Real Learning,
Right Where You Are
Grounded in children. Guided by intention. Rooted in real classrooms.
Meaningful Learning Happens Anywhere.
Meaningful learning starts with who our children are. It grows through intentional teaching, real experiences, and the ways we choose to engage them every day.
How I Think About Learning
Roots & Research develops research-informed, place-based literacy tools grounded in classroom practice.
Our work supports educators and families in creating meaningful learning experiences through inquiry, reflective practice, learning design, and professional learning that reflects children’s lives and communities.
Learning Design & Pedagogy
Design play-based, place responsive learning experiences that connect literacy, inquiry, and children’s everyday environments.
Professional Learning
Supporting educators and families through reflective professional learning grounded i research, classroom practice, and lived experience.
Research & Reflective Practice
Using documentation and inquiry to make children’s learning visible and to bridge research with real classroom practice.
Rooted in Practice
In Practice
Counting with Hats
During our clothing study, children used mini hats to represent numbers on clothing pieces.
They counted, matched, and talked through their thinking as they placed hats to show the number on vests, mittens, or hats.
What began as a math activity became a conversation about design, number, and representation.
Sewing in Preschool
Children explored sewing using simple materials like burlap, yarn, and large plastic needles. They practiced threading and stitching, strengthening fine motor skills through repeated attempts.
This work invited focus, patience, and problem-solving. Children learned to stay with a task, adjust their approach, and take pride in their work over time.
Launching a Clothes Study
We began our clothes study with a provocation: a magazine-style photo shoot that invited children to see clothing as expression, identity, and design.
Because the image was personally connected to the teacher, it brought a piece of her own life into the classroom, grounding the study in something real and intentionally chosen.
This opened space for conversation, observation, and exploration.
Measuring in Preschool
Children in our Pre-K classroom explored measurement using tape measures and their own bodies. They compared lengths, shared and recorded their findings, and began to make sense of size and difference.
This work supported ealry math concepts while encouraging observation, language, and connection to their own experiences.
Exploring Fabric Textures
Children explored a variety of fabrics, noticing differences in texture, weight, and pattern.
They. used language to describe what they felt and began making connections between materials and their uses in clothing.
Start Exploring
Explore ideas for meaningful, place-based learning
through books, play, and everyday experiences
About Roots & Research
Roots & research was created by an early childhood educator and researcher with over 20 years of classroom experience and a PhD in literacy.
This work is grounded in a simple belief: meaningful learning happens when it connects to children’s everyday lives.
Here, research and real practice come together to offer tools that are thoughtful, accessible, and designed for real classrooms and homes.
Rooted in Practice
Why Place Keeps Showing Up in My Classroom
Place is not simply where learning happens. It is how children figure themselves out.