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Research Support for the
Growing Great Kids™ Curriculum
The Growing Great Kids™ (GGK)
Prenatal to Age 3 Parenting Curriculum was developed to address the unique
needs of home visitors, parenting group facilitators and their supervisors
throughout their work with families and children. GGK reaches across all
cultures and is the only Curriculum available that was designed to reinforce
the skills and techniques of a strength based, solution focused program.
The findings and recommendations of a vast array of researchers and
professional organizations have been incorporated throughout the entire
Growing Great Kids Curriculum. Each volume of the Curriculum ends
with several pages of references from which the authors gratefully drew
in creating this Curriculum.
Most curricula used in the early childhood and parenting field today
focus primarily on sharing information about basic care and child development.
In our experience, the Growing Great Kids Prenatal to Age 3 Parenting
Curriculum is the only Curriculum which focuses more broadly on sharing
this information within the context of fostering nurturing parent child
relationships while also guiding home based and center based staff in
their efforts to provide strength based support to families.
The Growing Great Kids Curriculum is distinguished from other
curricula by its focus on the integration of the relationship between
parents and their infant/child, with comprehensive child development while
incorporating the family culture, situations and values specific to each
parent.
Jeree Pawl, nationally recognized pioneer and expert in the infant mental
health field, in her review of the GGK Curriculum speaks to the unique
qualities of the Curriculum from the breadth of her experience:
“The detailed Growing Great Kids Curriculum makes it possible
for both trainers and providers of service to acquire knowledge that
is crucial to the success in their work. Mastered, it provides the basic
developmental understanding that allows its integration into the unique
context of each family's needs.
Most often, the knowledge so carefully presented here in Growing
Great Kids, has been largely lacking in the preparation of practitioners,
leaving the practitioner untethered, uncomfortable and often unsure
even of their role. For the practitioner, Growing Great Kids replaces
what is very often a vague space, with solid ground on which to stand.”
Creating a relationship based Curriculum focused on supporting empathic,
nurturing parent child relationships, is particularly important given
the neurobiological and behavioral research over the last decade which
clearly points to the primary importance of the parent child relationship
and attachment in defining the direction of a wide range of childhood
outcomes.
The research of Scerbo and Kolko and of Brennan, cited in Ghosts
from the Nursery, have all concluded that the formation of a securely
attached relationship with a primary caregiver, beginning in the first
year after birth, is the interactive process most protective against later
violent behavior. This relationship provides the foundation of three key
protective factors to mitigate against later aggression: the learning
of empathy or emotional attachment to others; the opportunity to learn
to control and balance feelings, especially those that can be destructive;
and the opportunity to develop capacities for higher levels of cognitive
processing.
Scerbo, A.S. and Kolko D. J., "Emotion Regulation as a Protective
Factor in Childhood Aggression," paper presented at the 75t Annual
Meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Los Angeles, 1995.
Brennan, P.A. et al, "Psychophysiological Protective Factors for
Male Subjects at High Risk of Criminal Behavior," American Journal
of Psychiatry, 154:853-855, 1997.
Ghosts from the Nursery by Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith S. Wiley,
1997, Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, p. 184
While the importance of infant parent attachment has long been recognized
behaviorally, recent neurobiological research is demonstrating that actual
biological change accompanies the attachment behaviors we see. This biology
of attachment emphasizes the crucial period of the first two years when
positive (or negative) patterns are rooted in structural and neurochemical
changes that will last a lifetime. According to Dr. Allan Shore (UCLA
School of Medicine), as well as other researchers, there are neurochemical
and structural processes in a specific area of the brain-the orbitofrontal
cortex-that are designed to be receptive to and programmed by (italics
added) the interactive emotional relationship between the baby and mother
or primary caregiver.
Allan Shore, Interview March 10, 1997, cited in Ghosts from the Nursery
by Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith S. Wiley, 1997, Atlantic Monthly Press,
New York, p. 194.
Additionally, researchers in the area of school readiness have highlighted
the importance of nurturing and early attachment between parents and child
for later school success, key themes throughout the GGK Curriculum.
Erickson and Pianta present a study where in preschool, 75% of the children
who were identified as having significant behavioral problems, had been
identified at 12-18 months as anxiously attached. This relationship between
attachment and social behavior continues into grade school. Children's
attachment classifications (secure to anxious) as measured at 12 to eighteen
months, tend to be predictive of school success.
M. F. Erickson and R.C. Pianta, "new Lunchbox, Old Feelings: What
Kids Bring to School," Early Education and Development 1(1):35-47,
1989.
The studies of Erickson and Pianta, Dr. Myron Hofer, Dr. Gary Kraemer,
and many other researchers, clearly articulate that nurturing attachment
behavior is the developmental process whereby social regulation of emotion
and behavior is first established. Early caregivers are the linchpin in
this process.
Erickson, M.F. and Pianta, R.C., "New Lunchbox, Old Feelings: What
Kids Bring to School," Early Education and Development 1(1):35-47,
1989.
Hofer, M., "Hidden Regulators: Implications for a New Understanding
of Attachment, Separation and Loss," Attachment Theory: Social,
Developmental and Clinical Perspectives, Goldberg, S. Muir, R, and
Kerr, J, eds., Analytic Press, 1995, Hillsdale, New Jersey.
Kraemer, G.W. et al, "Social attachment, Brain Function, Aggression
and Volence," Unlocking Crime: The Biosocial Key, Raine, A.
Farrington, D. Brennan P., and Mednick S., eds.
Not surprisingly, the effectiveness of the basic tenets on which the
GGK Curriculum was based are also being documented in new and recent reports
and studies. For example, GGK was developed to provide activities and
toys using items readily available in the home. Very little, e.g. perhaps
glue and tape, would need to be purchased to use the activities or make
the toys.
A new report from the National Academy of Science called "The Science
of Early Childhood Development" emphasizes that fancy toys are not
necessary to brain development. That "...the full range of early
childhood competencies can be achieved in typical everyday environments..."
The National Academy of Science report also underscores the importance
of early experiences in helping children learn how to 'self regulate"
their behavior to help children learn to handle stress. GGK gives parents
multiple concrete opportunities to integrate this information into their
relationships with their children.
Two nationally recognized experts in the early childhood development
field have just published a book which mirrors the working principles
of the GGK Curriculum. Drs. T. Berry Brazelton and Stanley Greenspan's
The
Irreducible Needs of Children defines seven needs absolutely
essential to the healthy development of children into caring, well-functioning,
moral, responsible adults, all of which are clearly addressed in the Growing
Great Kids Curriculum.
Brazelton, B.T. and Greenspan, S., The Irreducible Needs of Children,
2000, Perseus Publishing/A Merloyd Lawrence Book.
1) Ongoing Nurturing Relationships are strengthened from the
prenatal period to age 3 in every GGK module and every activity of the
Curriculum. 2) Physical Protection, Safety and Regulation are addressed
for every stage of development with practical suggestions for parents
to implement. There is a special emphasis on parents' emotional response
to their child's cues. 3) Experiences Tailored To Individual Differences
is highlighted in every module with particular emphasis when these differences
are likely to be most stressful to parents. 4) Developmentally Appropriate
Experiences are promoted through the numerous, interesting and fun
activities along with suggestions for parents using daily living experiences.
5) Limit-Setting, Structure And Expectations are addressed starting
early in life, giving parents practical options for providing the guidance
their children need. 6) Continuity Of Values In Family, Peer Groups,
Religion And Culture is the specific focus of the Growing Great Families
Manual, which has activities and suggestions for parents as they face
their individual life situations, helping them to get in touch with their
own values and incorporating their culture into activities throughout
the Curriculum. The final "Irreducible Need of Children," 7)
Protecting The Future is incorporated into the Curriculum in all
areas of development by supporting parents in meeting the first six irreducible
needs.
In this book, Drs. Brazelton and Greenspan emphasize the importance
of empathy in parent child relationships, noting that morality comes from
empathy. They state that empathy is developed through nurturing interactions
with caregivers and parents and that we can feel empathy only if someone
has been empathetic and caring with us. Throughout the GGK Curriculum,
parental empathy is discussed and strengthened through specific activities
and simple, practical suggestions for parents. An important feature of
GGK Curriculum training is a strong focus on building staff skills in
supporting empathic perceptions and responses of parents with their children.
Every facet of the GGK Curriculum has been based on research and experience
in the field of early childhood development. The modules of this Curriculum
support known information about brain development, the importance of language
development for school success within the context of broader child development,
the urgency for children's safety, the benefits of connecting families
to each other and to the community emphasized especially in the Growing
Great Families Manual, and the critical need to develop empathy in our
children.
With a focus on the parent child relationship, the GGK Curriculum utilizes
adult learning principles by providing multisensory experiences for learning,
hands on practice with activities, repetition to integrate new information
into what the parent already knows. Strength based, solution focused questions
throughout the Curriculum encourage respect for parents by determining
what they already know before beginning activities or discussions.
Feedback from service providers using the GGK Curriculum over the past
2 years, suggests that both service providers and parents benefit from
the use of this curriculum. By providing activities and information that
are presented in an interesting, engaging format for parents to enjoy
as they enter the exciting first years of their child's life, enhanced
parent retention in programs is anticipated.
A framework for staff training, focusing on six specific areas of competency
development, supports supervisors and their staff in implementing this
Curriculum. Service providers using the GGK Curriculum for 6 months to
two years report increased confidence in their work competence and consequently
improved job satisfaction. Research has shown that high staff retention
is linked to feelings of competence and job satisfaction.
The GGK Curriculum can give home based or center based early childhood
programs, in the words of Jeree Pawl, “a solid ground on which
to stand.”
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About Great Kids, Inc.
