Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Resources

The American Academy of Pediatrics is dedicated to the health of all children and committed to the attainment of optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.
The Center for Early Childhood Leadership is dedicated to enhancing the management skills, professional orientation and leadership capacity of early childhood administrators.
The Child & Family WebGuide describes and evaluates web sites that contain research-based information about child development.
An organization of regional Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies serving communities throughout the state of Illinois.
The Children's Book Council is dedicated to encouraging literacy and the use and enjoyment of children's books.
Children's Literature offers information on authors and illustrators, recommended books by theme, book award winners, etc.
The Circle of Inclusion web site is for early childhood service providers and families of young children. This web site offers demonstrations of and information about the effective practices of inclusive educational programs for children from birth through age eight.
Civitas is a national not-for-profit communication group that works to provide educational tools to all adults who live and work with young children.
The CLAS Early Childhood Research Institute collects and describes early childhood/early intervention resources that have been developed across the United States for children with disabilities and their families and the service providers who work with them. The materials and resources available on this site reflect the intersection of culture and language, disabilities and child development.
The Division of Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is a nonprofit organization advocating for individuals who work with or on behalf of children with special needs, birth through age eight, and their families. There is also an Illinois Subdivision for the Division of Early Childhood (IDEC).
The Early Childhood Educators' and Family Web Corner contains articles, teacher pages, family pages, etc.
EdWorld.Resources covers a variety of areas of Early Childhood.
ERIC provides research-based information and articles in the field of early childhood.
I Am Your Child is a national public awareness and engagement campaign to make early childhood development a top priority of our nation.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services web site for information on day care licensing, etc.
The Illinois Department of Human Services Early Intervention site contains information for parents and service providers, including Child and Family Connections contacts. .
The Illinois Early Learning Web site provides evidence-based, reliable information for parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children in the State of Illinois.
Illinois Head Start Association information.
Lists of recommended children's books for birth to five and Early Childhood Block Grant professional development opportunities are available on the Early Childhood portion of the Illinois Resource Center's web site.
The Illinois Secretary of State's literacy program site includes grant applications and literacy resources.
Meld offers education and support for parents, trains family service providers to apply best practices in their work with families and publishes a broad range of resource materials for parents and the people who work with them.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children has for its purpose, “leading and consolidating the efforts of individuals and groups working to achieve healthy development and constructive education for all young children.”
The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect is a resource for professionals and others seeking information on abuse and neglect and child welfare.
The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center supports the implementation of the early childhood provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Their mission is to strengthen service systems to ensure that children with disabilities (birth through five) and their families receive and benefit from high quality, culturally appropriate, and family-centered supports and services.
The National Head Start Association is a private not-for-profit membership organization that provides a national forum for the continued enhancement of Head Start services for children ages 0 to 5 and their families.
The National Institute for Early Education Research supports early childhood education initiatives by providing objective, nonpartisan information based on research.
Ongoing update about the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHID) study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.
The Ounce of Prevention was established to promote the well-being of children and adolescents by working with families, communities, and policy-makers.
The Parents as Teachers National Center is committed to seeing that “all children will learn, grow, and develop to realize their full potential." The information is geared to parents but helpful to all programs in early childhood.
The Partnership for Reading continually creates resources and shares information about how scientifically based research can inform the acquisition of reading skills across the lifespan, from birth to adulthood. Visit the Early Childhood section.
Prevent Child Abuse America provides leadership to promote the prevention of child abuse and neglect at both the national and local levels. Information is also available in Spanish.
Reading Rockets, "launching young readers", contains resources, book lists, and tips on early reading.
The Society for Research in Child Development at the University of Michigan is a multidisciplinary, not-for-profit, professional association of approximately 5,000 researchers, practitioners, and human development professionals.
The U.S. Department of Education's Early Reading First site contains information on the status of Early Reading First grants.
The U.S. Department of Education main site includes information on No Child Left Behind.
Voices for Illinois Children works with families, communities, and policy-makers to ensure that all children grow up healthy, nurtured, safe, and well educated.
Zero to Three is a leading resource on the first three years of life. Its goal is to strengthen and support families, practitioners and communities to promote the healthy development of babies and toddlers.