Welcome to the…
Professional Standards & Competencies Resource Library
The Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators outline the essential knowledge, skills, and practices that are foundational to high-quality early childhood education. These standards define what early childhood educators should know and be able to do in order to support the learning and development of young children from birth through age 8. They serve as a guiding framework for professional development, practice, and evaluation within the field of early childhood education.
Understanding and implementing these standards is crucial for educators as they help ensure the delivery of equitable, inclusive, and high-quality education that promotes the well-being and success of all children. By adhering to these standards, educators also contribute to the profession's commitment to continuous improvement and accountability.
Please note that while the collection of resources has been organized and tagged according to the Professional Standards and Competencies, only the most applicable competencies have been prioritized for searching and tagging purposes.
For NAEYC resources in the library, you can find policies related to reproducing, distributing, or otherwise using content here. For all other resources, please follow appropriate practices for using/citing sources.
Directions for Using the Professional Standards and Competencies Resource Library
Check out the resource library tutorial here!
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The PS&Cs Resource Library allows you to peruse ALL of the many resources available (by default) or you can utilize the provided filter and narrow down your search to target specific resources.
Check out the resource library tutorial for more info.
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By using the filtering categories, you are able to narrow your search to particular professional standards, one or more of the 22 key competencies, various ECE topics, a variety of age ranges, specific types of resources such as articles or videos or even find resources available in languages other than English.
The robust filters even allow you to choose multiple choices across categories or within the same category to further narrow your search!
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Once you have opened the various filter categories provided in the filter tool, you will notice that “all” is highlighted and checked in each category by default. This means the filter tool will not filter out any of those options within that category. If you wish to narrow your search, you simply click on one or more of the other options within the various filtering categories. Clicking will check that option. Checked options will be utilized for your search!
To remove an option, simply click it again to remove the check from the checkbox.
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The search feature is similar to any other search engine on a website. It can be used for a specific key word or phrase. Although the search may be helpful and is provided, the more robust filter tool may ultimately be more helpful in focusing and narrowing your search for resources.
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Naturally, broken links will occur. Sometimes the resource has been moved to a new web address and other times it has been temporarily or permanently removed. We welcome you to report any broken links you find here. We will do our best to replace the link when possible or remove the resource if it is no longer available.
**As of Feb. 2025, certain webpages and resources, particularly from agencies/organizations/projects that receive federal funds, have been at least temporarily removed in order to comply with federal mandates related to the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders. We will continue to monitor these resource links and update them if and when new links are available.
Start Your Search--Resource Library
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Start Your Search--Resource Library *
Sort quickly through the hundreds of available resources by using the filter tool on the left to populate the specific resources you need!
Rocking and Rolling. Reading Aloud with Infants and Toddlers
Rocking and Rolling. Reading Aloud with Infants and Toddlers
Rocking and Rolling, edited by Rebecca Parlakian and her colleagues from ZERO to THREE, focuses on supporting infants, toddlers, and their families. Each column offers instructional insights and suggestions that are grounded in research yet presented through real-life examples.
Organization/Author: Kathy Kisner & Rebecca Palakian, Young Children, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2021
Rocking and Rolling- Fostering Curiosity in Infants and Toddlers
Rocking and Rolling. Fostering Curiosity in Infants and Toddlers
Rocking and Rolling, edited by Rebecca Parlakian and her colleagues from ZERO to THREE, focuses on supporting infants, toddlers, and their families. Each column offers instructional insights and suggestions that are grounded in research yet presented through real-life examples.
Organization/Author: Rebecca Palakian, Young Children, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2020
Rocking and Rolling- Building New Skills: Block Construction in Toddler Settings
Rocking and Rolling. Building New Skills: Block Construction in Toddler Settings
Rocking and Rolling, edited by Rebecca Parlakian and her colleagues from ZERO to THREE, focuses on supporting infants, toddlers, and their families. Each column offers instructional insights and suggestions that are grounded in research yet presented through real-life examples.
Organization/Author: Rebecca Palakian, Young Children, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2020
Rocking and Rolling- Reading with Babies Matters!
Rocking and Rolling. Reading with Babies Matters!
Rocking and Rolling, edited by Rebecca Parlakian and her colleagues from ZERO to THREE, focuses on supporting infants, toddlers, and their families. Each column offers instructional insights and suggestions that are grounded in research yet presented through real-life examples.
Organization/Author: Kathy Kinsner and Rebecca Palakian,Young Children, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2019
Rocking and Rolling. Fresh Air, Fun, and Exploration: Why Outdoor Play Is Essential for Healthy Development
Rocking and Rolling, edited by Rebecca Parlakian and her colleagues from ZERO to THREE, focuses on supporting infants, toddlers, and their families. Each column offers instructional insights and suggestions that are grounded in research yet presented through real-life examples.
Organization/Author: Kathy Kinsner,Young Children, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2019
Supporting Early Literacy: Fostering Family Involvement
Supporting Early Literacy: Fostering Family Involvement
Explore this training to discover strategies for boosting early literacy development through family engagement. Materials include a video presentation and handouts.
Organization/Author: Head Start Center for Inclusion
Type of Resource: Website
Publication Date: unknown
A How To Guide for Book Adaptations
A How To Guide for Book Adaptations
This chart outlines 8 easy at-home storybook adaptations, categorized by the type of support families/practitioners may provide (motor, sensory, communicative/linguistic, visual, or auditory).
Organization/Author: Sarah Pedonti
STEMIE Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: 2023
A Guide to Noticing STEM Learning
A Guide to Noticing STEM Learning
All children can develop the foundations for STEM learning from infancy. Young children are active learners who explore their environments and learn from doing, seeing, touching, and/or hearing. Through intentional and careful observation, caregivers can tap into children’s natural curiosity and provide opportunities for children to develop an understanding of the world around them.
Organization/Author: Campbell, P., Waters, V., Lim, C., & Sam, A.
STEMIE Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: 2023
A Guide to Dialogic Reading (Using The Very Hungry Caterpillar)
A Guide to Dialogic Reading (Using The Very Hungry Caterpillar)
Learn about dialogic reading and how you can use it to have storybook conversations in STEM with young children. The tip sheet includes an example of prompts that you can use for Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The related blog post includes additional information such as a link to the adaptations tip sheet and a video example of dialogic reading using an augmentative communication device.
Organization/Author: Chih-Ing Lim
STEMIE Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: 2023
A Guide to Child-Level Processes
A Guide to Child-Level Processes
In this document, we define and describe child-level processes in STEM learning for all young children, including children with disabilities. We provide definitions, examples, AND now learning progression steps for each child-level process.
Organization/Author: Victoria Waters, Christine Harradine, & Chih-Ing Lim
STEMIE Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: 2022
A Guide to Cross-Cutting Concepts
A Guide to Cross-Cutting Concepts
Cross-cutting concepts are a set of overarching big ideas that look and behave similarly across all STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) domain areas. In this document, we define and describe cross-cutting concepts in STEM learning for all young children, including children with disabilities. We provide definitions and examples. Learning progression steps for each cross-cutting concept have been added as well.
Organization/Author: Ann Sam, Victoria Waters, Chih-Ing Lim,
STEMIE Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: 2021
A Guide to Everyday STEM Talk
Transform everyday routines and activities into playful STEM and brain building opportunities with your young child! Take a moment to expand and extend daily routines and activities by adding STEM concepts and vocabulary, whether it's by posing a question, narrating your observations, modeling curiosity, or posing a problem to solve together.
Organization/Author: STEMIE Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: 2024
Handprint Turkeys, Step Aside: Embracing Process Art in Early Childhood Programs
Embracing Process Art in Preschool
This online article thoughtfully explores ways in which educators can make the shift from “product art” to developmentally appropriate “process art.” Key to the concepts presented is a reminder of questions educators should be asking themselves about their efforts in the classroom: What are you doing? Why? Who is it for?
Organization/Author: Elizabeth Richards , Community PlayThings
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2019
Beyond Twinkle Twinkle: Using Music With Infants and Toddlers
Beyond Twinkle Twinkle: Using Music With Infants and Toddlers
This article discusses the impact of music on various developmental domains and offers suggestions for using music experiences to encourage young children’s learning in these domains.
Organization/Author: Zero to Three
Type of Resource: Blog Post
Publication Date: 2016
Articles for Families on Creative Arts and Music (NAEYC)
Articles for Families on Creative Arts and Music (NAEYC)
This NAEYC website provides access to a number of free resources for families.
Organization/Author: Various, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Articles
Publication Date: various
Early Music Experience Module
This 25-minute online module from the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) explains how music can be used to build relationships and support children’s early learning. Each module delivers content through narrated PowerPoint slides with embedded videos. A discussion guide and handout are also available for this module.
Organization/Author: University of Washington: Institute for Learning and Brain Science
Type of Resource: Modules
Publication Date: 2017
A Creative Adventure
This 13-minute video encourages classroom staff, teachers, and families to use visual and performing arts techniques to support learning and creative expression. Filmed in classrooms and home-based settings, the video demonstrates activities that allow children to use their imaginations and experience creative adventures.
Organization/Author: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)
Type of Resource: Video
Publication Date: 2024
Inviting Creativity: The Teacher's Role in Art
Inviting Creativity: The Teacher's Role in Art
This article identifies and critiques teacher-directed, teacher-guided, and child-centered approaches and provides guidelines for determining the creative merits of an activity or approach to art.
Organization/Author: Rober Schirrmacher, Community PlayThings
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2006
Free Early Math Downloadable Resources from Erikson Initiative: Early Math Collaborative
Free Early Math Downloadable Resources from Erikson Initiative: Early Math Collaborative
This is a wealth of free, downloadable resources from the Early Math Collaborative at Erikson Institute. Resources are searchable by a variety of filters.
Organization/Author: Early Math Collaborative, Erikson Institute
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: unknown
Math Talk with Infants and Toddlers
Math Talk with Infants and Toddlers
A simple blog post that describes how to talk math with infants and toddlers.
Organization/Author: Jan Greenberg, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Blog Post
Publication Date: adapted from 2012 article
Additional Resources
