Reach for the Stars with Farm to Preschool was created by the North Carolina Farm to Preschool Network. While this publication initially addressed only the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale® (ECERS), it was revised in 2020 to include the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale®, Revised Edition (ITERS-R) as well. Its purpose is to help child care centers and family child care homes integrate farm to preschool activities into their curriculum while simultaneously addressing the ECERS-R and ITERS-R.
The resource is organized by four farm to preschool activities. In each of these activity components, the ITERS-R and ECERS-R subscale, items, and indicators are aligned with suggested farm to preschool activities, providing ideas and prompts for early childhood educators. In addition to enriching the educational experience, this resource clearly demonstrates how star ratings can be achieved through farm to preschool programming. The indicator is not spelled out, only referenced by the number, and in the place of the indicator language is the suggested farm to preschool activity.