Baby brain development and attachment
Parents’ voices can calm an unborn and help develop your relationships. Reading, singing and talking to your baby helps to build their brain and a strong attachment when they are born and in turn develops health, behaviour and learning habits for life.
Harvard Centre on the Developing Child – Many helpful resources, including:
8 things to remember about child development
The foundations of lifelong health are built in early childhood
Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body
Downloadable journal article supporting the understanding of self- regulation and its critical role in children’s school experience
A Celebratory Approach to Working with Children with SEND
Resource from Penn Green Centre with 5 questions: Do you know me? Can I trust you? Do you let me fly? Do you hear me? Is this place fair for me? Supports educators to identify and link children’s schemas to their learning.
Suzanne Zeedyk’s website, with insightful articles about attachment, ACEs, importance of play.
Supports understanding of child development stages.
Professional Love in the EYFS with Dr Jools Page
Understanding the meaning of Professional Love and how it relates to practitioners and leaders in the early years sector
Professional Love: Meaningful interactions in Early Years Settings
A blog explaining Professional Love, origins and application in an Early Years setting
This is Early Years: The history of Attachment Theory
Podcast supporting understanding of Professional Love, what this means for early years professionals in practice and how it relates to attachment relationships in the early years.
High quality interactions that are initiated by the child and supported by the adult: Share attention, Respond, Expand, Conversation; from Education Endowment Foundation
UK Chief Medical Officer’s Physical Activity Guidelines
Government guidelines: 1-5-year-olds to have at least 3 hours of physical activity per day; includes physical activity poster on p 23.
From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development
A US government website which includes free access to the book by Jack Shonokoff and Deborah Philips
PACE: A Trauma Informed Approach to supporting Children and Young People
A leaflet describing effective, empowering interactions with children who have experienced trauma — through Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy
DfE Early Years Child Development Training
DfE’s free online training, 8 modules to build and improve understanding of child development, with practical tips and ideas
Sensory Integration and Functional Movement
Awalludin, Z. A. (2020) Supporting knowledge of sensory integration and functional movement in early years children; free download
Co-regulation and Self-regulation
Article by Dr Mine Conkbayir explaining the importance of co-regulation as the root of self-regulation
Trauma and the Nervous System; A Polyvagal Perspective
A video introduction to Polyvagal Theory in relation to Trauma
Explains polyvagal theory, with ideas to support pupils with trauma and anxiety through safe and supportive learning environment
Dr Dan Siegel’s Hand Model of the Brain
To demonstrate the ‘flipping lid’ and the relationship between the upstairs and downstairs brain, Dr Dan Siegel devised his ‘hand model’ of the brain
Dan Siegel – “Flipping Your Lid:” A Scientific Explanation
An explanation of the term ‘Flipping your lid’, linked to science
Adults can also ‘flip their lid’, so the same model can also be applied to parenting and coping with stress in the workplace.