Five Commitments
- Protect safety and belonging. Every child deserves respectful care and meaningful participation.
- Build responsive relationships. Know each child and work with families as partners.
- Preserve play and agency. Offer meaningful choices, exploration, and intentional teaching.
- Understand before responding. Notice context, strengths, communication, and barriers.
- Use evidence to adjust practice. Change adult support and the environment when children need something different.
Daily Practices
| Commitment | What an educator does | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Safety and belonging | Intervene calmly when someone may be hurt; offer accessible ways to participate. | Sections 7–9, 11–12 |
| Responsive relationships | Notice children's cues, sustain exchanges, and invite family knowledge. | Sections 9–10 |
| Play and agency | Protect extended play; offer choices and brief guidance that supports children's purposes. | Sections 5–6 |
| Understanding | Describe what happened before interpreting it; consider demands, transitions, language, and sensory needs. | Sections 8–12 |
| Adjustment | Use an observation to choose a next step, then notice whether it helps. | Sections 10, 14 |
In a difficult moment: Protect children from immediate harm, offer calm support, reduce unnecessary demands, and help children communicate or rejoin when ready. Later, record a brief objective observation and consider what adult support or environmental change could help. A child's behavior alone does not establish its cause.
Professional Reference
Use Sections 1–5 for philosophy and planning, Sections 6–13 for teaching and support, and Section 14 for improvement. Consult the relevant appendix when a tool will help you make a decision. This entry point can also guide use of the site's Start Here page.