Talking about Toxic Stress: A Communications Toolkit
Experiencing serious and ongoing adversity during childhood can have long-lasting effects on the developing brain and body, contributing to later negative outcomes in health and wellbeing. At the same time, experiences of early adversity do not automatically translate into negative outcomes. How can we talk about toxic stress without cueing the idea that early adversity […]
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COVID-19 Resources
From child care, to health care, to home-based activities, to policy, find an assortment of links both to Center content, as well as other organizations’ resources that can be of use at this unprecedented time.
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Building Babies’ Brains Through Play: Mini Parenting Master Class
In this Mini Parenting Master Class from UNICEF, Center on the Developing Child Director Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., explains the importance of serve and return interactions like play—and how easy they are to do, especially through practice!
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Training Module: “Build My Brain”
With lessons on brain architecture and toxic stress, the “Build My Brain” course connects the science of early childhood development to work in early childhood education, public health, and social services.
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Brain Story Certification Course
The Brain Story Certification course is designed for those seeking a deeper understanding of brain development and its consequences for lifelong health.
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Training Module: “Talk With Me Baby”
Learn how to empower and support families so that they can engage in meaningful conversations with their young children and advance their language and lifelong learning. The eight-session “Talk With Me Baby” course is open to the public and available through Cox Campus and Read Right from the Start.
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MOOC: The Best Start in Life: Early Childhood Development for Sustainable Development
This online course draws from research in neuroscience, psychology, economics, anthropology, and program implementation and evaluation in order to discuss ECD and explore its role in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
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The Brain Architecture Game
This tabletop board game experience was designed to engage policymakers, community and business leaders, health and education service providers, and government officials in understanding the science of early brain development—what promotes it, what derails it, and what are the consequences for society.
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Training Module: Health Care Practitioner Module and Resources
The Florida State University Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy (CPEIP), working in collaboration with the Center on the Developing Child and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), developed these Early Childhood Health Optimization resources for pediatricians, OB/GYNs, and Care Coordinators across the state of Florida. Available free of charge via CPEIP’s website, the resources include an interactive, multimedia module (approximately 52 minutes) and discussion guide introducing practitioners to the science of early childhood development, toxic stress, executive function, resilience, and mental health.
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Vroom
Vroom is a set of tools and resources from the Bezos Family Foundation designed to inspire families to turn everyday moments into “brain building moments” by layering activities that are essential to healthy brain development onto existing routines. Vroom was developed with input from early childhood experts, neuroscientists, parents, and community leaders, as well as the Center on the Developing Child.
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Using Brain Science to Create New Pathways out of Poverty
EMPath CEO and Frontiers of Innovation associate Beth Babcock spoke at TEDxBeaconStreet about taking a science-informed approach to breaking the cycle of poverty. Her talk explains how poverty impairs the development of executive function in the brain, and shares the success of new coaching models that allow clients to practice and rebuild their executive function skills.
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The Toxic Stress of Early Childhood Adversity: Rethinking Health and Education Policy
Toxic stress is the subject of this on-demand webcast from The Forum at the Harvard School of Public Health. The discussion featured Center director Jack P. Shonkoff; Robert W. Block, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics; and Roberto Rodríguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy in the White House. Launched in 2010, The Forum seeks to provide decision makers with a global platform to discuss policy choices and scientific controversies.