As the country emerges from COVID-19 and begins setting new policies to keep children and teachers safe, it is the perfect time to reimagine early childhood education. States need to examine the current early childhood systems and build upon those successes. All 50 states have early learning standards for infants and toddlers as well as for preschool through third grade. Policymakers have an opportunity to build on the lessons learned over the last year and make long-lasting changes to improve our Nation’s early care and education system. Doing so will require a holistic approach. Recognizing that children learn at all times and in all places, policymakers can engage parents in designing policies and strategies that support families’ needs for child care while also ensuring we do not create more government dependency for child care. Stated best by Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Professor James Heckman, “To foster the skills of American children, we have to help America’s families (Heckman, n.d.). (author abstract)