Early Childhood and Family Education

Welcome to the Early Childhood Department of Education at OSDE.  Our department serves the earliest learners in Oklahoma, from Birth to 3rd Grade.  There are many resources available to help you understand the development and education of young children.  

Regional Professional Learning Workshops

OSDE is excited to announce free, curriculum and instruction professional learning workshops for the 2021-22 school year. These three-hour workshops will be held in five different regions of the state and are designed to support educators with effective instructional strategies and resources aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards.

The Early Childhood Team will be offering a workshop for grade levels PK-3rd: 

Play with Purpose: Connecting Playful Experiences to Academic Outcomes

Participants will learn the continuum of play, and how to harness different types of play experiences to reach the Oklahoma Academic Standards.  By the end of the session, teachers will engage in and plan for putting academically minded play into action.

Locations Near You:

• El Reno--Thursday, September 23
• Tulsa--Tuesday, September 28
• Chickasha--Thursday, September 30
• Alva--Thursday, October 21
• Durant--Tuesday, October 26

To register, click the location you wish to attend in the list above.  

For those unable to attend the in-person workshops, a condensed virtual option will be available, recorded, and published.  Be sure to use the registration link below for the Zoom information.

Virtual Play with Purpose Workshop--Thursday, October 28.

Please note added safety measures will be taken at each location to to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.  There will be ample spacing for distancing and mask wearing will be highly encouraged.  

If you have any additional questions, please email Rachel.Moehle@sde.ok.gov.

Interested in all the workshops provided? Visit https://sde.ok.gov/regional-professional-learning-workshops

Oklahoma Academic Standards

Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS) serve as expectations for what students should know and be able to do by the end of the school year. These standards were written by Oklahomans for Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Academic Standards:

• Focus on deep thinking, conceptual understanding, and real‐world problem-solving skills
• Set expectations for students to be College, Career, and Citizenship Ready
• Incorporate Literacy in Science, Social Studies, and Technical Subjects
• Emphasize the use of citations and examples from texts when creating opinions and arguments
• Increase rigor and grade‐level expectations
• Determine the full range of support for English Language Learners and Students with Special needs.

Standards (Combined Content Areas):  

To learn more about Oklahoma Academic Standards visit here.

The Early Learning Inventory (ELI) is a free, comprehensive tool to assess students’ knowledge and skills at the start of the school year and to monitor students’ progress in these areas across the year. The ELI covers foundational knowledge and skills, such as counting and alphabet knowledge, as well as dispositions and abilities critical to early learning. Educator can quickly and purposefully gather information about their students’ knowledge and skills using the ELI’s observational rubrics that outline the progression of children’s learning across six essential domains of school readiness: 

• Literacy;
• Mathematics;
• Approaches toward learning;
• Physical Development, Health, and Well Being; 
• Scientific Conceptual Understanding; and
• Self, Family, and Community.

Beyond providing insight to educators on the entry point of the students in their class, it allows for rich conversation and information sharing with families on student goals. 

For more information see the Oklahoma Early Learning Inventory Webpage:

https://sde.ok.gov/earlylearninginventory

Early Childhood Newsletters:

Please subscribe to the #OKEarlyEd Newsletter here.

The OSDE Family Guides are resources aligned with the Oklahoma Academic Standards and developed specifically for Oklahoma families to complement classroom learning. They illustrate what is expected of students at each grade level in different content areas along with activities families can do at home to further support children's learning experiences.   These guides are great resources for families at Open House, Parent Teacher Conferences, Family Nights, and School Newsletters.

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For more information or to see other grade level family guides click on the image above.