The Bridge to School provides concise, targeted information for teachers who work in Pre K, Transitional Kindergarten, or Kindergarten settings, covering both the why and the how of play in classrooms, along with insights into how the normal development of 4-to-6-year-olds is manifested and how teachers can harness and work with those typical needs and behaviors. This powerful professional resource includes theories of child development, brain development, and the value of play-based learning, but the majority of the content is practical classroom strategies that fall in line with ECERS and allow for appropriate academic skill building.