Children learn best when their unique interests and abilities are honored. Ideal Learning is a whole-child approach that places children at the center of their education. Many school districts value this approach. Yet programs that reflect the tenets of Ideal Learning (e.g., Montessori, Tools of the Mind) have not been implemented to scale in Colorado. Since 2019, Early Milestones has worked in partnership with Trust for Learning to expand Ideal Learning environments across Colorado.
Over the course of four phases of work, Early Milestones researched challenges and opportunities to advance Ideal Learning approaches in early care and learning, evaluated alignment between the Principles of Ideal Learning and state-supported guidance, mapped existing programs in Colorado, and produced a brief to make the case for expanded use of these models. In the most recent phase of our partnership with Trust for Learning, we offered a funding opportunity for publicly funded school-and community-based programs to adopt Ideal Learning approaches.