Cloud-Based Curriculum for Tennessee Child Care Centers and Homes

Digital Curriculum Aligned to Tennessee’s Early Learning Developmental Standards

Weekly lesson plans for every room in your Tennessee program, from the infant room to four-year-olds, built on the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS). Teachers open the plan on any device, and ELBY, our virtual instructional coach, walks them through each activity.
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Tennessee Centers Need Written Lesson Plans. Yours Can Be Ready

Tennessee’s 2026 child care licensure rules say centers shall provide written lesson plans for each group of children, and that the director or primary educator observes and documents how the developmental learning standards are used. Writing those plans from scratch every week pulls time away from children. Learning Beyond Paper gives each age group a full year of plans already tied to TN-ELDS, so the written record exists before Monday morning.

Our Partners

Watch a Lesson Unfold

A short visit to a Tennessee classroom: the teacher finds this week's plan, checks the materials list, reads ELBY's tip and gets the activity going.

Browse All 52 Weeks

Look through a full year of plans for infants, young and older toddlers, preschool and pre-K, with the TN-ELDS skill each activity builds.

Talk to Our Team

Get a demo built around your Tennessee setting, whether that is a multi-room center, a group home or a program working on its QRIS score.

Inside a Tennessee LBP Subscription

Learning Beyond Paper is the only all-in-one cloud-based early childhood curriculum with a virtual instructional coach. A Tennessee subscription includes 52 weeks of plans across five age bands, more than 4,000 activities, Spanish and English materials, an observational assessment tool, family engagement tools and 49.5 hours of on-demand training through LBP University, with lessons crosswalked to TN-ELDS.

TN-ELDS Crosswalks From Birth to Age Five

LBP publishes four Tennessee crosswalks. The 0 to 12, 13 to 24 and 25 to 36 month documents map to the TN-ELDS for birth to 48 months, and the 3 to 5 document covers the 37 to 48 month expectations plus the four-year-old standards. Each learning expectation is paired with the LBP progress monitoring skills that support it.

ELBY, Your Teachers' Virtual Instructional Coach

When a Tennessee teacher opens an activity, ELBY is right there with prompts: an easier version for a child still building the skill, a stretch for a child ready for more, and cues for what to observe and write down.

LBP University: 49.5 Hours of On-Demand Training

Every subscription includes LBP University, 49.5 hours of self-paced courses teachers can fit between classes. New hires learn the curriculum on their own schedule, and veteran teachers pick up fresh ideas for the age group they teach.

Five Age Bands, One Tennessee Subscription

Whether a room holds six-week-olds or four-year-olds getting ready for kindergarten, each Tennessee teacher gets plans written for that age.

Infant (Ages 0–12 Months)

Young Toddler (12–24 Months)

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Older Toddler (24–36 Months)

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Preschool (Ages 3–4 Years)

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Pre-K (Ages 4–5 Years)

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After School & Camp

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Where LBP Helps Tennessee Directors

Tennessee directors juggle licensing visits, a yearly QRIS score, training hours logged in TNPAL and families who speak more than one language. Here are four ways LBP lightens that load.

Written plans for every group

Tennessee's licensure rules require centers to provide written lesson plans for each group of children. LBP supplies a dated, age-specific plan for every room each week, so a licensing consultant can see at a glance what each group is learning.

TN-ELDS training meets daily practice

New Tennessee center educators complete 3 hours on the developmental learning standards in their first year. LBP turns that training into habit: each plan names the TN-ELDS expectation it supports, so teachers see the standards every day.

Families who speak Spanish

About 636,700 Tennesseans age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and about 62% of them speak Spanish. LBP's activities and family pages come in both languages, so a parent can follow along at home.

One yearly subscription, every room included

Your subscription covers the whole Tennessee site: infant, toddler, preschool and pre-K classrooms, every teacher and every login, with no fee per room.

Getting Started in Tennessee: Four Steps

From the first login to a full building, here is how Tennessee programs usually roll out LBP.
Open a free 30-day account

As soon as you sign up, every Tennessee classroom has the whole curriculum, from the youngest infants to four-year-olds.

Pull up today's plan on any screen

Teachers choose their age group, see the week's activities with materials and steps, and read ELBY's coaching note before they begin, whether inside or out on the playground.

Build a TN-ELDS record as you go
Each completed activity is tied to a TN-ELDS learning expectation for that age, and teachers can add observations in the assessment tool. Over a year you collect written evidence of planned learning, which helps when a licensing consultant asks how you plan and track it.
Roll it out to every room
One yearly subscription opens LBP to every classroom at your Tennessee location. Running more than one site? Our team can help you plan the rollout.

Built for How Tennessee Licenses and Scores Child Care

The Tennessee Department of Human Services licenses more than 2,000 child care centers caring for over 171,000 children a day, plus hundreds of family and group homes. Every licensed center and group home that has been open a year is scored through the TDHS Quality Rating Improvement System: four quarterly visits on Health and Safety and Teacher-Child Interactions, averaged into a score the program posts. From October 1, 2026, Child Care Certificate Program rates add a 5% bonus for scores of 80 to 89 and 10% for 90 to 100. Learning Beyond Paper gives teachers planned, TN-ELDS-linked activities and coaching for the interactions observers watch, and gives directors the written plans and records the 2026 rules expect, all in one place.

Tennessee Director FAQs

TN-ELDS, lesson plan rules, the QRIS score, kindergarten readiness, Smart Steps, TNPAL hours and pricing.

The Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards. LBP’s four Tennessee crosswalks cover 0 to 12, 13 to 24 and 25 to 36 months against the birth to 48 month TN-ELDS, adopted by the State Board of Education in January 2014, and ages 3 to 5 against the 37 to 48 month expectations and the four-year-old standards (updated January 2018). Read the TN-ELDS page and open each document on our curriculum alignments page.

Yes. The 2026 TDHS licensure rules say child care centers shall provide written lesson plans for each group of children, and they ask the director or primary educator to observe and document the use of the developmental learning standards. LBP gives every group a written weekly plan linked to TN-ELDS, plus an observational assessment tool, so both pieces of that record live in one place.

TDHS scores every licensed center and group home through its Quality Rating Improvement System once the agency has been open a year. Observers visit four times, once a quarter, scoring Health and Safety and Teacher-Child Interactions out of 100 each visit, and the average is posted at your program. LBP supports the interactions side with planned activities and ELBY coaching, but it does not set or promise a score.

Through the four-year-old standards. LBP’s 3 to 5 crosswalk includes the TN-ELDS for 4-year-olds, which the Tennessee Department of Education says align directly with the content areas in the state’s English language arts and math standards and its kindergarten standards. Pre-K teachers see the expectation behind each activity, and the observational assessment tool lets them share progress with families before the move to kindergarten.

Yes. TDHS runs the Child Care Certificate Program, also called child care payment assistance, which includes Smart Steps for income-eligible families who work or attend post-secondary school, with children from six weeks old until kindergarten. LBP sits alongside your certificate billing without changing it, and gives every child in the room, funded or private pay, the same planned curriculum and bilingual family materials.

We do not claim they do. Tennessee center educators need 12 training hours a year, with at least 6 on health and safety and 3 on pre-literacy and literacy, and single-site center directors need 24. TNPAL, the Tennessee Professional Archive of Learning, is the system of record for those hours. LBP University’s 49.5 hours of professional learning build curriculum skills; confirm with TDHS before logging any of them.

One yearly subscription for the whole program. Every classroom, from infants to pre-K, and every teacher is included, together with ELBY, LBP University, family engagement tools, the observational assessment tool and Spanish materials. There are no per-teacher or per-room charges. Hands-on materials kits are available through Lakeshore Learning, and customers can get grant-writing support from our team.

Yes, at no extra cost. In 2024 roughly one in 11 Tennesseans age 5 and older, about 636,700 people, spoke a language other than English at home, and Spanish was the most common of those languages at 61.9%. Every LBP activity and family resource comes in English and Spanish, so teachers can send home the same learning in the language a family uses.

Yes. TDHS licenses family child care homes for five to seven unrelated children and group homes for eight to twelve, often with infants and preschoolers together. LBP’s five age bands let one primary educator plan for a mixed group under one login, and since home educators train on the developmental learning standards in their first year, TN-ELDS-linked plans fit right in. See our family child care page.

Sign up for 30 days of full access. Open LBP in your infant room and your pre-K room in the same week to compare, check the TN-ELDS links for the ages you serve, and let a new teacher try ELBY. If you would rather see it first, book a live demo and we will tour it with you.

Complete Curriculum Coverage for Every Classroom

One curriculum, one login and one yearly subscription for every Tennessee classroom, from the infant room to the four-year-olds.
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TN-ELDS Linked From Infants to Four-Year-Olds

Infant, toddler and preschool lessons each carry their TN-ELDS learning expectation, so the written plans and records Tennessee rules ask for build up as teachers teach.

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Try It Free for 30 Days.

Open every Tennessee classroom on day one and decide when the month is up.

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Used by 3,000 Programs in 50 States

Centers, homes and Head Start programs nationwide teach with LBP every day.

See LBP in a Tennessee Classroom

Tell Us About Your Program

Share the ages you serve, whether you accept Smart Steps families and your latest QRIS score, and we will show you where LBP fits your Tennessee program.
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Begin Your 30-Day Free Trial

Every Tennessee classroom gets access today.

Schedule a Live Demo

A walkthrough shaped around your Tennessee rooms.

See the Whole Curriculum

Infants to pre-K on one platform at one price.