DCRC Blog

During the holiday season, it’s easy to get caught up in seemingly never-ending to-do lists.

Before you dive head-first into the decorating, shopping, baking, wrapping and entertaining, Devereux Center for Resilient Children (DCRC) Director Susan Damico, M.A., suggests you take time to focus on your social and emotional health and well-being.

One of the greatest gifts we can give to the next generations is the ability to navigate life with kindness. Teaching young children about kindness not only helps shape their character, but also contributes to the creation of a more empathetic and harmonious society. Here are some practical and effective ways to instill the value of kindness in the hearts of our little ones…

We all know how important kindness is, but do you really pause and think about how kind you are to yourself? Self-kindness is the practice of treating yourself with the same compassion and care that you would offer to your best friend. It involves being gentle with yourself, especially during challenging times, and recognizing your worth and value as a person.

Let’s talk about why self-kindness is so important, and how you can practice it!

In a world that is currently heavy with pain and fear, kindness is needed. In this blog post, we will explore the profound impact of kindness on individuals, communities, and the world as a whole. We’ll touch on the science of kindness, the benefits it offers, and how you can cultivate kindness in your life.

The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) Program is a valuable complement to any infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) service, because it helps all of the adults in a child’s life focus on social and emotional health and resilience. IECMHC services benefit from utilizing the entire DECA Program suite of resources and strategies, but can also benefit from utilizing the assessments (birth through 5 years) independently.

According to leaders in the IECMHC field, there are several key elements of the practice. These key elements can be supported by the DECA Program in many ways…

World Mental Health Day was last week (October 10, 2023), and we didn’t want to let too much time pass before celebrating it! Mental health is way too important not to. Our team hopes that you are giving attention to your mental health every single day! To help with that, here are 10 ways to improve your mental health, many of which we are sure you are already doing…

The Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five (Framework) is designed to represent the continuum of learning for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The Framework is intended to assist programs in their efforts to deliver high-quality early care and learning experiences and to guide programs in aligning their assessments, curricula, and professional development to school readiness goals. The Framework covers five broad Domains, broad areas of early learning and development from birth to 5 years. The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) Program and two of those Domains, Social and Emotional Development and Approaches to Learning, strongly align.

It is our team’s hope that in using DECA Program resources, Head Start and Early Head Start programs can better meet the goals laid out under the Domains of Social and Emotional Development and Approaches to Learning. Let’s go through just some of those goals and how the DECA Program aligns well…

The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) Program for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers is designed specifically to screen, assess, and strengthen children’s social and emotional competencies. The core of the program is the DECA, a nationally standardized, strength-based, reliable, and valid measure of social and emotional competencies in children from four weeks of age through five years old (up to sixth birthday). Both parents and teachers can complete the DECA, and research-based strategies are used to guide the planning process for both home and school.

Since the first publication of the DECA in 1999, Head Start programs across the country have used the DECA Program resources to meet several key Head Start Performance Standards and, ultimately, to improve the quality of services. Here are those resources, along with the performance standards they can help you meet…

Activities are the intentional, planned events designed to engage children and support learning. They might include the whole group, a small group of four to five children, or one or two children. Other learning experiences are often unplanned and can be child-initiated or teachable moments. Teachable moments are spontaneous events that provide opportunities to introduce new ideas, build on children’s interests, and expand children’s understanding. When teachers intentionally plan activities and engage in experiences with children, they are helping them build a strong foundation for learning. Every interaction with a child is an opportunity to nurture their unique characteristics, culture, and development.

Connecting with families reflects the many ways that caregivers/teachers partner hand-in-hand with families and their infants, toddlers, and/or preschool-age children. Family members are the most important people in young children’s lives, and caregivers/teachers need to talk to, listen to, and learn about families to build individualized support and continuity of care. These partnerships are critical to providing the best care for young children and for fostering a sense of safety and attachment. When early care and education providers and families work together to share information, plan together, and support the child’s abilities, needs, interests and progress, children are more likely to succeed in school and in life.

Here are some tips for involving and engaging with the families of young children in your care…