Kansas Inservice Training System

Kansas Early Learning Document

In 2003, the federal government required many state agencies and organizations to develop early learning guidelines that were to be aligned with the state’s Kindergarten through 12th grade content standards. In order for this work to be done well and in a timely fashion, the early childhood community needed to work collaboratively and quickly. Kansas was ready to pursue this work because early childhood leaders have worked together on various projects, most recently the development of school readiness indicators. This document is the result of our extensive collaborative work.

Guidance from multiple state, local, and national sources was sought as the process of developing the Guidelines and Standards began. Resources from NAEYC, NAECS/SDE, other states, and local school districts as well as Kansas documents such as the School Readiness Framework, the Kansas Quality Standards, the Core Competencies, and the Teacher Education Licensure standards were used to develop a document that is firmly grounded in appropriate early childhood beliefs, values, and educational practices. The Kansas early childhood community has worked diligently to develop guidelines that will meet the needs of the children and their families.

The Kansas Early Learning document has been developed for use by child care providers, early childhood teachers, administrators, families and others who provide care to young children. The overall purpose of this document is to provide a general overview of the skills, knowledge, and abilities young children have and can learn with the help of caring and knowledgeable adults that lead them toward success in a Kindergarten setting. Each section of the document presents information that can be used by adults to create the opportunities and learning experiences young children need in order to grow, develop, and learn.

This document was developed by a large and diverse group of early childhood professionals and parents. Committee membership is listed in the Appendices Section.

To view the Kansas State Department of Education's Early Learning Document go to their web site at:
http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3321 Viewing the web site will open a new window. To return to this site, close the new window.

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