and young children with more than 400 fun, fast, and developmentally appropriate learning activities, specially developed to complement ASQ®-3. | Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers | Approaches to Learning, Social and Emotional Development, Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development, Language and Literacy, Cognition |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASQ®:SE-2 Learning Activities & More | Boost the social-emotional development of infants and young children with more than 90 fun, developmentally appropriate activities. And, engage parents in your program with age-specific parent newsletters, topic-specific handouts, and an introductory Hello, Parent! letter—all developed to complement ASQ®:SE-2. | Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers | Social and Emotional Development |
| Cowboys Count, Monkeys Measure, and Princesses Problem Solve: Building Early Math Skills Through Storybooks | Enhance children's mathematical thinking in pre-K-Grade 3 with this practical, field-tested guide to weaving math concepts into storytime. Includes sample lessons tied to specific books and a blank template teachers can use to create their own lessons. | Preschoolers | Mathematics Development |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engaging Young Engineers: Teaching Problem-Solving Skills Through STEM, Second Edition | Boost children's problem-solving skills and set them up for long-term success with the second edition of this practical guide! Enhanced with new lessons and timely topics—including equity and the use of makerspaces—this book will help you get all children ready for kindergarten by teaching them basic practices of engineering design and critical thinking skills. | Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers | Approaches to Learning, Social and Emotional Development, Language and Literacy |