About The Essentials

What are the Essentials?

Our Values

What do you value as a teacher of young children?

Perhaps you value children's play — a child's unstructured, personally motivated engagement in an activity for joy. Or perhaps you value children's curiosity — a child's desire to understand how something works. Our values fundamentally shape our interactions with young children, as well as our expectations of their learning. Five core values, grounded in evidence from research, supported the development of the Essential Instructional Practices in Early Mathematics: Prekindergarten to Grade 3. These Essential Values seek to promote high-quality, equitable teaching and learning for young children in the discipline of mathematics. By sharing these core values, we pull back the curtain so all can understand the backdrop against which the Essential Instructional Practices in Early Math take center stage.