• 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
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  • 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.

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  • 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
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      • Events
      • 2026 Virtual Professional Learning
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      • Past Conferences
  • 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
      • Contact Us
      • 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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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.


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. ✨


Children are innately curious. They explore throug
Children are innately curious. They explore through all their senses and then strive to express and respond to the compelling things they experience in the world. 

The role of the environment in supporting children as researchers/scientists and writers is key! When children have access to the means to research and respond in meaningful ways they open up a world of possibilities for themselves and others.

In this example, a child investigates a book to help her learn more about a bee she has seen in the garden. She places the book next to the easel, pulls up a stool so that she can reference the book and reach the paper and carefully writes the word "bee". In this moment the child is the scientist, the writer and the artist doing what naturally curious humans do by making her mark, capturing an idea full of wonder.


Children are natural builders. As they cut, bend,
Children are natural builders. As they cut, bend, twist, and fasten cardboard, they discover strategies, solve problems, and bring new ideas to life.

“First use helping hands, then cut, next hold cardboard, then twist the screwdriver.”
“I used a pencil to cut a window.”

Our new Getting Started with Cardboard guide offers ways to support this kind of joyful exploration in your classroom — with materials, agreements, guiding questions, and tips to get started.

✨ Free download in our bio


Children become storytellers long before they writ
Children become storytellers long before they write words on a page.�Literacy lives inside play: in the way children use materials to share ideas, make meaning, and interpret their world.

When a child slides a piece of paper into their play, picks up a marker to capture an idea, or dictates a story sparked by their curiosity, they show us what writing means to them. These moments aren’t separate from learning, they are literacy in action.

When we offer rich materials, listen closely, and notice the stories unfolding, we see children being writers, scientists, actors, builders, and directors of their own learning. We see how deeply play supports the foundations of reading and writing.


💙 Today is Giving Tuesday 💙

"You are the teacher
💙 Today is Giving Tuesday 💙

"You are the teacher of your own brain" -Aaquib, age 5

Amid cuts to education funding, we’re working to preserve the voices of children in their own learning. Through materials, teachers offer children ways to express big ideas, complex emotions, and hope for the world they’re growing into.

Your gift keeps that possibility alive, ensuring that playful, joyful learning continues to thrive in classrooms across Oregon and even $10 makes a difference.
Will you support joyful learning for the cost of a cup of coffee?

As our gift to you this Giving Tuesday, enjoy our free new guide: Getting Started with Cardboard

link in bio for the guide and to support our work!


In Madeline’s 2nd grade classroom the community ha
In Madeline’s 2nd grade classroom the community has been leaning into what it means to have empathy with one another and with themselves. Recently, on a give away table at her school Madeline found this compliment box and wondered what might happen if she introduced the idea of giving compliments to one another.  She created a ritual at the end of the day for the children to stop and reflect on someone they’d like to compliment and to write it and stick it in the box. Then one student pulls 3 a day to read aloud to the class while the rest get passed out to the person who was complimented to take home and treasure. 

One day two children had a conflict where hurt feelings lingered all day long. And to Madeline’s surprise when compliments were pulled and read inside was an apology. One child had been brave enough to see the complement box as a way to make amends. The following day the child who received the apology wrote a compliment for the apology! Empathy is alive and well in Madeline’s 2nd grade classroom. Thank you Madeline for seeing the strength in your students and creating an opportunity for their compassion for one another to thrive!


When we began, we served two school districts in t
When we began, we served two school districts in two counties in the Portland-Metro area. Since then, we have grown, partnering deeply with five districts while conducting regional projects which touched over 30 school districts in 13 counties across Oregon.



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