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    • Teaching Preschool Partners believes in co-creation with our partners, and that our partners are a wellspring of inspiration and wisdom. We do not subscribe to conventional ideas of the “expert.” Learn more about how we work!

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    • We cherish our partnerships and acknowledge the boldness of what our partners are doing. They are creating worlds for children that build on their capabilities and gifts, and upholding a vision of a transformed public education system. Get to know our partners and arrange for a visit!

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  • Resource Library
    • This resource library was created with educators in mind. It includes tools and stories from TPP collaborating classrooms and Opal School. We hope you’ll explore these resources to find inspiration, get curious, and imagine next steps for your work with children. This is for you.

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    • Support TPP financially, support classrooms by donating materials, and support us through volunteering! Click Donate to see how you can support TPP’s mission!

      There are many ways to connect with TPP. Contact us by email, follow us on social media, or join our email list for monthly updates. Click Connect to see how you can stay connected to TPP!

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  • Our Approach
    • Teaching Preschool Partners believes in co-creation with our partners, and that our partners are a wellspring of inspiration and wisdom. We do not subscribe to conventional ideas of the “expert.” Learn more about how we work!

      • Our Approach
      • Who we are
      • Our Board of Directors
  • Our Partners
    • We cherish our partnerships and acknowledge the boldness of what our partners are doing. They are creating worlds for children that build on their capabilities and gifts, and upholding a vision of a transformed public education system. Get to know our partners and arrange for a visit!

      • Our Partners
      • Teaching Preschools
      • Parkrose School District
      • Gladstone School District
      • Public School District Partners
      • Beaverton School District
      • Greater Albany Public School District
      • North Clackamas School District
      • Portland Public Schools
      • Regional Partnerships
      • Southern Oregon Cohort
      • C2T2 Community Page
      • Active Playful Learning
      • About the Project
      • See Our Press Release
  • Resource Library
    • This resource library was created with educators in mind. It includes tools and stories from TPP collaborating classrooms and Opal School. We hope you’ll explore these resources to find inspiration, get curious, and imagine next steps for your work with children. This is for you.

      • Resource Library
      • All Resources
      • Documenting Learning
      • Opal SchoolNew
      • About Opal School
      • Opal School Online Archive
      • Collections
      • New to Playful Inquiry?
      • Environments and Materials
      • Tools and Publications
      • See All
      • Store
      • TPP Field Guide
      • Family Explore
      • Opal Publications
      • Habits of Mind Posters
  • Support and Connect
    • Support TPP financially, support classrooms by donating materials, and support us through volunteering! Click Donate to see how you can support TPP’s mission!

      There are many ways to connect with TPP. Contact us by email, follow us on social media, or join our email list for monthly updates. Click Connect to see how you can stay connected to TPP!

      • Support TPP
      • Donate
      • Donate Financially
      • Donate Materials
      • Volunteer
      • Store
      • Connect
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      • Follow us on Social Media
      • Join our Email List
      • Store
      • Field Guide
      • Family Explore
      • Opal Publications
      • Habits of Mind Posters
      • Events
      • 2026 Virtual Professional Learning
      • 2026 Summer Early Learning Conference
      • Past Conferences

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Check Out Our Latest Posts

Come see what we are up to! From inspirations for practice to insights into how we work.

teachingpreschoolpartners

We help districts grow strong early learning, create demonstration teaching preschools, and give visibility to genius of children. PreK to Elementary.


“I want to tell a story; I don’t have all the part
“I want to tell a story; I don’t have all the parts yet. But I know it’s going to be amazing.”

Children remind us as we start this new year that learning doesn’t start with having it all figured out, it starts with curiosity, imagination, and trust in what’s unfolding. 💛


As we look back on this year, we notice what linge
As we look back on this year, we notice what lingers.

The moments in classrooms.
The questions educators carried with them.
The ways children showed us what they were thinking through words, materials, and play.

Those moments continue to shape where we’re headed. They inform the resources we create, the partnerships we nurture, and the questions we’ll keep asking alongside educators.

To our community partners, the educators we learn with, the families who share their stories, and the funders who make this work possible—thank you. This work is collective, and it’s still unfolding.

We’re looking ahead with curiosity, care, and deep belief in children’s brilliance, and in the adults who make space for it to be seen.


Big questions make room for the big thinking that
Big questions make room for the big thinking that is already happening.

Asking Big Questions is a tool for noticing what children care about and using their interests, emotions, and ideas as the starting point for inquiry. When educators listen closely and invite questions that don’t have easy answers, children learn that uncertainty is not something to avoid—it’s where learning begins.

This practice supports children to:
share diverse perspectives
connect ideas across experiences
engage deeply with one another
imagine new possibilities together

When we ask big questions, we signal to children that their thinking matters and that learning is something we build together.

🔗 Find the full tool through the link in our bio 

This and other resources were preserved at opalschool.org thanks to generous support from James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation


When children play, they are making sense of their
When children play, they are making sense of their world—especially when that world has been hard.

This @edutopia feature names what many educators see every day: imaginative play as a pathway to healing, regulation, and resilience. 

Link in bio for the full article.


It’s often the small moments that stay with us.

O
It’s often the small moments that stay with us.

Over Winter Break TPP is offering a free tool that helps adults linger in small moments with young children. It is called,  Family Explore: Texture. It offers an easy way to explore together, noticing everyday textures and following children’s curiosity as they touch the world around them and describe and wonder about how those things feel.

A free, printable resource for families and caregivers with young children.
Download in English and Spanish at the link in our bio.


We closed out 2025 with a cozy gathering for our m
We closed out 2025 with a cozy gathering for our most recent Teacher Collaboration at The Hundred School @thehundredschool , a certified family child care home in SE Portland, owned and run by TPP's Gabi Bizari. Being in an in-home environment reminded us how much space matters, and how warmth, comfort, and invitation shape the way children build relationships with one another, the adults who care for them and themselves.

We talked about environments that reflect the children's communities: familiar family objects, shared histories, and spaces where children are trusted to move freely, explore deeply, and feel a sense of belonging. We reflected on the power of growing alongside the same cohort over time, and how continuity nurtures trust and connection.

Our conversation kept returning to relationships: what becomes possible when educators intentionally make time and space for children to get to know themselves, to show who they are, and to be in relationship with others who are also discovering themselves. When that foundation is strong the children's voices rise up and guide the work.

We also took a moment to celebrate that The Hundred School will become a Preschool for All site next year! An exciting step toward expanding access to tuition-free, high-quality early learning rooted in relationships and community.

We're grateful for this warm closing moment of the year, for the educators who show up with curiosity and care, and for the spaces that hold us as we learn together and build community. Thank you to the 100 School Team (Gabi, Kaela, Kimi) for hosting us


When we ask children what holidays they celebrate,
When we ask children what holidays they celebrate, we’re not searching for the “right” answer or a list of dates. We’re opening a door.

A door into their families.
Into their memories.
Into the traditions that make them feel held.

In classrooms, these stories become starting points for writing, building, drawing, and imagining. They become moments of connection between children, between teachers and families, and within the community we’re building together.

Every celebration or tradition a child names is an invitation to see them more fully.

And when we listen closely, they show us just how much there is to see.


2026 Professional Learning is here!

We’re excited
2026 Professional Learning is here!

We’re excited to invite early childhood educators into a new virtual series designed to support Playful Inquiry, Story Workshop, and Curriculum Structures that center children’s curiosity, creativity, and capability.

Join us for one session or the full four-part series — all live on Zoom and created for PreK & K educators who are nurturing joyful, equitable learning.

📅 January–March 2025
💵 $42 per session • $150 for the full series
🎓 Oregon OCCD Set 2 approved, certificates provided

Register through the link in our bio.
We can’t wait to learn with you. ✨



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