EARLY LEARNING INNOVATION STUDIO

Early Learning Innovation Studio

Building excellence, driving improvements.

Since the 1960s, we’ve learned a lot about how young children learn through play, yet the spaces we use to nurture their development have changed little over the last half century. Now, we’ve updated a model for early learning that combines 50 years of experience with today’s cutting edge research, technology, and design: the Early Learning Innovation Studio. Every inch of this pioneering space is designed to help young children learn, develop, and flourish.

The Early Learning Innovation Studio includes:

Child studios: Best-in-class demonstration classrooms for early learning educators and community members (2 classrooms) and NAEYC-accredited child care classrooms serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (3 classrooms)

Indoor/outdoor play space: Spacious, age-appropriate areas for young children and an outdoor nature classroom for learning and movement

Educator studios: Dedicated collaboration and training space with supportive technology for early learning educators

Why this – and why now?

The Early Learning Innovation Studio offers an opportunity for Texas to transform the way it approaches educational spaces for young children. CCA is connecting with partners to renovate and transform additional early learning sites in high-need neighborhoods.

Seeing is believing: These classrooms and training areas put into reality what parents, teachers, and researchers say they need and want in early learning spaces.

Cost-effective replication: The Studio is scalable, budget-friendly, and can be implemented in most settings.

Demonstrating what’s doable: These spaces will show what’s achievable with different resource constraints and partnership models.

Maximizing learning, minimizing disruption: The demonstration classrooms provide a hands-on experience of what best-in-class early learning looks and feels like – without imposing distracting site visits on the learning environment of children.

With the Early Learning Innovation Studio, we’re setting a new benchmark for early learning spaces in Texas. Our goal is to spread and scale these ideas to transform early learning classrooms in the state.

“Looking 10 years ahead, what will early education classrooms look like? Taking into account what we know about how children learn, how their brains develop, and the current research on appropriate environmental design, we believe the Early Learning Innovation Studio is the answer.”

– Kara Waddell,
President-CEO,
Child Care Associates