Kids Included Together

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Kids Included Together KIT strives to help the world see the ability in every child. By creating inclusive environments where no child is excluded, everyone benefits.

We equip child care professionals with the tools, support, and confidence to welcome children with disabilities and respond to behavioral needs with compassion. Our organization helps others meaningfully include kids with and without disabilities through inclusion training, policy development and sharing our best practices information and research.

10/19/2026

Communicating well with families is one of the most important parts of a teacher's day. In this KIT Tip, we share the Heard, Helped, Honored system, a simple way to make every conversation with families more effective.

👂 Heard: Practice active listening. Take time to hear what families are saying instead of rushing them out the door.
🤝 Helped: Listen for where families say their child needs help. Treat their concerns as real concerns, and work on them together.
💛 Honored: Show families what their child is doing well, and be specific. Don't stop at "Katie had a great day." Tell them what Katie did that made the day great.

Want more ideas? Check out the KIT Academy training "3 Tips to Improve Conversations with Families" at kit.org

Chapters: 0:00 Why family communication matters
0:17 The Heard, Helped, Honored system + 1. Heard: active listening
0:32 2. Helped: take concerns seriously
0:49 3. Honored: share what's going well
0:58 Make compliments specific
1:11 Learn more: 3 Tips to Improve Conversations with Families

Kids Included Together (KIT) empowers providers to practice inclusive care. Since 1997, our training has reached 200,000+ educators across 50 states and 15 countries.

10/18/2026

As a former high school Dean of Students, our Education & Training Specialist has seen it firsthand: students with ADHD often don't need more consequences. They need clearer structure, shorter directions, movement, and an adult who understands what their behavior is communicating.

What looks like defiance, laziness, or low motivation may be a child struggling with attention, regulation, or executive functioning in an environment that isn't meeting their needs.

Try this in your program:

Break expectations into smaller steps.
Give every child a clear role or purpose.
Build in chances to move, especially during long or unstructured times.
This ADHD Awareness Month, stop asking "Why won't this child behave?" and start asking "What support will help this child access success?"

Find more practical strategies at kit.org.

10/17/2026

This ADHD Awareness Month, our Client & Curriculum Specialist shares a simple strategy that makes a big difference:

"When you communicate with a child with ADHD, whether it is a group message or a message just for them, get their attention first."

For many children with ADHD, your voice can blend into background noise. Try this before your next direction:

Move close to the child.
Say their name.
Make sure they know you have something to say.
Share the message.
Check that they heard and understood it.
Attention first, message second. Find more practical strategies at kit.org.

10/16/2026

Meet Mateo. He has ADHD, and switching gears is hard for him. 🧱⏰

When block time ends without warning, it can feel like hitting a wall. Mateo's teacher and his mom teamed up on a plan, and the next day looked completely different.

✅ Give a heads-up: a visual timer and a five-minute warning
✅ Use "first, then": "First, save your tower. Then homework."
✅ Give a job: moving his body helps his brain switch

Behavior is communication. Every child can be supported in an inclusive program. 💙

🧩 Try it this week: Pick your toughest transition of the day. Set a visual timer, give a five-minute warning, and offer one child a "helper job" when time's up (passing out folders, ringing the clean-up bell, holding the door). Notice what changes.

Learn more at kit.org

10/15/2026

One staff member who knows how to connect before redirecting helps. A whole team that does it changes your program. 💬

When behavior escalates, children do best when every adult responds the same way: acknowledge what the child is experiencing first ("You were using that block, and you weren't finished with it"), then redirect.

KIT's Connect & Redirect series gives your entire staff a shared approach and shared language for challenging moments, so no child gets a different response depending on who's working that day.

Bring it to your whole team 👉 kit.org

10/14/2026

Story time isn't hard for him because he doesn't care. His body needs to move.

Try this: Run a "freeze story" at circle time. Read one page, then everyone stands and acts out what just happened for 10 seconds before sitting back down. Give the child who needs it most the job of calling "freeze."

Save this for your next wiggly circle time.

Looking for practical inclusion strategies and resources for your team?The KIT Newsletter brings new courses, expert-led...
10/13/2026

Looking for practical inclusion strategies and resources for your team?

The KIT Newsletter brings new courses, expert-led webinars, free resources, and strategies to support inclusive practice across your organization directly to your inbox.

Stay connected to new learning opportunities and resources from Kids Included Together. Keep learning, growing, and strengthening inclusive practice.

Subscribe to the KIT Newsletter: https://hubs.ly/Q04yzHP-0

10/13/2026

Make a low-tech AAC board in 10 minutes 🗂️

All you need is paper, pictures, a marker, and a clear sleeve or tape.

1️⃣ Pick 6–9 words the child needs most. Mix core words like want, more, and help with a few favorites.
2️⃣ Add a picture and its word to each square. Keep every word in the same spot.
3️⃣ Slide it into a sleeve or cover it with tape, then make a few copies.
4️⃣ Model it! Point to the words as you talk: "Want… more… play?" Then keep it within reach all day.

Try it this week: make one board for snack time or free play. Each time you offer a choice, point to the words as you say them. Let the child answer by pointing, looking or saying a word.

Need pictures? Check out this free online board maker: https://connectability.ca/visuals-engine/

Every child has something to say. Learn more at kit.org 💛



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The "Try it this week" paragraph follows the hands-on activity pattern from your KIT TikTok posts. On TikTok the link won't be clickable, so you may want to swap that line for "Link in bio for a free board maker" and put the URL in your bio.

10/12/2026

"That's not safe" has become a catch-all phrase in classrooms and youth programs. But most of the time, the behavior isn't actually unsafe. In this KIT Tip, we break down four more accurate ways to label behavior, so you can respond to what kids actually need.

✅ Developmentally expected: typical for the child's age and development
✅ Challenging: personally challenging for us to respond to
✅ Concerning: beyond the expected frequency, duration, or intensity
✅ Unsafe: a child did or will get hurt if you don't stop the behavior instantly

Go deeper with the KIT Academy training "Unpacking Behavior: Is It Expected, Challenging, Concerning, or Unsafe?" at kit.org

Chapters:
0:00 “That’s not safe”: a catch-all phrase
0:12 Why accurate labels matter
0:28 1. Developmentally expected
0:40 2. Challenging
0:52 3. Concerning
1:14 4. Unsafe
1:29 Ask yourself this
1:40 Learn more: Unpacking Behavior

Kids Included Together (KIT) empowers providers to practice inclusive care. Since 1997, our training has reached 200,000+ educators across 50 states and 15 countries.

10/11/2026

This ADHD Awareness Month, our Training Manager offers a new way to think about ADHD:

"ADHD is better described as attention to everything rather than a deficit. Use short, concrete directions and allow time for the child to process the information."

Try this in your program:

Give one clear, specific direction at a time. For example, say "Put the blocks in the bin" instead of "Clean up."
After you give a direction, pause and count to 10 before you repeat it.
Show as you tell. Point, model, or use a picture.
When we slow down, kids can show us what they know. Find more practical strategies at kit.org.

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