August 2016

Advances in biology are providing deeper insights into how early experiences are built into the body with lasting effects on learning, behavior, and health. Numerous evaluations of interventions for young children facing adversity have demonstrated multiple, positive effects but they have been highly variable and difficult to sustain or scale. New research on plasticity and critical periods in development, increasing understanding of how gene-environment interaction affects variation in...

It’s one thing to feel like you need a break, it’s another thing to convince yourself that you should take one. The way that after sitting still for a long time your body craves stretching and moving around, your brain craves a change of subject and a chance to unwind after focusing on the same tasks day in and day out. Aside from just making you feel better and happier, taking a vacation has noticeable benefits to your health and your productivity. [See more at ...

Catherine left her husband the day he threatened to kill her and bury her body in the desert. Ending 22 years of physical and emotional abuse, she packed her bags and moved out with her daughter, then 15. For a while the two managed, though money was tight. After her daughter left for college, however, Catherine began to fall apart. For six months, she worked delivery services during the day and slept in her 1996 Oldsmobile most nights. When she could afford it, she would check into a motel...

Last year, researchers from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody Research Institute released a paper detailing their evaluation of the state of Tennessee’s pre-K program, focusing specifically on the state’s most disadvantaged four-year-olds. Their results came in contrast to most of the previous evaluations of early childhood education programs, which found impressive long-term results, but focused on very small, high-quality, expensive programs and relied on small sample sizes — the infamous...

As a voracious reader, I come across a lot of information that helps give me a particular worldview. And it’s different than what is shared by many others. This article -- " I spent five years with some of Trump's biggest fans. Here's what they won't tell you. " -- captures a world view that I don’t totally share, but it also seems to be one that is not informed by any discussion of the pervasive impact of childhood trauma and living though generations of a certain transmission of culture.

If you are wondering what happens in the Parents with ACEs group I have two things that might help. Summary of Last Week's Posts Group Mission Statement Last Week in the Parenting with ACEs Group The Science Behind Pregnant Fathers Huffington Post link. A link to the Jama Network Association of Reports of Childhood Abuse and All-Cause Mortality Rates in Women and brief commentary. An article about Break-the-Cycle Parenting first published in The Fix. A link to the T herapeutic Parenting...

The first bullet under Early Diagnosis and Intervention of today’s release of Hillary Clinton’s mental health agenda is titled “ Increase public awareness and take action to address maternal depression, infant mental health, and trauma and stress in the lives of young children.” It states “We also know that infant mental health depends on children forming close and secure relationships with the adults in their lives, and that too many children are growing up in environments that cause them...

The 2016 Resilience Summit Agenda has been published. Register now as Early Bird prices go up on September 1. Register on our Conference Page HERE To view the Agenda click HERE .

The bi-national path would connect Matamoros and Brownsville. The international border between these two cities is marked by the winding waters of the Rio Grande and fortified by a tall rust-color fence. But Mauricio Ibarra prefers to think of the two sides as one. Ibarra is planning director for the city of Matamoros. Every morning, he drives his silver Jeep across the B&M Bridge from his home in Brownsville to his office on the Mexico side of the border. Born in Matamoros, he’s one of...

It is with great anticipation and enthusiasm that I welcome you back to a new school year. I write this “Back to School Letter” to you because of the large role you all play in the education of more than 4,100 students. As a parent, I know that the school year brings excitement, anticipation and new learning opportunities for all of our children. As we begin the school year, I wish the greatest success for all of our students. There are a lot of exciting changes in the district as we start...

The field office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) in Erie, Pennsylvania, was already beginning to bustle before 9 a.m. on the hot August morning when I visited. A woman wearing a bright African cloth wrapped at the waist, with two little children beside her, was sitting on the concrete step in front of the building, waiting for something or someone. Clusters of others, mostly talking quietly in Arabic, were waiting inside in the stuffy reception area. A few of the...

“Aaniin, ezhi-ayaayan?” (Hello, how are you?) Children and teachers sing these words to a three-year-old child in the Ojibwe classroom of the Wicoie Nandagikendan language immersion program. The child stands up from his chair and places a sticker under one of several Ojibwe words for happy, sad, and angry, among other choices. After all the children and adults take turns placing their stickers, a teacher leads the children through counting, “bezhig, niizh, niswi,” colors, “miskwa, ozaawaa,...