Tagged With "development"
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A Guide to COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, April 15, 2020 The global response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has changed daily life in many ways for many people. Yet child development has not paused, and supporting children, families, and care providers of all kinds is as important as ever. In this guide, the Center on the Developing Child has gathered a number of resources and recommendations to help you through this challenging time. This guide pulls together...
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Free Mind Matters Online Series -- Build skills to overcome anxiety and increase resilience
In appreciation of and support for the tremendous work you are doing under challenging circumstances, Dibble will be hosting a free, 12-week Mind Matters online series with Dr. Carolyn Curtis and Dixie Zittlow. Unprecedented times, such as these, are stressful and call for everyone to think about ways to help others and themselves. Thus, we see this as an opportunity to offer free, professional development and help you and your staff practice self-care. Join us as we teach the Mind Matters...
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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 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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Substance Use Disorder and Brain Development
The inputs a brain experiences during its developmental stages have a profound impact on whether that person will develop a substance use disorder (if they choose to drink or use other drugs). In turn, developing a substance use disorder (SUD) as a tween, teen, or young adult dramatically influences that person's brain development. And why is understanding this causality important? The risk factors for developing a substance use disorder are the result of inputs the brain experiences (or...
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The Brain Architects Podcast: Serve and Return: Supporting the Foundation [developingchild.harvard.edu]
From Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, March 11, 2020 What is “serve and return”? What does it mean to have a “responsive relationship” with a child? How do responsive relationships support healthy brain development? And what can parents and caregivers do in their day-to-day lives to build these sorts of relationships? This episode of The Brain Architects podcast addresses all these questions and more! [ Please click here to listen to the podcast and for more resources .]
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RESOURCE: Adolescent Development Explained from US Department of Health and Human Services
This website examines the major developmental changes that occur in adolescence and provides suggestions on how parents and caring adults can support young people as they navigate through this critical period. It builds on The Teen Years Explained: A Guide to Healthy Adolescent Development - PDF ( https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-adolescent-health/_docs/TTYE-Guide.pdf ), the seminal report developed by the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins...
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The Building Blocks of HOPE – Block #4: Social-Emotional Development
We have been so encouraged to hear how HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) is resonating with the ACES Connection community and are thrilled to see our community continue to grow. Here we present the fourth mini-blog in our series on the Building Blocks of HOPE. Children need ample opportunities for productive social and emotional development. Developing social and emotional competencies describes the fourth of the 4 Building Blocks of HOPE . What do we mean by social and...
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The Developing Brain & Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Thanks to an explosion in scientific research now possible with imaging technologies, such as fMRI and SPECT, experts can actually see how the brain develops. This helps explain why exposure to adverse childhood experiences can so deeply influence and change a child's brain and thus their physical and emotional health and quality of life across their lifetime. The above time-lapse study was conducted over 10 years. The darker colors represent brain maturity (brain development). I have added...
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Why Early Experience Matters: Videos of Famous Scholars
Scholars know so much about the importance of early experience--you should too! Every animal has a nest, including humans. What does the nest look like and why does it matter? A 2010 symposium brought together anthropologists, clinical, developmental and neuro-scientists to discuss this question in light of evolution and human development. This is necessarily an interdisciplinary area of study because we have to know our history as social mammals, what optimizes our development in our...
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World Premiere: Stress & Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, November 13, 2019 When the stress in your life just doesn’t let up, and it feels like you have no support to get through the day—let alone do everything you need to do to be the best parent you can be—it can seem like there’s nothing that can make it better. But there are resources that can help, and this kind of stress—known as “toxic stress”—doesn’t have to define your life. In this video, learn more about what toxic stress is, how it...
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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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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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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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Caregiver Panel: Are We Ready for Re-Opening?
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Re-Opening Workshop: Helping Children Contextualize Change
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The Ultimate Parent Support - Nonviolent Communication
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Helping Children Cope with Ambiguous Loss
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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.
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On Development and Dreams
By Rebecca Honig, Director of Content & Curriculum This weekend I had an opportunity to listen in to a mixed age conversation about dreams. It was a group of PreK-2nd graders. Under normal circumstances they’d be meeting in person to do projects, play together, learn together. This year, like so many things, they come together over Zoom. Two weekends ago they had gathered to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a day of service. This weekend, to build on what...
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The Healing Place Podcast: Rene Howitt - Cope24: Parenting & Child Development Classes for High School Students
Rene Howitt, founder of Cope24, offers professional development workshops to school districts across the nation. She also provides presentations and key note speaking at universities, teacher conferences, advocacy events and churches.
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Autism Prevention in Infancy: A Broad Interpretation [www.claudiamgoldmd.com]
By Claudia M. Gold , MD, September 25, 2021 Carla’s bright flamboyance stood in stark contrast to her quiet 3-month-old infant, who lay on a blanket on the floor, his eyes transfixed by the light in the ceiling. ‘I think he’s autistic” had been her opening words when she called to make an appointment in my behavioral pediatrics practice. We sat beside him on the floor. With her bright flowered dress and bangling necklaces matching her high lilting voice, she leaned into her son’s face, with...
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Face Masks Don’t Obscure Parents’ Love [wsj.com]
By Alison Gopnik, The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 16, 2021 Parents may worry that babies surrounded by face masks will suffer in their development. Studies suggest there’s no cause for concern. Parents worry, and Covid-19 has given them lots of things to worry about. Here’s one: How will babies be affected by being surrounded by people in masks? Will they have trouble connecting with their parents and other people? [ Please click here to continue reading. ]
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Coloring Pages Important for Your Child
There are no children who would not like to draw. And you can hardly find parents who would not have to buy coloring books for their kids. But, unfortunately, no one or almost no one pays attention to what is hidden behind the bright cover. And oddly enough, but psychologists also do not spend a lot of their time researching colorings, or rather, what they mean. Coloring various pictures is not only interesting but also very rewarding. Painting pictures will help the child expand knowledge...
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Age-Related Reactions to a Traumatic Event (nctsn.org)
This resource from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network describes how young children, school-age children, and adolescents react to traumatic events and offers suggestions on how parents and caregivers can help and support them. Please click here to access the resource.
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Activities Guide: Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence [Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University]
Executive function and self-regulation (EF/SR) skills provide critical supports for learning and development, and while we aren’t born with these skills, we are born with the potential to develop them through interactions and practice. Our activities guide offers a variety of age-appropriate activities and games to support and strengthen various components of EF/SR in children. Each chapter contains activities suitable for a different age group, ranging from 6-18 months to adolescents. The...
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Helping Your Young Child Feel and Understand Their Feelings [www.maginationpressfamily.org]
By Scott Stoll and Sara E. Williams, PhD, Magination Press Family, April 27, 2022 We all know that emotions like love and gratitude are fun and beneficial, but what about emotions like fear, worry or jealousy? Believe it or not, all our feelings serve a purpose. I say “believe it or not” because maybe, like me, you may have grown up believing that being scared is a bad thing and something to be avoided. Fear certainly does feel uncomfortable, doesn’t it? But what if I told you that you could...
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How to help children and teens manage their stress [apa.org]
American Psychological Association, Updated July 6, 2022 The pandemic pushed stress to historic highs. Here are healthy ways for children and teens to cope. In the short term, stress can push a child to practice for her piano recital or inspire a teen to study when he’d rather be out with friends. But c hronic stress —for example, from unrelenting pandemic-related pressures, social unrest, or violence—is different. Left unchecked, long-term stress can contribute to a long list of physical...
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Program to Strengthen Mother-Infant Bond May Improve Preemie Brain Development [medpagetoday.com]
by Amanda D'Ambrosio, Enterprise & Investigative Writer, MedPage Today September 29, 2022 Bedside counseling aimed at boosting the emotional connection between moms and their newborns was associated with better neurodevelopmental outcomes among preterm babies, according to a trial from Finland. Infants (average age 30 weeks' gestation) whose mothers participated in the Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) experienced frequency-specific network effects in the brain, mainly observed in the...
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CDC’s Milestone Tracker App [cdc.gov]
Milestones matter! From birth to age 5, your child should reach milestones in how he or she plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves. Photos and videos in this app illustrate each milestone and make tracking them for your child easy and fun! Track your child’s milestones from age two months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use illustrated checklists; get tips from CDC for encouraging your child’s development; and find out what to do if you are ever concerned about how your child is developing.
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A Little Money for Mothers Improves Babies' Brain Development
The on-going Baby’s First Years research ( https://www.babysfirstyears.com/ ) examines the impact on mothers and babies of modest cash gifts as a model of poverty reduction. It turns out that a little money goes a long way and affects the development of babies’ brains. “Early childhood poverty is a risk factor for lower school achievement, reduced earnings, and poorer health, and has been associated with differences in brain structure and function. Whether poverty causes differences in...
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What Children Really Need Is Adults That Understand Development
The brain doesn’t fully develop until about the age of 25. This fact is sometimes quite surprising and eye opening to most adults. It can also be somewhat overwhelming for new parents and professionals who are interacting with babies and young children every day, to contemplate. It is essential to realize however, that the greatest time of development occurs in the years prior to kindergarten. And even more critical to understand is that by age three 85 percent of the core structures of the...
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Empathy: Can It Make The Difference?
Emotion has an enormous impact on imprinting memory in our brains. I had an experience when I was 6 years old that included emotion and I have the memory of it all of these many years later. It was a 6 year old birthday sleepover party. There were 7 girls invited that lived near each other and played together most days. A girl new to the neighborhood was invited only due to the requirement of the birthday girl’s mother. I was also invited. I lived a block away but did play with these girls...
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New research brief on the effects of parental discipline
PRB just published a new research brief that may be of interest: Among common forms of discipline, only reasoning with a child is associated with positive developmental outcomes, according to a new analysis by Kaitlin Paxton Ward and colleagues from the University of Michigan and University of Nevada.[1] You can read the full brief here: https://www.prb.org/articles/is-your-child-misbehaving-try-reasoning-with-them/ References: 1. Kaitlin P. Ward, et al. “Associations Between 11 Parental...