Since the National Education Goals Panel was convened in 1991, school readiness for all children has remained a high priority across our nation. The Foundations of Learning Framework is a tool to understand what it means for a child to be "ready." Preparation for educational success requires two key ingredients--relationships and play. In the context of relationships, infants and toddlers develop self awareness, self-regulation, and social skills. In the context of play, they develop positive dispositions toward learning, think like scientists, develop conceptual understandings of the world, and practice important skills. Readiness is a function of nurture that begins the first day of life.