Preschool Planning Tool


The Preschool Planning Tool provides early childhood general and special education teachers and administrators with ideas for teaching strategies, potential educational goals, and possible assistive technology supports that relate to competencies identified in three Domains of the California Preschool Learning Foundations Volume 1. (California Department of Education (CDE), 2008. California Preschool Learning Foundations Volume 1. Sacramento: CDE Press.)

This tool was originally a collaborative endeavor initiated by the SEEDS Project in 2009. A small group of Early Childhood Education Professionals and parents gathered together to learn from one another and to brainstorm the development of a “crosswalk” in an effort to connect a variety of EC and ECSE resources, tools and required documents. Over time, some of the tools and resources originally considered have changed, shifting this project from a “crosswalk” to a “planning tool.” The goal of this tool is to assist and guide teachers in their instructional practice to support children in attaining the knowledge and skills described in the foundations.

The samples and ideas within the tool are not exhaustive; they are intended to assist teachers in their intentional teaching around the foundations. Teachers are very creative and imaginative; the samples can be used as a starting point or as a springboard for other stimulating ideas in the classroom to enable children to acquire the competencies found in the foundations. Read what some teachers have shared about using this tool. (99k PDF)

Get Started

  • Step 1: Select a domain from the CA Preschool Learning Foundations
  • Step 2: Select a strand from the domain
  • Step 3: Select a sub-strand from the strand
  • Step 4: Choose the information you want included in your planning table
  • Step 5: View and print your planning table


Helpful References

Share Your Wisdom with Others

We invite you to share with us how you utilized this tool or share additional teaching strategies/AT ideas (some may be featured and added to the tool).

The links within the tool are current as of February 2015. Broken link? Let us know!

A Special Thanks to the Following:


M. Cathcart, G.S. Johnson, R. Ryan, D. Eagen, D. Soto, S. Botkin, S. Castillo, J. Battaglia, C. Fiorelli, M. Whitney, P. Salcedo, K. Sadao, C. Mikitka, C. Kaup, D. Whitmer, A. Ferry, S. Baltazar, A. Kuschner, D. Henry, G. Guarneri, E. Cho, K. Finn, V. Reynolds, N. Manker, T. Anderson and J. Crum.

10474 Mather Boulevard | P.O. Box 269003 | Sacramento, CA 95826 | 916-228-2388 | rryan@scoe.net
Under the direction of and funded by the California Department of Education, Special Education Division
Produced by SEEDS