Supporting Immigrant Families Learning Community
Foundational Topics Resources
We have curated the following training content as a resource for you to develop foundational skills needed to support this work. These curated topics and accompanying videos can be found below. They will link you to outside resources from experts across the varied fields.
Understand how a child’s development is shaped by their environment and experiences.
Understand how traumatic stress impacts early development and the parent-child relationship.
Understand the importance of connecting with others as a foundation to the work.
Understand basic concepts of early childhood development and explore current developmental and neuroscience research.
Gain knowledge of basic brain structures and architecture and how they are impacted by a child’s experiences.
Understand the importance of early attachment relationships, its impact on all areas of development, and ways to support it in early childhood.
2 hours 30 minutes
Topics covered during the webinar:
- Setting the Stage: Historical Context (13:10 to 55:55)
- Historical Trauma in children and families (56:00 to 1:32:25)
- System oppression in child serving systems (1:32:45 to 1:49:54)
- Community Resilience and Service Adaptation (1:50:11 to 2:07:52)
- Where do we go from there? (2:08:30 to 2:31:12)
- Recommendations (2:31:45 to 2:34:40)
Learning Objectives:
- Examine issues of racialized inequitites and bias in the early care and education experiences for Latino children and families.
- Understanding the historical, social, and cultural context of Latino children and families that provide sources of strength and resilience.
- Identify ways to strengthen culturally responsive practice in Infant, Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) to reduce disparities and support children’s healthy development and learning.
The link below is a PDF of the slides from the webinar.
35 minutes – need free NCTSN login
Lesson 9: Cultural Considerations When Working in Early Childhood Mental Health
This lesson lays out the tenets to developing culturally-informed infant mental health, explains the importance of a culturally-relevant practice, and gives guidance on engaging special populations.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the tenets for developing culturally-informed mental health practices
- Understand the importance of culturally relevant practice
- Discuss working with diverse populations
3 minutes
Explore the role of culture on development, parenting, and attachment
The Center of Excellence for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation is pleased to partner with the Children’s Equity Project to present this learning module on Equity, Disparity, & Bias.
7 minutes
This is a 7-minute clip from “Cultural Humility: People, Principles and Practices”, the 30-minute documentary by San Francisco State Professor Vivian Chávez, that mixes poetry with music, interviews, archival footage, images of community, nature and dance to explain what “Cultural Humility” is and why we need it.
To see the full documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaSHLbS1V4w&ab_channel=VivianChavez
The film describes a set of principles that guide the thinking, behavior and actions of individuals and institutions influencing interpersonal relationships as well as systems change. These principles are:
- Lifelong learning and critical self-reflection
- Recognize and change power imbalances
- Institutional accountability
More than a concept, Cultural Humility is a communal reflection to analyze the root causes of suffering and create a broader, more inclusive view of the world. Originally developed by Doctors Melanie Tervalon and Jann Murray-Garcia (1998) to address health disparities and institutional inequities in medicine, Cultural Humility is now used in public health, social work, education, and non-profit management. It is a daily practice for people to deal with hierarchical relationships, changing organizational policy and building relationships based on trust. The film tells stories of successes and challenges, and the road in between, when it comes to develop partnerships between community members, practitioners and academics. It encourages us to realize their own power, privilege and prejudices, and be willing to accept that acquired education and credentials alone are insufficient to address social inequality. Potential audiences are health and social service professionals, students, providers, organizers and policy makers in public health, social work, medicine, psychology, nursing and education.
M. Tervalon, J. Murray-Garcia (1998). Cultural humility versus cultural competence: a critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education, Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, Vol. 9, No. 2. (May 1998), pp. 117-125.
Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
18 minutes + 3 minutes
Ted Talk: Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
Vimeo: Follow up Summary of the TedTalk and questions to wonder.
25 minutes – will need free NCTSN Log-In
- Understand how a child’s development is shaped by their environment
- Differentiate between risk factors and protective factors
- Describe how to increase resiliency in at-risk families
- Understand how traumatic stress impacts development
Attachment Vitamins: Interactive Course on Early Childhood Attachment, Stress and Trauma
12 minutes
The idea of health disparities has been socialized among public health advocates, but the concept of health inequities takes the focus further pointing out the systemic, avoidable, unjust, social and economic policies and practices that create barriers to health.
Esteban López, MD, MBA serves as the Chief Medical Officer and Southwest Texas Market President for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, where he helps fulfill its mission to improve the health and well-being of its five million members. In addition to serving as the executive sponsor for Texas Government Programs, Dr. López leads the Community Investment Department in its long-term strategy to improve public health.
15 minutes
How do social and economic factors influence health outcomes? Dr. Abdul El-Sayed explores these issues of unequal health and describes how public health can be leveraged to disrupt intergenerational poverty. Dr. El-Sayed is an internationally recognized expert in health policy, social determinants of health, and health inequalities.
20 minutes to complete: Podcast (not a video)
In 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a landmark statement about the impact of racism on child and adolescent health. Dr. Maria Trent, the lead author of this statement, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the many ways that racism undermines health over a lifetime. Trent also discusses how to give pediatricians, teachers, parents, and caregivers the language and tools they need to address racism’s impacts on children’s safety and wellbeing.
56 minutes
Webinar Objectives:
- Define the various forms of racism (individual, cultural, institutional)
- Describe racially based trauma and its associated symptoms
- Illustrate the impact of various forms of racial trauma on Black Americans
Time to Complete: 25 Minutes
Lesson 5: The Effects of Toxic Stress and Trauma
This lesson defines traumatic stress, helps learners understand how traumatic stress impacts early development, describes trauma reminders, and discusses how trauma impacts the parent-child relationship.
Learning Objectives:
- Define traumatic stress
- Understand how traumatic stress effects children’s early development
- Define trauma reminders
- Describe how trauma impacts the parent/child relationship
60 minute webinar
Extensive presentation on Early Childhood Trauma
GU Center for Child & Human Development
1 min
Learning how to cope with adversity is an important part of healthy development. While moderate, short-lived stress responses in the body can promote growth, toxic stress is the strong, unrelieved activation of the body’s stress management system in the absence of protective adult support. Without caring adults to buffer children, the unrelenting stress caused by extreme poverty, neglect, abuse, or severe maternal depression can weaken the architecture of the developing brain, with long-term consequences for learning, behavior, and both physical and mental health.
Center and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
15 minute video
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris explains how adverse childhood experiences affects the development of the brain and shapes health over a lifetime.
5 minute video
A brief look at how stress impacts development
University of Minnesota Institute of Child Development, video by Cliff Dahlberg and Vox Pop Video. For Project for Babies, Jane Kretzmann.
45 minutes
Synopsis of video:
This video provides common factors in most evidence-based, trauma-informed interventions including engagement, building safety, and relationship-based work. Dr. Reyes describes ways that most providers in varying roles can help promote empowerment, hope, and safety. Lastly, this video discusses how to keep the cultural context of children and families in mind when doing this work.
Will need free NCTSN login
Stories for Children that Grownups Can Watch
“Stories” is an innovative set of materials that identify and highlight warning signs resulting from childhood exposure to trauma and violence. The goal is to raise awareness of the need to prevent, identify and treat exposure to trauma and violence in young children and to provide resource information for families. The target audience is infants and children under age of 6, and their parents, caregivers, and service providers.
The information is presented as a collection of tools in a series of interactive DVDs with animated films, support video segments, coloring/activity books, and professional tutorials from leading experts in the field. The core message, which carries throughout the Stories project, is “Bring the kids back into focus… so every child can be safe from the start.”
A Clingy Thing
Lulita had heard her parents arguing, really loudly. It frightened her and she had become clingy like a bug. “A Clingy Thing” is about the clinginess and insecurity that can come about from exposure to violence and trauma. It includes tips for responding to children exhibiting symptoms.
Inside Him
Eddie was really bothered by the things he had seen and heard but was very afraid to talk about it. “Inside Him” is about how adults can help children talk about what they have seen or heard that might be upsetting to them.
Mobile
A mobile hangs sweetly over a baby’s crib, and the butterfly, bee and teddy bear hear all that happens in the house. Mobile focuses on how infants react to conflict, and provides parents and caregivers tips for keeping infants safe and happy.
25 Minutes to complete
- Define Attachment
- Understand how parents act as a secure base and safe have for their children
- Discuss the importance of a child’s internal working model of attachment
- Identify the four attachment patterns
Will need free NCTSN login
9 minutes
0:32 – Introduction
1:45 – Strategies for Building Positive Relationships
3:26 – Providing Responsive Caregiving
5:23 – Responsive Caregiving in Preschool
8:18 – Conclusion
Having strong, positive relationships with adults is critical for young children’s social and emotional development, and sets the stage for all future learning. How adults handle daily routines and instructional goals impact how well children attach and respond to teachers and caregivers, which in turn affects children’s feelings of security to explore their environment and make new discoveries. In this video, teachers, family child care providers, and experts discuss how adult relationships with children impact children’s development, behavior, and readiness to learn. Strategies for building strong relationships with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and Kindergartners are also shared.
This video on the power of relationships includes the following sections:
Copyright 2016 by the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University.
7 Minutes (clip within this video, see below)
Time Notes:
2:40 – 9:25 Covers relationship-based work and how relationships between providers and caregivers heal through relationships
This video provides common factors in most evidence-based, trauma-informed interventions including engagement, building safety, and relationship-based work. Dr. Reyes describes ways that most providers in varying roles can help promote empowerment, hope, and safety. Lastly, this video discusses how to keep the cultural context of children and families in mind when doing this work.
Will nee free NCTSN login
2 minutes
Economic, educational, and other gaps between teachers and parents can sometimes make it challenging to build true partnerships. In this video, fatherhood expert Doug Edwards from Real Dads Forever discusses some strategies teachers can use to bridge those gaps and build stronger relationships with families — including being vulnerable, sharing a few pieces of personal information, and taking the time to really get to know families.
Copyright 2020 by the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University.
Each series 1 hour: 4 total
- Relationship-Based Competencies to Support Family Engagement for All Early Childhood Professionals: An Overview
- Exploring the Relationship-Based Competencies for Early Childhood Professionals Who Work with Children in Group Settings
- Exploring the Relationship-Based Competencies for Early Childhood Professionals Who Work with Families
- Exploring the Relationship-Based Competencies for Early Childhood Professionals Who Make Home Visits
This four-part webinar series focuses on the relationship-based competencies (RBCs)—knowledge, skills, and individual practices—staff need based on their roles. Discover how to use them as a guide to effectively engage and partner with families. Learn how to apply the RBCs in all areas of work with children and families and in professional development. This series will be useful for all early childhood professionals, including teachers, family services staff, and home visitors.
Exploring the Relationship-Based Competencies for Early Childhood Professionals Who Make Home Visits
Readings/Guides PDFs
The Relationship-Based Competencies to Support Family Engagement:
- A Guide for Early Childhood Professionals Who Work with Children in Group Settings
- A Guide for Early Childhood Professionals Who Make Home Visits
- Overview for Early Childhood Professionals
- A Guide for Early Childhood Professionals Who Work with Families
- Overview of Head Starts RBC program, with links to videos found in 1e.
These relationship-based competencies (RBCs) and examples of how they can be put into practice are provided to guide teachers and child care providers as they build goal-directed partnerships with families. Ongoing, positive interactions and effective partnerships support the development and wellbeing of infants, young children, and families.
View Guide for Early Childhood Professionals who Work with Children in Group Settings
View Relationship Competencies PDF
View a Guide for Early Childhood Professionals Who Work with Families
View Relationship-Based Competencies to Support Family Engagement
21 minutes total (each video 1 minute).
Once you open the video, click “Open in YouTube”. This will bring you to the first video in the series of a playlist of all 21 videos.
Playlist of 21 short videos, separated by age (0-3mo, 4-6 mo, 7-9mo, 10-12mo) and developmental area (motor, communication, sensory).
In English
En Español
25 minutes to complete
Objectives:
- Identify the developmental milestones of early childhood -Discuss the development of self awareness in early childhood
- Define the four normative fears of early childhood
- Consider ways that you can support both the parent and the child in coping with the normative fears of development
Need free NCTSN login
4 minutes
This video from the InBrief series addresses basic concepts of early childhood development, established over decades of neuroscience and behavioral research, which help illustrate why child development—particularly from birth to five years—is a foundation for a prosperous and sustainable society.
La Ciencia del Desarrollo Infantil Temprano is the Spanish version of InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development. This video from the InBrief series addresses basic concepts of early childhood development, established over decades of neuroscience and behavioral research, which help illustrate why child development—particularly from birth to five years—is a foundation for a prosperous and sustainable society. The translation of this video was made possible with major support from the World Bank.
In English
En Español
<1 hours (each episode)
This is a great series that takes a dive into some of the cool research around Child Development topics, the 5 here are the ones available on YouTube, there are a lot more on Netflix for your own exploration.
Videos on YouTube
- Love
- First Words
- Crawling
- First Steps
- Sleep
Videos only on Netflix
- First Food
- What Babies Know
- Movement Senses
- Relationships
- Nature and Nurture
- Toddlers
4 minutes
Synopsis:
This ‘Brain Builders’ video explains how experiences in the first years of our lives affect how our brains form. Science tells us that the stress of abuse or neglect can damage the basic structures of a child’s developing brain. Without the right help, it can put them at risk of a lifetime of health problems, developmental issues and addiction. It’s up to us to make sure that children overcome these stresses and have the nurturing experiences they need for positive development.
3 minute video
Brief video on investing in brain development early in life.
University of Minnesota Institute of Child Development, video by Cliff Dahlberg and Vox Pop Video. For Project for Babies, Jane Kretzmann.
4 minutes & 2 minutes
Two short videos on the concept of brain development involving “serve and return”
5 minutes + 2 minutes
Two brief videos on the concept of building “Brain Architecture”
2 minutes
This is a quick video on the nervous system, this can be useful if you are wondering more about the foundation of concepts around how stress impacts the body.
28 minute neuroscience presentation
UCLA Health
UCLA neuropsychologist Susan Y. Bookheimer, PhD, discusses brain development in children and adolescents. #UCLAMDCHAT
60 min Documentary
Note from the SIF LC:
This video provides a comprehensive overview of brain development in the early years. It includes considerations on IECMH in different socio-cultural, historical, economic, geographical and linguistic contexts. Although it addresses how best practices can be adapted in diverse contexts with the input of the community, at times seems to reflect a colonizing undertone.
BRAIN MATTERS reveals that learning begins way before children go to school and that its the experiences children are exposed to that determine their chances for future success. Everyday situations such as play, relationships, language and nutrition are examined with a fresh scientific approach, aiming at a set of brain boosting skills and activities that can provide every child with the opportunity to thrive.
Through interviews with cutting edge researchers, scientists, economists, families and educators, BRAIN MATTERS explores the so called “miracle years”, a critical period of our lives that no one remembers, in a profound new way – emphasizing how the first few years are the greatest opportunity we have to give children the best start in life.
Written and Directed by Carlota Nelson
A general introduction to what happens in the brain after children face traumatic experiences in childhood, like abuse and neglect.
This video is a part of the Childhood Trauma and the Brain resource. Learn more about the science and how to apply it to practice on the UK Trauma Council website: https://uktraumacouncil.org/resources…
About the UK Trauma Council:
The UK Trauma Council (UKTC) is a group of leading experts, drawn from a variety of disciples across all four nations of the United Kingdom (UK). We are the first UK-wide platform bringing together expertise in research, practice, policy and lived experience in the field of childhood trauma.
The UK Trauma Council is hosted and supported by the Anna Freud Centre.
Visit the UK Trauma Council website
This video was generously funded by the Economic Social Research Council.
Brief 1-minute video with key milestones for attachment
Brief 1-minute video to review key milestones for attachment
GU Center for Child & Human Developmental
Will need free NCTSN Log-In
(note: some lessons have been pulled out and highlighted in other topics in this “Classroom”)
The Attachment Vitamins online course is an interactive, self-paced e-learning course for those adults who often find themselves in the company of children aged zero to five and their families, including professionals such as early childhood educators and child care providers, public health workers, nurses and other medical providers, and case managers; and also for the caregivers of young children themselves. Co-created by Dr. Alicia Lieberman, author of The Emotional Life of the Toddler, and world-renown expert in the areas of parent-child attachment, child development, and trauma, Attachment Vitamins provides a clear and elegant overview of early social-emotional development with insights and suggestions to support healthy and mutually-satisfying child-caregiver relationships. During the course’s nine modules, participants will learn about early childhood social-emotional development; the impact of stress and trauma; reflect on the possible meanings of children’s behaviors; explore the influence of culture on families’ socialization goals; and become familiar with a number of strategies aimed to promote secure attachment and safe socialization practices.
- Lesson 1: Understanding the Child’s Context
- Lesson 2: The Importance of the Child-Parent Relationships
- Lesson 3: Temperament and Its Relation to Parenting Style
- Lesson 4: Developmental Milestones and Normative Fear
- Lesson 5: The Effects of Toxic Stress and Trauma
- Lesson 6: Social & Emotional Development in the Toddler and Preschool Years
- Lesson 7: Mental Health Concerns in Early Childhood
- Lesson 8: Self-Care When Working in Early Childhood Mental Health
- Lesson 9: Cultural Considerations When Working in Early Childhood Mental Health
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