Tagged With "childhood development"
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Early-childhood development offers a brighter future to entire nations [The Seattle Times]
By Steve Davis and Peter Laugharn, July 29, 2019 The Seattle Times The World Health Organization just unveiled an initiative that could improve millions of children’s lives and boost the global economy by trillions of dollars. The initiative, known as the Nurturing Care Framework for Early Childhood Development , [ PDF attached ] seeks to change how we raise infants and toddlers. Children’s experiences during their first three years of life heavily influence their well-being as adults,...
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Early Childhood Educator - Top 2 Books on Trauma Informed Care
https://www.optimalbrainintegration.com/books
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Early childhood educators learn new ways to spot trauma triggers, build resilience in preschoolers
A hug may be comforting to many children, but for a child who has experienced trauma it may not feel safe.
That’s an example used by Julie Kurtz, co-director of trauma informed practices in early childhood education at the WestEd Center for Child & Family Studies (CCFS), as she begins a trauma training session. Her audience, preschool teachers and staff of the San Francisco-based Wu Yee Children’s Services at San Francisco’s Women’s Building, listen attentively.
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Educating the Whole Child: Improving School Climate to Support Student Success
Each year in the United States, 46 million children are exposed to violence, crime, abuse, homelessness, or food insecurity, as well as a range of other experiences that cause psychological trauma. These experiences create toxic stress that can affect children’s attention, learning, and behavior. Research on human development shows that the effects of such trauma can be mitigated when students learn in a positive school climate that offers long-term, secure relationships that supports...
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Effects of Preterm Birth
A baby born prematurely often spends that crucial time for attachment and development of neural pathways in the NICU
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Five Things You Wish Your Community’s Early Childhood Programs Knew [CitiesSpeak.org]
By NLC Staff on May 10, 2019 Cities, towns, and villages are places of innovation and solution finding. If you want to improve early childhood wellbeing—local leaders are key partners. The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) Learning Community is a program of Boston Medical Center’s Vital Village. The learning community’s goal is to support local early childhood coalitions and build their capacity to work together with the broader community to improve the wellbeing of our...
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FREE Access to 2 Early Childhood Webinars, Resources and Handouts on COVID-19
FREE Access to 2 Early Childhood Webinars, Resources and Handouts on COVID-19 (details below) Sponsored by Region 9 Head Start Association, Continued and Center for Optimal Brain Integration™ Webinar #1 Being Your Own Emergency First Responder: Leaders Managing the Stress of Working in Response to COVID-19 Facilitators: Julie Kurtz, Julie Nicholson and LaWanda Wesley Description: This webinar provides leaders with useful information to help them manage their own stress response to the...
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FREE Access to 2 Early Childhood Webinars, Resources and Handouts on COVID-19
FREE Access to 2 Early Childhood Webinars, Resources and Handouts on COVID-19 (details below) Sponsored by Region 9 Head Start Association, Center for Optimal Brain Integration™ and Continued. Webinar #1 Being Your Own Emergency First Responder: Leaders Managing the Stress of Working in Response to COVID-19 Facilitators: Julie Kurtz, Julie Nicholson and LaWanda Wesley Description: This webinar provides leaders with useful information to help them manage their own stress response to the...
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FREE Mindfulness Curriculum for kids
Listening to a FREE Mindfulness and Meditation Summit presented by Sounds True and heard about a FREE curriculum from Richie Davidson, PHD at the Center for HealthyMinds at University of Wisconsin - Madison. Here is a description of the currilum: Various mindfulness programs have been developed for adults, but we and our colleagues at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison wanted to develop a curriculum for kids. Every school teaches math and reading, but what...
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Free On-Demand Child Care Training - Self-care for ECE Professionals Who Care for Children Impacted by ACEs
Caring for children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can be an intense and exhausting experience for ECE professionals. Whether you may be working to resolve your own childhood trauma or may be experiencing secondary trauma as a result of the demands of care for children who are impacted by ACEs, it is essential to develop a self-care toolkit to support your own wellbeing and to provide the best care possible. This module focuses on practical strategies for self-care...
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From Trauma-Informed to Asset-Informed Care in Early Childhood [brookings.edu]
By Ellen Galinsky, Brookings Institute, October 23, 2019 The focus on “toxic stress,” ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), and trauma-informed care have been game-changers in the field of early childhood development. They have helped us recognize the symptoms of trauma, provide appropriate assistance to children, and understand that prolonged adversity in the absence of nurturing relationships can derail a child’s healthy development. Just look at the media’s and the public’s reaction to...
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From Trauma-Informed to Asset-Informed Care in Early Childhood [brookings.edu]
By Ellen Galinsky, Brookings Institute, October 23, 2019 The focus on “toxic stress,” ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), and trauma-informed care have been game-changers in the field of early childhood development. They have helped us recognize the symptoms of trauma, provide appropriate assistance to children, and understand that prolonged adversity in the absence of nurturing relationships can derail a child’s healthy development. Just look at the media’s and the public’s reaction to...
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Growth through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Coaching and Consultation with Rick Griffin
There is a Chinese proverb that states, “If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people." The benefits are evident, yet the real question becomes, “how do you grow people?” This Big Idea Session, CRI’s Trauma Coaching and Trauma Consultation Training, answers this question. Schools, organizations, and parents are discovering that the traditional “command and control” style of working with...
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Healing with Yoga
Did you know that yoga can reduce stress and heal the mind, body, and soul? Let me explain how yoga can prevent, treat, and heal Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) and toxic stress. In my personal experience as a Sonoma County preschool teacher, I noticed many children, parents, and teachers in our program had very high levels of stress and anxiety. We all live busy lives and tend to focus on the next activity instead of the one at hand. So I decided to try yoga. I started doing yoga with...
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Helping Children in Emergencies: Keep Your Child’s Developmental Stage and Temperament in Mind
By Karissa Luckett, RN, BSN, MSW Common reactions to stress will fade over time for most children. Let’s be honest: Your exploring, tactile toddler won’t suddenly start keeping their hands to themselves. Your continually forgetful preschooler won’t suddenly start hand-washing properly just because you’ve told them it’s important. Depending on their ages, stages and temperaments, some children will require more reassurance or more time to shift than others. This situation is unique, and so is...
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Helping Children Recover from Disasters
As we consider the effects of trauma on children, major disasters, whether they are natural or manmade, can profoundly affect their development. Below are links to a research-based fact sheet (in English and Spanish) you can share with parents and other primary care givers: English Version Spanish Version These are also attached to this post.
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Helping Kids Find the Wisdom in Overwhelm
In an unprecedented global shutdown, many of us, especially without the noise and distraction of everyday life, are facing intensified, often destabilizing feelings. And that includes kids—whether they’re able to say so or not.
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Helping Parents Develop Positive Relationships with their infants to toddlers (National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence,NPEIV).
Zero to Three Resource- extracted from website and with discussion text by Karin Hecht (September 14, 2018) Bonding activities between parent and child can be a great way to help a child’s development and strengthen the relationship. The Zero to Three website has great resources for child-centered activities to help little ones learn and grow. One particularly useful resource for parents and care providers are a collection of stage-by-stage age-based tips and what to expect as your baby...
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Re: The Relentless School Nurse: Sesame Street in Communities & the Circle of Care
Thank you, Robin - always the champion! This is so timely, especially with all that has happened to undermine children's sense of safety. This really resonated with me: " There is something comforting about watching Big Bird, Elmo and friends talk about “Big Feelings” during these complex times." . Thanks Robin!
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Re: Registration Open Now: Transform Challenging Behavior FREE ONLINE Early Childhood Conference
Hello, I plan to attend, but do not understand how this works. When signing up, do we sign up for each day or on day of the conference? Is there a schedule of events for each day and time? Please help. I would also like to pass this on to some of my colleagues and teachers. Thank you for any help you are able to give. -Latrelle Nicholson latrelle.nicholson@firstup.org
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Re: Registration Open Now: Transform Challenging Behavior FREE ONLINE Early Childhood Conference
Don't understand process
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28,000 LA preschoolers are learning how to be better humans [scpr.org]
I don’t want to be your friend. Stay away. I’m not going to share with you. These harsh statements are "very normal to hear at the beginning of the school year," for preschool teachers like Rafaela Campos. To push past those moments of mean, she and more than a thousand other early educators in the Los Angeles Unified School District now have a new tool. This school year, all 86 of the early childhood centers in the district started using a program called Sanford Harmony, which provides...
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3D Teaching Example to calm pre-K and K kids
Janai Mestrovich, Ashland, OR, (BS/MS, Family & Child Development) has been teaching Early Childhood Education and Social/Emotional Learning for 42 years. She specializes in '3D' experiences that help her students visualize and feel the lesson as part of the SuperKid Power curriculum. The 'breathing sphere' opens and closes to show kids how the body/lungs/diaphragm work inside them and Janai opens and closes it as she counts out numbers for inhale, hold and exhale. In the 'staying calm...
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5 Ways Trauma-Informed Care Supports Children's Development
Happy Friday! Below is an excerpt from an article by Child Trends about how trauma-informed care supports children's development. I think it's a nice overview for the trauma-informed work that you're doing - why it's so important, and how it connects to the broader initiative. To see the full article click here . TIC helps service providers, parents, and systems recognize and respond to the needs of children who experience trauma. Each child reacts to trauma differently, but experiencing...
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A Guide to Creating “Safe Space” Policies for Early Childhood Programs [CLASP]
From the Center for Law and Social Policy Early childhood programs play an important role in the lives of young children and their families. But in our current immigration policy climate, families across the country are questioning whether it’s safe to attend or enroll. Providers can take steps to protect families’ safety and privacy by implementing policies that designate their facilities as a safe space from immigration enforcement. This guide explains federal agency guidance related to...
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ACEs Champion Julie Kurtz Gives Every Child (and Adult) a Voice
Julie Kurtz hasn’t stopped creating ways to build and promote resilience in herself and others who have experienced trauma since she left her family home for college at age 18. Although she experienced four types of adversity during her childhood, the CEO of the Center for Optimal Brain Integration has traveled a complex journey to mitigate those adversities by recognizing her own internal resilience, building skills to buffer her toxic and traumatic stress, uncovering her voice through...
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Eulanda Thorne Applies ACEs Science Awareness at School and at Home
Eulanda Thorne and her children (L to R) Sarah, Joshua, Leah, Emmanuel When school counselor Eulanda Thorne discovered the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in 2018, she felt as if she were on fire. “I felt that I had missed a vital part of my education. Anyone who is in college for social work or teaching, a class on ACEs and trauma should be a required course.” Without an understanding of ACEs, she says, “I would think the students who are sent to me are being defiant or...
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Addressing Trauma in Early Childhood: (Issue Brief 61 - (CHDI) Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc.)
ARC Supports Parents in Helping Young Children Recover from Trauma Through a five year SAMHSA grant awarded to CHDI as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), the Early Childhood Trauma Collaborative (ECTC) is helping to address this gap by training clinicians to use Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC), 5 an effective treatment for young children who have experienced trauma and their caregivers. ARC is a behavioral health treatment that supports parents (or...
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An Early Childhood Development Expert Explains How Trauma and Stress Can Derail a Kid’s Life [sarasotamagazine.com]
By Cooper Levey-Baker, Sarasota, December 19, 2019 Mimi Graham has spent her life fighting for kids. She began her career in the late 1970s as a Head Start administrator before moving into the world of academia to study child development and advocate for public policies that improve the health of mothers and children. Today, she’s the director of Florida State University’s Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy, a position in which she advises government agencies and...
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An Invitation to Co-Create Change and Shift Your Mindset
We are not born “normal” or “disordered” or with a “disability” we “are born” and “we develop” in many different ways. Along our path of development we will encounter various influences and each individual will respond to those experiences differently. The brain actually continues to develop well into adulthood!
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Armstrong: Building a Supportive Classroom Community in Early Childhood
As an educator and researcher who specializes in early childhood and also works with older grade levels, I’ve used National Bullying Prevention Month to reflect on ways bullying progresses as children age. I’ve been wondering what can be done in early childhood to prevent bullying in later grades. I’ve reviewed the literature on bullying, including sites that provide suggestions on how to prevent and address bullying , but figuring out how to get started can be overwhelming as it involves...
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Association Between Objectively Measured Sleep Duration and Symptoms of Psychiatric Disorders in Middle Childhood [jamanetwork.com]
By Bror M. Ranum, Lars Wichstrom, and Stale Pallesen, JAMA Network Open, December 27, 2019 Question: What is the long-term and bidirectional association between sleep duration and symptoms of psychiatric disorders in school-aged children? Findings: In this population-based cohort study of 799 Norwegian children participating in the Trondheim Early Secure Study, when all time-invariant confounders and baseline levels of study variables were accounted for, short sleep duration was...
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Association of Adverse Experiences and Exposure to Violence in Childhood and Adolescence With Inflammatory Burden in Young People [jamanetwork.com]
By Line J.H. Rasmussen, Terry E. Moffit, et al., JAMA Pediatrics, November 4, 2019 Question: Is exposure to adverse experiences, stress, and violence in childhood associated with an increase in blood levels of the inflammatory biomarker soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor in young people? Findings: In this cohort study of 1391 young people followed up to 18 years of age in the United Kingdom, exposure to adverse experiences, stress, and violence during childhood or adolescence...
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Association of Timing of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Caregiver Support With Regionally Specific Brain Development in Adolescents [jamanetwork.com]
By Joan L. Luby, Rebecca Tillman, Deanna M. Barch, JAMA Network Open, September 18, 2019 Question: Is there developmental timing and regional specificity to the associations among adverse childhood experiences, caregiver support, and structural brain development in childhood? Findings: This cohort study of 211 children and their caregivers during 4 waves of neuroimaging and behavioral assessments from preschool to adolescence found an association between the interaction of preschool adverse...
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BABY ACES: When we consider the traumas that qualify as ACEs, babies need their own list.
Babies are obviously very different from older children developmentally, including their ability to understand and process trauma. Indeed, a baby may be completely unaware of an actual ACE— say, the incarceration of their father— which a middle schooler would be painfully aware of. Yet at the same time, the baby could be much-more-acutely impacted by the secondary effect of this same ACE: a sad, stressed, and distracted mother. Similarly, if a parent dies in a car accident when a child is in...
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Breaking the Silence on Early Child Care and Education Costs: A Values-Based Budget for Children, Parents, and Teachers in California
By Elise Gould, Marcy Whitebook, Zane Mokhiber, and Lea J.E. Austin, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, July 23, 2019. What this report finds: California’s child early care and education (ECE) system is underfunded, and California policymakers have not been willing to acknowledge the true cost of creating a comprehensive ECE system. Proposals for ECE reform have focused primarily on improving access and affordability for families but have ignored the elephant in the room: Early...
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Brockton's Family Resource Center offers Trauma Informed Yoga for Kids
“The children may not be fully focused on every pose (they are still kids) but they are still learning them. I think when the children are then feeling stressed or scared, the poses and breathing techniques that they learn during class gives them something to focus on and a way to calm and center themselves,” Sarah Piper, in intern for the Drug Endangered Children’s Initiative said.
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California Child Welfare Policy and Progress, Winter Issue
The California Child Welfare Co-Investment Partnership Report This issue of in sights provides an overview of the latest legislative developments in California, including data and perspectives on the policy and practice transformation taking place with the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR). Beyond a comprehensive summary of child welfare state legislation, this issue also includes a discussion on the key provisions of the Family First Prevention Services Act. The issue concludes with...
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California's First Surgeon General: Screen Every Student for Childhood Trauma [nbcnews.com]
By Patrice Gaines, NBC News, October 11, 2019 Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has an ambitious dream: screen every student for childhood trauma before entering school. "A school nurse would also get a note from a physician that says: 'Here is the care plan for this child's toxic stress. And this is how it shows up,'" said Burke Harris, who was appointed California's first surgeon general in January. "It could be it shows up in tummy aches. Or it's impulse control and behavior, and we offer a care...
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Re: Healing with Yoga
Yes! Yoga is such an important part of the solution to symptoms of ACEs - it's a great tool to include in the toolbox. <3 Thanks for posting this!
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Re: Helping Kids Find the Wisdom in Overwhelm
This is really wonderful - thanks for sharing! < https://www.firstthingsfirst.org/ > *Kate Dobler* Navajo/Apache Regional Director *O** 928-532-5041* | *M* 602-320-1648 To ensure compliance with the Arizona Open Meeting Law, recipients of this message should not forward it to other members of the public body. Members of the public body may reply to the sender of the message, but they should not send a copy of the reply to other members. On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 1:27 PM ACEsConnection...
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Re: ACEs scores for early childhood educators
Hello. I would love to talk with you about that data that has been collected in Chatham County around this, as well as the summit you are hosting in April. Where are you in NC? My email is LKehle@kidscope.chtop.org .
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Re: ACEs scores for early childhood educators
I would complete an ACES questionnaire for you. I am sure if you ask other early childhood professionals they would share their scores too!
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Re: ACEs scores for early childhood educators
Hello Holly That is very nice of your to offer but I was hoping to find the data already collected. Perhaps it is something I work to collect in the future. Thanks again!
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Re: ISO Trauma-Informed Child Care Programs
Hi Suzanne, I just found your post and I'd love to chat with you! I don't run a child care program myself but this is a key area of research and development for me! My team and I have created and are testing out Roots of Resilience: Teachers Awakening Children's Healing. It's designed specifically for child care providers & early childhood teachers working with children impacted by trauma. I also conduct related research to find ways to realize the potential of Early Care and Education...