Welcome

What you say and do matters.

What you say and do with adults and children matters.

Children learn with and from the important adults in their lives. That’s YOU! Regardless of your role, you bring learning to life for young children — in your own special way. There are so many ways in which your uniqueness matters for children. Your smile, sense of humor, the unique sound of your voice, the interests you share with children, and how you see your role in their education and care all influence how children experience you and the learning process.

How you are is as important as what you say and do.

Whatever your role in the lives of children, how you are matters. Children learn about the world through their experiences and interactions with you. How you choose to show up — your actions and words — models for children how to be in the world. You consistently send messages that shape how they see themselves, others, and learning. Notice how these adults are showing up as models for children:

• Pamela smiles at her 2-year-old son as she helps him get dressed. • Liam, a teacher of 5-year-olds, throws his head back laughing at a joke Miguel tells the class. • Lizette, a home-based caregiver and educator, speaks in a soft, soothing voice with 7-month-old Kathy as she changes her diaper. • 3-year-old Jonathan drops his milk onto the floor. Philip, the school’s custodian, kneels down beside him and says, “Jonathan it’s ok. Accidents happen. Together, we can clean it up.” • Suzannah, a city council member, adds “Recently we were asked to vote on an ordinance to build a new park.

Before voting, I did research to find out how community parks benefit young children.”

THINK ABoUT THe Role(S) YoU PlAY IN THe lIVeS oF cHIlDReN.

What is one example of how you choose to show up with and for them?

How This Work Began

Learning is process and not product oriented. This is true for adults as well as children. We feel it is only fitting that we tell the story of the process that informed, crafted, and guided the words and wisdom in this resource.

This work began with a question from various leaders in the early learning field in Wyoming. It was formed in part by years of listening to the experts — those who have committed to the sacred responsibility of caring for and educating children. Could the dream of having one shared vision of quality in Wyoming be achieved? And, if so, how could it be done in a way that elevated the voices from the field? Leading for Children was invited to be a thinking partner with Wyoming stakeholders to shape, coordinate, and implement a process that would be respectful and meaningful to all involved — Wyoming’s children and families and all who serve and partner with them.

The best way to learn and grow is in the context of positive relationships and interactions where the environment is safe for the risks associated with learning to take place and where there are many and varied opportunities to activate curiosity, explore, and investigate.

Thus, the Wyoming Quality Learning Network was developed. Over the course of seven months, 30 early learning professionals and family members from across the state participated in an intense process to use their wisdom, knowledge, and experiences to build consensus and coherence around what quality looks like day to day.

To learn more about the Quality Learning Network, its process and members, and its partners, turn to the Appendix. Coherence Matters

All children deserve the opportunity to thrive! As Optimistic Leaders for children, we all play a role and have a responsibility to ensure that each and every child has access to the best learning opportunities in the context of healthy, safe relationships and environments. (Jablon, 2012)

How do we ensure that all children have the best opportunity to learn and grow? By having a coherent vision of quality. Coherent means logical and consistent. As we define what quality means in early childhood education, it is important for all of us to be on the same page, singing from the same song sheet, and having a logical and consistent understanding of what quality means.

In addition, we must make sure that the coherent vision of quality is shared and able to be understood and implemented (used) by all the adults who educate and care for young children. When we describe quality in clear, concise words we “paint a picture” in our minds. This is critical to making quality holdable and achievable.

The Coherent Path to Quality

The Coherent Path to Quality™, a Leading for Children framework, was developed to make quality holdable, sharable, and achievable for all the adults in the child’s ecosystem.

The framework defines three dimensions of program quality: relationships and interactions, the emotional and physical environment, and learning experiences. Each dimension has “simple rules” or criteria for establishing shared understanding and for ensuring all children and adults thrive. These rules are a “package” — you can’t just pick the ones you like.

Children learn what they live. One unique feature of this framework is that it was developed with adults and children in mind. When we think of the Coherent Path to Quality, we think about its dimensions and rules from multiple viewpoints: adult with adult, adult with child, and child with child. Simply put, what we want adults to do with and for children are the same things we should do with and for each other. Who This Resource Is For and How It’s Organized

This resource was written with you in mind! While the primary audience for this resource is early educators — teachers, directors, and home-based caregivers and educators — it’s meant to support all the adults within the child’s ecosystem. Whether you are a family member, community leader, or kitchen manager in an early learning program, we hope this resource provides inspiration and insight, and promotes a deeper understanding of your impact on the lives of children. It can be used individually as a learning and self-reflection tool or within a group to foster collaborative conversations, learning, and growth.

We’ve organized this resource into three chapters. Each chapter will take a deeper look at one of the Dimensions of the Coherent Path to Quality and its Simple Rules using vignettes and examples from Wyoming. These exemplars consist of photos and statements that articulate the element of quality and its importance.

Each chapter includes questions and prompts for reflection, both within the chapter and at the end. We invite you to use them as a way to:

• Activate your curiosity and notice and identify the effectiveness of your own practice and the practice of others • Serve as a catalyst for conversations with others to improve the day-to-day experiences for young children and their families • Nurture your own personal professional development and growth • Practice using the Wyoming Coherent Path to Quality to guide your decisions and practice

This resource concludes with an appendix that includes information about the Wyoming Quality Learning Network and its process, background on Leading for Children, and a list of references.