Transitioning to Kindergarten A practical and easy-to-use toolkit developed by the AFT and the National Center for Learning Disabilities to help early childhood educators plan activities for pre-Kindergarten age children. The toolkit helps an early childhood educator assess how a child is progressing toward the skills that lead to reading and writing and how to implement strategies in the pre-K year to facilitate and enhance a child’s transition to kindergarten. Download at www.getreadytoread.org/content/view/260 or phone the CFT Bay Area office at 510-523-5238 to have a kit mailed to you.

Early Educator A quarterly newsletter published by the CFT Early Childhood Education Project. To view back issues, go to www.cft.org/councils/ec/news/pfa.html

¡ColorínColorado! A bilingual Web site for educators and families of English Language Learners with loads of practical, research-based information about how to help ELLs read, learn, and succeed. AFT teamed up with the Reading Rockets project of PBS station WETA to develop this comprehensive site. It features best instructional practices for teaching reading, a toolkit on effective outreach to Hispanic parents, professional development webcasts, monthly e-newsletters, podcasts, videos and more. www.colorincolorado.org

CFT Early Childhood Education Organizing Project Learn about the CFT’s organizing project for early childhood educators and the union’s Early Childhood Education Committee. Download back issues of Early Educator, organizing materials and sign up for Small Talk. www.cft.org/councils/ec/news/pfa.html

Small Talk The CFT e-newsletter that will keep you in the loop on pre-K news and events from the union and a variety of other early childhood education advocacy groups. To sign up for the newsletter, go to www.cft.org/councils/ec/news/pfa.html

Quality Child Care, A Guide for Working Parents

A booklet for parents wanting to find high-quality, reliable preschool. Published by CFT and the Labor Project for Working Families. To order hard copies, phone the CFT Bay Area office at 510-523-5238.

AFT offers many resources on its Web site including links to everything from news articles to a survey of salaries across the country.  www.aft.org/earlychildhood

The Center for the Child Care Workforce is a foundation of the AFT with a long history of working to improve working conditions including compensation for childcare workers. www.ccw.org

Children Now offers a streamlined approach to useful statistics and links to fact sheets and to their report Kids Can’t Wait to Learn. www.childrennow.org/issues/education/early_care.html

Pre-K Now features links to preschool developments state by state on a national scale and talks about funding projections. www.preknow.org