Tagged With "childhood development"
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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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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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Outcomes of Childhood Preventive Intervention Across 2 Generations [jamanetwork.com]
By Karl G. Hill, Jennifer A. Bailey, Christine M. Steeger, JAMA Pediatrics, June 8, 2020 Key Points Question Might a universal social-developmental intervention in childhood show sustained benefits across generations? Findings In this nonrandomized controlled trial, significant differences in the offspring of individuals (now parents) who had received the intervention in childhood were observed across 4 domains: improved early-childhood developmental functioning, lower teacher-rated...
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Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, June 10, 2020 We know that responsive relationships and language-rich experiences for young children help build a strong foundation for later success in school. The rapidly advancing frontiers of 21st-century biological sciences now provide compelling evidence that the foundations of lifelong health are also built early, with increasing evidence of the importance of the prenatal period...
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Invite: Community of Practice, Early Childhood (online)
For anyone who has access to the internet and a computer. Please share the invite widely! Details Community of Practice ∞ Invite Commitment Form Commitment Due by July 15th I'm thrilled to invite you and yours to join a six month pilot to imagine and actuate Early Childhood Learning & Wellness that more fully benefits all children, families, and communities. I cannot think of better people than you all to help shape this group. Also, I hope it's a helpful option for schools, programs,...
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Re: Invite: Community of Practice, Early Childhood (online)
This looks fantastic! I would love to participate but don't want to over-extend myself right now. Will look forward to hearing how it goes!
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Commit by July 15th • Community of Practice, Early Childhood
Is this a good time to contribute your skills and wisdom to an interdisciplinary Community of Practice for adults who are important in the lives of young children? Early Childhood Learning & Wellness 6 Month Pilot Fee Choices for All 6 Months: $60, $90, $120, $___ Please invite others! Click here to learn more . Click here for a video message from Jodi . Please invite others! Due date to commit: July 15th
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OCAP Strategic 5 year plan 2020-2025
Please see the attached report - The Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) is a bureau within the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). CDSS is the administrative structure that provides oversight to the California Child Welfare System . The system continually works to improve engagement and service provision that support the safety , permanence and well-being of children and their families. Though historically the child welfare system has focused on tertiary prevention efforts...
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Zero to Three releases new Mindfulness Toolkit for Early Childhood Organizations
As our communities look for ways to bring children safely back into structured, safe learning environments - whether that is child care facilities or schools - many staff, teachers, and children are likely going to be experiencing some stress and anxiety. This isn't new - transitions are always a bit stressful, but this time there are a number of added concerns that may be difficult to process for kids and adults alike. The best way to help keep children regulated and focused is to practice...
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Offset trauma for students by promoting positive experiences [exclusive.multibriefs.com]
By Sheilamary Koch, Multibriefs: Exclusive, July 27, 2020 When Christina Bethell was little, she lived in a low-income housing complex in Los Angeles where her neighbor, a quiet lady the kids called Mrs. Raccoon, always had her door open for the neighborhood kids. Every Saturday she threw a little tea party with candy to celebrate any child with a birthday that week. Bethell fondly remembers the woman’s kindness as source of comfort during her challenging childhood. Dr. Bethell, now a...
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Why the dean of early childhood experts wants to get beyond the brain [centerforhealthjournalism.org]
By Ryan White, Center for Health Journalism, July 23, 2020 Harvard’s Jack Shonkoff, a luminary in the field of early childhood, has spent years showing that events in the earliest years of life have profound implications for how budding brains develop, and in turn, shape a child’s later potential at school and work. Now, Shonkoff says it’s time to connect the brain to the rest of the body. “The message now is to say that there is a revolution going on in molecular biology and genomics and in...
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Community ∞ Purpose
For a peek into what we're working on in our community-based group for adults who are important to young children, click here to visit the blog @ Wert Knowing . All the best, Jodi
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Seven Steps to Calm an Explosive Child
Are you exhausted by the explosive behaviors of the children you love? First, I want to say I am so proud of you. I know the fatigue and frustration that comes with parenting a child who feels out of control. The fact that you are reading this article means you are looking for support and guidance, and that means you are on your way to helping the children in your life. And believe me, you are probably already doing a better job than you think! Kids need you to show up more than anything!
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Adversity in Early Childhood [americanprogress.org]
By Cristina Novoa and Taryn Morrissey, Center for American Progress, August 27, 2020 Since the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the United States has seen a proliferation of cases, record-breaking unemployment, and economic instability. Meanwhile, many public health measures that severely restrict social interactions—including stay-at-home orders and school and child care closures, among others—have been prematurely lifted, with...
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LAUNCH Together Supports Social Emotional Well-Being in Southwest Denver
As the COVID-19 pandemic blurred from days into months, the leadership team of LAUNCH Together Southwest Denver began hearing about the sense of anguish and confusion felt by directors of early-childhood learning centers: Should I re-open? Is that financially feasible? Is it ethical? And how do I decide, in a sea of fast-changing information about a virus scientists are still struggling to understand? LAUNCH Together SW Denver, a collaborative formed in 2016 to boost community capacity to...
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Trauma 101 Workshops for Massachusetts Early Education and Care
STRIVE (Supportive Trauma Interventions for Educators) FALL 2020 TRAININGS Trauma 101 Workshops for Massachusetts Early Education and Care Saturdays from 9:30-12:30pm September 26th - REGISTER HERE October 3rd - REGISTER HERE October 17th - REGISTER HERE November 7th - REGISTER HERE STRIVE is a collaborative project between Boston Medical Center’s Child Witness to Violence Project and Vital Village Network that aims to help schools and early education systems of care increase their capacity...
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Prevention is Essential: Collective Impact Coalition Promotes Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments for All Maryland’s Children
When members of Maryland’s State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (SCCAN) began in 2006 to examine what their state was doing in the realm of prevention, they discovered a gaping hole. Many participants in the 23-member Council—people working in child welfare, mental health, law enforcement and advocacy groups—knew about ACEs and about the corrosive effects of early childhood maltreatment. But they discovered, through informational interviews across different sectors and an environmental...
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Building Resilience in Children through Play
A big part of building resilience in children is to increase the amount of time we spend in healthy interaction with our children. The more positive interactions we have, the stronger our bonds to each other grow. The stronger the bonds, the more emotional stability a child will possess.
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A Lifetime of Health and Wellness Starts Early
As we sit amidst a pandemic, I marvel at the difference in how each person is navigating this shared traumatic space. What makes some of us carry on with little impact to our mental health and wellness, while others struggle to get through life’s daily tasks? I believe it is Resilience. Resilience isn’t something you are born with. It is complex and developed over time, through personal experiences and environments, through parenting and opportunities, through responses from those who are...
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New Understanding Childhood Trauma Resource for Parents/Caregivers
Please see our new pamphlet for parents/caregivers about childhood trauma (now in eight languages), and share with friends, family and colleagues. Although designed for Massachusetts residents, the resource page can be adapted for other locations. Thank you for your help and any distribution ideas. https://www.frcma.org/about/tr...sources-and-training https://myemail.constantcontact.com/NEW-Understanding-Childhood-Trauma-Resource.html?soid=1135101415145&aid=t6mWQvwx2sA
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A Recipe for Raising Resilient Children - Skills and Factors that Contribute to Resiliency
Suffering is an expected part of this journey because resilience is a muscle that we strengthen over time and experiences. However, developing this muscle is most effective when encouraged by warm, loving, and responsive caregiving.