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Positive and productive communication between school and home can be a big contributing factor to a student’s success. But even with the best of intentions on both sides, conflict sometimes happens—and when anger flares and arguments escalate, progress can come to a standstill. In today’s post, we...

If you’re like most early childhood educators, you’ll be teaching some young children who are second-language learners this year. How can you support them in learning English while respecting and nurturing their home language? Today’s post has some tips and examples for you, excerpted and adapted...

Every learner has the right to communicate and have their needs met. For students with severe disabilities—as with all students—effective and meaningful communication means more than having a basic ability to express yes or no. That means teachers and other professionals on the support team should...

To ensure the best outcomes for learners with disabilities this year, your whole school team—including the student and their family—needs to agree on a clear vision for the student’s future and the goals and dreams they want to work toward. The best way to accomplish this as a team? Conduct a...

Strong relationship skills help lay the foundation for young children’s social-emotional development. As an early childhood educator, what can you do to help the children in your classroom initiate and maintain these critical social relationships? Today’s post has some simple, easy-to-implement...

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Teachers who are responsive, emotionally available, and sensitive to the needs of every student are invaluable allies to children. But there’s no doubt about it: there are times when the intensity of responsive teaching can deplete your resources and put you at risk for burnout or compassion...

Not very long ago, postsecondary education was a dream out of reach for students with developmental disabilities. While we still have a long way to go, more and more colleges are now embracing inclusive options—for example, see this recent Forbes article about the transition programs being offered...

As we approach the end of another school year, take a minute to think about the behavior challenges you’ve encountered in your classroom since September. What strategies worked best for your students? Which ones didn’t work as well? Are there issues you weren’t able to address as effectively as you...

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time for reflecting on the importance of mental health to a child’s development and thinking about new ways to support this critical dimension of children’s well-being. To mark this occasion, we’ve collected 10 of our favorite free resources from Brookes...

Social-emotional development is one of the most important building blocks of a young child’s health and well-being: it forms a strong foundation for learning and helps children make friends, manage challenges, and resolve interpersonal problems. Your classroom routines—from greetings to art...

How can you teach and include every young learner in your inclusive early childhood classroom? Modifications are one way to meet the needs of every student—and today’s blog post brings you 9 practical ideas you can use and adapt for your own class. Excerpted and adapted from the new Building Blocks...

Tests—especially high-stakes assessments—can strike fear into the hearts of all learners. To succeed during test time, kids need to master so much more than the academic content: they also need to manage anxiety, develop memory strategies, use time management skills, and communicate their knowledge...

Early childhood is when most kids’ language skills really start to “blast off.” Through games and activities that encourage lots of talk and active engagement with books, teachers and parents can help young children learn new language skills and rocket their way to reading. In the popular book Talk...

Our blog is focused on inclusive education, which means we mostly publish how-to tips that teachers can use in their classrooms. But creating an equitable and just society also means thinking outside the school walls—and supporting students’ access to things like transportation, community life, and...

*This popular post was updated in 2021 with more great tips from the experts. Have a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments below! Shared storybook reading is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give a child. At its best, this one activity can promote strong parent-child attachment,...

Self-determination skills are essential for all students, but they’re of special importance to students with disabilities. As they approach adulthood and the all-important transition from high school, students will use these critical skills to identify their preferences and goals, advocate for the...

Has your school committed to authentic, meaningful inclusion? If yes, do you wonder whether you’re taking the right steps toward success? The Inclusion Lab is here to help you figure out where you are on the road to effective inclusive practices—and share advice on how to move forward. In today’s...

In your inclusive classroom, you probably have some students who are struggling with reading skills—and having trouble generalizing the skills they learn to settings outside the classroom. Whether they’re English language learners, students with identified learning disabilities, or learners...

Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) have been widely adopted in both early childhood and K-12 settings, and it’s easy to see why these three-tiered systems are a good fit with inclusive education. They help ensure that children get the specific supports they need without having to fail first....

*Updated 11/29/21 Before the pandemic, it was estimated that at least one in four young people experiences trauma severe enough to negatively affect their school success (National Child Traumatic Stress Network Schools Committee). And as the effects of COVID-19 continue to unfold, it’s a safe...

In an inclusive early childhood setting, how can you modify your teaching strategies and everyday activities so that all children can participate? Today’s post gives you some answers, with a special focus on including young learners with physical and sensory impairments. Excerpted and adapted from...