High Quality Pre-K Starts with Supported Teachers: A Role for Curricula in Bridging Preschool and Early Elementary

The 2024 National Academies report, "A New Vision for High-Quality Preschool Curriculum," established a vision for high-quality, equitable preschool curricula while also challenging publishers to examine coherence across the critical transition from preschool through second grade. This call for alignment reflects an important reality: to build on the learning children gain from a high-quality preschool curriculum, the preschool years need to be followed by meaningful learning in early elementary grades—yet such quality K-2nd grade experiences remain uncommon.

Research over the past decade reveals a concerning pattern: young students often encounter redundant and misaligned experiences as they move from pre-K to elementary school. While most curricula maintain artificial divisions between pre-K and K-5th grade, some forward-thinking developers have created bridges that establish more coherence across these foundational years. They also include play, which in the early grades is “serious learning,” as Meghan McCormick and Carly Roberts of the Overdeck Foundation point out in their article for The 74.

New America has previously highlighted some of these models: Boston Public Schools' Focus on Early Learning, Great First Eight, and Tools of the Mind.

Focus on Early Learning represents an innovative open educational resource (OER) spanning preschool through second grade. Developed by Boston Public Schools' Department of Early Childhood under the leadership of Jason Sachs (now at the Gates Foundation), this curriculum integrates literacy with science and social studies themes while incorporating daily activities that build essential literacy skills. The program emphasizes play-based learning and weaves in opportunities for social-emotional development and exploration. Districts across Massachusetts and Maine have since adopted components of Focus, including its signature instructional routines like Storytelling and Thinking and Feedback.

Great First Eight takes a comprehensive approach to children ages 0-8 from underserved communities. This OER curriculum provides structured, bell-to-bell daily plans where children actively engage through project-based learning that can look and feel a lot like play. The kindergarten component features seven project-based units: Kindergartners Care, World Watchers, Music Moves Us, Domino Effects, Power in the People, Engineering Inside and Out, and Communicating Kindergarten. The final unit poses a meaningful question that connects students to their learning community: "What should we communicate about life in kindergarten to incoming kindergartners?"

Tools of the Mind bridges preschool and kindergarten with a focus on developing self-regulation alongside academic and social skills. Teachers guide children through play-based learning experiences across mathematics, science, and literacy. The kindergarten reading component creatively uses the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osbourne, with students acting out scenes that create connections to science, culture, and history.

Despite their different approaches, these curricula share three key characteristics. First, they deliberately integrate subject areas—combining science with reading, writing, and mathematics, and weaving social studies throughout. This integration allows students to deepen their knowledge and make meaningful connections rather than encountering subjects in isolation. Second, the curricula position play as a central learning tool across all subject areas and throughout the school day, recognizing play's power to engage young learners authentically. Third, they prioritize oral language development, creating numerous opportunities for students to engage in rich discussions, articulate their thinking, and provide feedback to peers. These key characteristics match how young students in pre-K and the early grades learn best. It is what they need to succeed at high levels.

These key elements—subject integration, play-based learning, and oral language emphasis—face significant barriers in many elementary schools today. Rigid scheduling structures often compartmentalize subjects into discrete time blocks, making integration logistically challenging when teachers must transition between math, reading, science, and social studies at prescribed times. State and local testing pressures spur schools toward drill-and-practice approaches that prioritize measurable skills over play-based exploration, particularly as students advance through K-2. Additionally, limited elementary school teacher preparation focused on teaching the youngest students means many educators lack training in interdisciplinary instruction or play-based strategies. These teachers require additional support to facilitate meaningful integration or guide productive play experiences, which they do not get because many school administrators and district leaders do not prioritize or fully understand the benefits of these approaches. Finally, growing resource constraints affect public schools' ability to provide the flexible learning spaces, manipulatives, and varied materials that support both integrated learning and play-based approaches, while also limiting professional learning opportunities that could build teacher capacity in these areas.

Yet where there is commitment backed by research, progress is possible. Bright spots exist across states like Washington, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Nevada, where districts and schools have successfully implemented or are working to implement coherent early learning approaches. Having spent time visiting these places over recent years, I've observed firsthand what makes some efforts succeed while others struggle.

The question becomes: how do we move beyond isolated examples to systematic change? Spreading these curricula and approaches requires more than showcasing successful models—it means addressing the structural barriers that prevent widespread adoption. This means rethinking teacher preparation programs, restructuring school schedules, shifting accountability measures, and building administrator understanding of developmentally appropriate practices. Most importantly, it requires sustained commitment from policymakers, educators, and communities who recognize that our youngest learners need and deserve quality, coherent curricula guiding educational experiences that honor how they naturally learn and grow.