“The parents in our program are busy. I know they care about early brain development but they don’t have much free time to read about it. What do you suggest we share with them?”
This question was asked during one of the For Our Babies Bookclub discussions with Dr. Lally. Because we think it’s a question others might have as well, we wanted to share the list we compiled here. What follows are some quick, and hopefully helpful, resources on early brain development.
1. Short videos produced by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard:
Three Core Concepts in Early Development (a three part series)
1. Experiences Build Brain Architecture (1:58 minutes)
2. Serve & Return Interaction Shapes Brain Circuitry (1:43 minutes)
3. Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development (1:52 minutes)
Brain Hero (2:59 minutes)
These videos can be found on the Center on the Developing Child’s website: click here.
2. On Wested’s Program for Infant Toddler Care website there are downloadable resources in their library as well as things you can order. The “Next Step” DVD for instance is a great one for understanding “the infant’s curriculum”. Other DVDs that people report as being helpful for parents are “Flexible, Fearful, and Fiesty” that looks at different temperaments and “Discoveries of Infancy” which covers the six learning themes of infancy. “Ages of Infancy” is another one that can be helpful for parents to learn more about the three stages of development (young, mobile and older infants). These resources can be found in the PITC library.
3. ZERO TO THREE has wonderful resources as well. Their interactive Brain Map for instance is a neat one. You select an age and then scroll over the brain to find interesting questions and answers and examples of what you can do to support development. Check it out here.
4. ZERO TO THREE also has a policy network that’s a great way to get consolidated information and participate in national issues concerning babies. Here’s what they say about it “The ZERO TO THREE Policy Network is a vehicle for professionals, like you, to use your knowledge and expertise to impact public policy so that all babies have good health, strong families and positive early learning experiences. Inspired by the successes and accomplishments of the Better Baby Care Campaign, the ZERO TO THREE Policy Network is coordinated by the ZERO TO THREE Policy Center.” You can join this here — scroll to the middle and click on join the policy network now.
5. On the For Our Babies website we have a downloadable resource that is great for dispelling myths about early brain development. It’s called the Baby Brain, Ten Myths. Click here to download this resource: forourbabies_brainmyths.
Hopefully you will find these resources helpful. What other resources do you use to share information about babies? Let us know at [email protected]. We’d love to share them with others as we continue our national discussion around promoting healthy development of babies.
I .am a great grandma who is struggling with technology and the internet. I need guidance to access this important information in print also. I will start with the suggested videos first. I was very excited to luck on to your organization as it is a proponant of my UK mom’s philosophy.