The Inventor's Desk

Ten Words a Page: Dual Language Learners, Feeling Words, and the Free Audio

Many California children under five grow up with a language other than English at home. Here is how a ten-word page, a refrain, and a recorded voice fit the state's own foundations for language dev...

A Friend's Difference Is a Fact, Not a Plot: Inclusion in Books 8, 14, and 19

The DEC/NAEYC joint statement on early childhood inclusion is seventeen years old and California is still funding it. Here is how the series handles a friend who is different, and why the differenc...

Two Names on One Creation: Problem-Solving Together in Books 11, 14, and 19

California's Approaches to Learning foundations end with a strand called Goal-Directed Learning, and one of its two sub-strands is Collaborative Effort. Three books are about nothing else.

The Why Phase Is a Skill: Curiosity and Initiative in California's Approaches to Learning

California's 2024 preschool foundations open the Approaches to Learning domain with Curiosity and Interest and Initiative. Books 1 and 3 are built on nothing else.

Cardboard and Tape Are the Curriculum: Play-Based Learning, DAP, and Books 5 to 8

NAEYC's 2020 position statement on developmentally appropriate practice puts play at the center of early learning. Here is what that looks like when the material is a cardboard box.

OOPS! ALMOST!: Persistence, the Way California Now Writes It Into Preschool

California's new Approaches to Learning domain has a foundation called Persisting Despite Difficulties. Book 7 turns it into a game with a battle cry.

Breathe First, Talk Second: The Behavior Script Inside Book 13

Guidance and challenging behavior is NAEYC's most-read topic. Book 13 hands a toddler the three-step script that early childhood educators keep asking for.

The QR Code Is the Take-Home: Family Engagement Without Another Newsletter

NAEYC and California both name family engagement as a core practice. The series' answer is one question, one activity, and one MP3 per book, behind the QR code in the back.

A Book Plus a Grown-Up Beats a Tablet Alone: Screen Time, Co-Viewing, and the Free Read-Aloud Audio

The NAEYC and Fred Rogers Center position statement on technology draws one line that still holds: passive screen use alone is out, interactive use with an adult can help. Here is how to use our fr...

Name the Feeling First: What California's Preschool Foundations Ask, and How Bao Does It

California's 2024 preschool foundations put emotional knowledge in the first strand of social-emotional development. Book 4 is built around one question that does exactly that work.