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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

On June 10, hosted a 鈥淪how +Tell鈥� of recent innovations in early childhood education. Entrepreneur-in-Residence Chelsea Sprayregen and senior advisor Kai-le茅 Berke served as our online hosts.

During the two-hour series, attendees heard nearly 20 entrepreneurs pitch their solutions for accessible, affordable and quality child care in the United States. Our notes below highlight some of the featured companies:

1. Online Solutions

• About half of U.S. child care providers won鈥檛 appear in a Google search, leaving parents short of solutions and caregivers short of clients. With input from parents and providers in communities across the country, is a trusted marketplace.
• is especially useful for identifying caregivers in a pinch. Parents can complete a quick form from their phone, prompting the app to contact close family and friends, who opt in or out of the opportunity to help look after the child. Wiggle Room manages logistics, enabling parents to navigate unplanned child care needs with confidence.

2. Physical Spaces

• To address the child care shortage, collaborates with developers and community partners to increase brick-and-mortar facilities to house much-needed early learning programs. These intentional buildings boost families鈥� economic opportunities, from employment to housing, and improve children鈥檚 learning at critical development stages.
• Found in cities across the country, blend home and institutional schooling — often in storefronts. The solution is ideal for smaller groups; the largest Wildflower School has just two rooms and 39 children. This structure builds on the premise that smaller schools encourage community and support among the families, teachers and children.

3. Quality Interventions

• uses voice assistance technology to help providers manage the flood of required paperwork. 鈥淧aperwork doesn鈥檛 take care of children, providers do,鈥� says cofounder Shimira Williams. Implementation is simple and requires minimal equipment.
• Most children under 5 spend more than 60% of their waking hours with teachers and providers. To better equip these professionals, offers programs and a wearable device to measure talk and accelerate the language development of children, closing opportunity gaps. LENA provides data-backed reports to providers along with custom coaching to boost quality interactions.

4. Networks and Partnerships

• In partnership with The University of Virginia, implements the training tool CLASS (the Classroom Assessment Scoring System) and Quality Rating Improvement Systems to help organizations conduct classroom observations and provide professional development so that teachers improve and children learn more. They believe that with training and metrics to measure results, positive improvements are possible in all teaching settings.
• trains, supports and sustains community child care providers to ensure that children and families have the foundation needed to succeed in school and in life. Professionals are provided opportunities to obtain licensing, training and support to be business owners. This foundation lays the groundwork for achievement in homes, schools and beyond.

5. Higher Education

• offers evidence-based, interactive courses aiding current and future early child care educators with obtaining teaching credits that count toward a degree. The free online courses remove the barriers of traditional higher education learning, making it more accessible, affordable and relevant.
• at the University of Massachusetts Boston trains early educators in entrepreneurial leadership and research systems to support them at scale. The program鈥檚 鈥渒now, believe, do鈥� curriculum empowers educators to see themselves as change agents.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 麻豆精品. Learn more here.