Brazelton Touchpoints Center September Newsletter

In This Issue | September 2019

In this issue, we highlight BTC's upcoming Fall 2019 Learning to Listen Conversations for Change series, share essential resources from the National Center for Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, welcome new members to the BTC Learning Network and a new colleague to the Brazelton Institute, and so much more!

Learning to Listen Returns Fall 2019

BTC's Learning to Listen Conversations for Change series returns featuring three outspoken agents for change you won't want to miss.

Sherry Turkle, PhD - Webcast

Wednesday, September 25, 2019, 3 PM EST

Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology @ MIT, and author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age , explores how digital technology, including smart phones and social media, disrupt our capacity to listen to children, each other, and ourselves.

Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, EdD - Podcast

Tuesday, October 29, 2019, 3 PM EST

Emily Hargroves Fisher Research Professor of Education @ Harvard Graduate School of Education, and author of 10 books including The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other , discusses the interplay between human development and social change.

Kyle Pruett, MD - Webinar

Tuesday, November 19, 2019, 3 PM EST

Clinical Professor of Child Psychiatry @ Yale School of Medicine, and pioneering researcher on fathers and their children, discusses fatherhood and the importance of listening to fathers and engaging them in their children's development.

Returning Fall 2019! Learning to Listen: Conversations for Change

Many thanks to our sponsors, and the support of the entire Brazelton Touchpoints community, for helping make Learning to Listen possible.

Resources from the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement

The National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement recently posted these resources online – check them out today!

Cultural Perspectives in Caregiving: Applying Relationship-Based Practices - This resource features scenarios that guide Head Start and Early Head Start program leaders and staff in improving approaches to engaging families of children who are dual language learners.

The first of several webinars in the Building Foundations for Economic Mobility series , this webinar explores ways to support early childhood programs in their efforts on financial capability, and education and career strategies for Head Start and Early Head Start families.

Integrating Strategies for Program Progress - This guide can be used to engage program leaders, staff, families, and community partners in conversation and collaborations to support lasting change for children and families.

Engaging Community Partners to Strengthen Family Services - This series guides program efforts to strengthen child and family outcomes in line with the Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework and the Head Start Program Performance Standards.

BTC's Learning Network Grows!

The BTC Learning Network welcomes three new members this September:

Horizons for Homeless Children, improving the lives of homeless children and their families in Massachusetts through early education and family support services
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, with the mission of improving the economic and social quality of life for tribal members and adjacent communities
Rhode Island Family Visiting Program, providing support and guidance to pregnant women and families with children up to age four

These new members join nearly 70 other communities and programs around the country and the world that are part of a national and international learning network actively using the Touchpoints Approach in their family engagement practice.

As part of the Learning Network, members:

Develop capacity for strengths-based family engagement
Promote effective practices for supporting strong family relationships
Build understanding of children’s behavior and its role in family engagement
Engage in on-going professional development, mentoring, and coaching
Cultivate and sustain professional cultures of positive family engagement
Generate and disseminate new knowledge that bridges theory to practice, and practice to theory

Through the Learning Network, members gain:

Know-how to define and co-create meaningful family engagement
Understanding of children's behavior as their language, and effective responses for promoting development and parental mastery
Skills that support impactful family engagement
Strategies to support provider practice and continuous quality improvement

CHECK IT OUT!

Among the many benefits of membership in the BTC Learning Network are continuous professional development opportunities, including a Podcast and Webinar Series focused on key issues, programs, and resources to support professional practice.

The latest podcast explores the Touchpoints Parenting Program indepth and offers insights into facilitating parent groups that build child development and promote parental mastery.

BTC Learning Network Podcast - Parenting Program

Learn more about Learning Network membership and benefits today!

www.brazeltontouchpoints.org/learningnetwork

Family Connections Fall Institute

October 17 - 18, 2019

Brazelton Touchpoints Center

Boston, Massachusetts

Touchpoints Parenting Program

November 7 - 8, 2019

Harvard Medical School

Boston, Massachusetts

10% Off an Upcoming Training

Valid through Dec 31, 2019

Claim Now

CMEs offered for all Individual Level Trainings - earn yours with BTC today!

What is Touchpoints?

Brazelton Touchpoints is a strengths-based approach to family engagement that combines understanding of child development with communication skills and strategies that build on the importance of primary caregiver relationships in a young child’s life.

Learn more about Touchpoints and its impact today!

Contact Autumn Strausbaugh for more information on trainings and professional development.

BTC Programs

Touchpoints Individual Level Trainings provide a practical approach to family engagement that supports professionals in forming strength-based partnerships with families.

Touchpoints Parenting Program teaches providers how to facilitate parent groups using a prevention-oriented anticipatory guidance curriculum that supports positive family relationships.

Family Connections provides an evidence-based, system-wide model for mental health consultation and professional development.

Lise Johnson, MD, Joins the Brazelton Institute

BTC’s Brazelton Institute , which provides research and training programs for people who care for newborns and families, welcomes Lise Johnson, MD, as Associate Director this September. Dr. Johnson brings over 30 years of experience in general pediatrics to her new role, 18 of which have been devoted to newborn care as Medical Director for Well Newborn Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Johnson is trained in the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale and is a co-author of the Newborn Behavioral Observation System, in which the Institute trains professionals.

Welcome, Dr. Johnson!

BTC Updates

Dr. Joshua Sparrow, MD, BTC's Executive Director , brings his expertise in child development, relational knowledge, and psychiatry as a new member of the Board of Directors of Parents as Teachers , the nation's most replicated home visiting, early childhood development, and parent education program.

Dr. Catherine Ayoub, EdD, BTC's Director of Research and Evaluation , delivered the Keynote address titled “Quality Family Engagement” at the Southwest Human Development 2019-2020 Pre-Service Event: Creating National Models for Innovation and Partnerships in Phoenix, Arizona.

BTC’s Research and Evaluation team is partnering with the United Way of Greater Houston to evaluate its Bright Beginnings program , an innovative early education program designed to help children from lower-income families across Houston achieve social, emotional, physical and cognitive milestones and enter school ready to succeed.