Selected Content Updates in Q2 2025
The VLS integrates the latest research and best practices into its professional development system on an ongoing basis. Our content team reviews new research and updates made to national guidelines. Selected content updates over the last three months include:
Select VLS Courses Available Again
We’re pleased to announce that several Virtual Lab Schol professional development courses are available again to learners. Social–Emotional Development, Cognitive Development, and Supporting Children With Challenging Behavior have been reviewed and re-released on the VLS website. While some VLS courses remain temporarily unavailable, we are actively and diligently reviewing courses and training materials under the guidance of the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Military Community and Family Policy: Office of Child and Youth Programs. Our team is committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality and compliance and is working swiftly to re-release unavailable courses as quickly as possible.
For the latest information on course availability and access updates, please see the January 2025 news article.
New Coach–Provider Agreement for Family Child Care
Successful coaching partnerships with family child care providers start with clear, shared goals and mutual expectations. A Coach–Provider Agreement is one tool that can help define these expectations for both coaches and providers. A sample agreement has now been added as an Apply activity in Lesson 4 of the Focused Topics course Valuing and Building Family Child Care for your convenience. It includes flexible sections where you can customize the agreement to fit the unique needs of each family child care provider you work with, ensuring a strong and effective partnership.
Live Leadership Webinar on Positive Guidance
On May 21, 2025, the VLS team hosted a Live Leadership Webinar titled Setting the Stage for Positive Guidance in Your Program. The webinar, aimed at Program Managers, Training & Curriculum Specialists, and other child and youth program leaders, emphasized the importance of positive guidance as a preventative approach to challenging behavior. It highlighted leadership’s crucial role in creating an environment that supports nurturing relationships, an effective workforce, and high-quality program settings—foundations that enable children and youth to develop vital social and emotional skills.
A recording of the webinar and copy of the webinar slides are now available on the VLS site.
Highlights from the Field and Recent Research
Do Your Teenagers Know What Their Play Is?
With summer just around the corner, it’s a perfect time to ask: Do your teenagers know what their play is?
At the National Institute for Play (NIFPlay), “play for you” or “your play” means the activities that bring you deep satisfaction and joy, fully engage your attention, and that you do simply because you want to—not for any external rewards. These are the things that make you lose track of time and feel truly alive.
According to Dr. Stuart Brown, psychiatrist and founder of NIFPlay, play is essential for creativity, resilience, and mental wellness, helping us discover our strengths and stay emotionally balanced. Yet many teens today seem disconnected from their sense of play. In an informal study, NIFPlay interviewed 15 high school juniors and seniors—only one clearly identified activities they play for pure joy. Most are focused on external pressures like academics and social media, rarely reflecting on what truly excites them.
This disconnection matters. Play builds emotional resilience, problem-solving, and social skills, all of which are critical to mental health. Without these skills, young people face increased risks of anxiety and depression. Youth mental health experts have declared it a national emergency.
As summer offers more free time, here’s how parents, educators, and mentors can help teens reconnect with play:
- Encourage teens to explore new or favorite activities without pressure or expectations.
- Ask questions like, “What makes you lose track of time?” or “When do you feel most alive?”
- Model playful behavior yourself, showing that play matters at every age.
- Resist over-scheduling. Instead, allow for unstructured playtime to foster autonomy and emotional strength.
Summer can be more than just a break from school—it can be a chance for teens to discover what truly excites and fulfills them. Reconnecting with their play is essential for their long-term happiness and well-being.
To learn more, visit the article on NIFPlay.org: Do Your Teenagers Know What Their Play Is?
U.S. 3-Year-Olds Are Healthy and Ready to Learn
New research from Child Trends reveals that nearly two-thirds of U.S. 3-year-olds are on track developmentally in key areas that support a successful transition to kindergarten. This measure, known as Healthy and Ready to Learn (HRTL), provides a comprehensive view of early childhood development based on five domains:
- Early Learning Skills
- Social–Emotional Skills
- Self-Regulation
- Physical Health
- Motor Skills
The HRTL measure is completed by parents as part of the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). Based on combined data from 2022–2023, 64% of 3-year-olds were on track in at least four out of the five domains. Individual domain results showed strong performance in areas such as Physical Health (over 90% on track) and Social–Emotional Skills (over 80% on track), with solid readiness also observed in Early Learning, Self-Regulation, and Motor Skills (approximately 70% on track in each).
These findings provide the first nationally representative population-level data focused on the developmental status of 3-year-olds and will be updated annually. This allows states and organizations to track early childhood well-being over time and use the data to support programs and policies that prepare children before they start kindergarten. Similar data is also available for 4- and 5-year-olds, with information broken down by state.
To view your state’s developmental data for children ages 3 to 5 from 2022–2023, visit the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health Interactive Data Query and select Indicator 5.11.
To learn more, see the article on ChildTrends.org: 64% of American 3-Year-Olds Are Healthy and Ready to Learn.
2025 Military Family Readiness Academy Focuses on Youth Well-Being
The Military Family Readiness Academy is an annual programming series produced by OneOp. Each year the Academy focuses on an issue relevant to all military family service providers. This unique virtual event allows OneOp to take a multidisciplinary approach to complex issues faced by service providers in their work. This year, the Academy will address critical issues around the well-being of military-connected youth. Participants will gain research-informed strategies to promote positive development, resilience, and belonging among military-connected teens.
The Academy includes expert-led webinars and a live panel discussion, all designed to enhance your work with military families. Learn how you can be a part of this free, online professional development experience:
Registration is open on OneOp.org.
New Research Highlights Importance of Authentic Youth Engagement in Policy
A groundbreaking project led by Child Trends, in partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Education Northwest, is exploring how young people with lived experience in youth-serving systems (such as foster care) can meaningfully shape policies that affect their lives. The Authentic Youth Engagement in Policy Project, a one-year community-driven research initiative, is co-designed and co-led by youth and adult representatives from five grantee organizations. Funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the project has developed a research-based framework for authentic youth engagement, documented promising practices and challenges, and identified actionable strategies to improve youth involvement in policy advocacy.
Key goals of the project include describing how organizations engage young people in policy, examining outcomes and barriers, refining engagement frameworks, and providing recommendations to enhance youth policy participation locally and nationally. This research underscores the vital role of youth voices in creating effective and responsive policies.
To learn more, see the article on ChildTrends.org: Authentic Youth Engagement in Policy Project, which includes resources about practice profiles and frameworks to help implement meaningful youth involvement in policy processes.