Connected Beginnings Training Institute

Nurturing the Social and Emotional Well-Being of Children Ages Birth to Eight

  • For optimal development "a child requires progressively more complex joint activity with one or more adults who have an irrational emotional relationship with the child. Somebody’s got to be crazy about that kid. That’s number one. First, last, and always." – Urie Bronfrenbrener

    Urie Bronfrenbrener

  • “Including parents in the screening process tells parents from the start that you value their observations, questions and concerns. And the cliché is true-parents in most cases are the best source of reliable and valid information about a child’s development.” – Elizabeth Twombley  

    Elizabeth Twombley

  • “Through relationships with parents and other significant caregivers, infants and toddlers learn what people expect of them and what they can expect of other people. Infants and toddlers learn through what they experience within relationships and what they observe in adults’ interactions with one another.” — Pathways to Prevention

    Pathways to Prevention

  • “What’s critical then is the interaction between genetics and what we call ‘serve and return’ between young children and the adults in their lives. The child does something and the adult responds. It’s the back and forth that literally, shapes the architecture of the brain.” — Jack Shonkoff

    Jack Shonkoff

  • “Children are not the people of tomorrow but the people of today. They have a right to be taken seriously and to be treated with tenderness and respect. They should be allowed to grow into whoever they were meant to be-the unknown person inside each of them is our hope for the future.” – Janusz Korczak

    Janusz Korczak

Latest News

We are thrilled to have found a new home at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute. Founded nearly fifty years ago as the public service, research, and economic development arm of the University of Massachusetts President’s Office, the UMass Donahue Institute addresses critical questions and develops innovative solutions to help organizations and agencies from both the public and private sector meet challenges, measure success, and set goals.

As the Institute’s newest business group, Connected Beginnings joins the institute’s already robust early childhood presence with the Head Start National Center on Program Management and Fiscal Operations and the New England Head Start Training & Technical Assistance business group.

We are excited by the opportunities this transition will inspire and we are grateful for the sincere and creative collaboration offered by the institute’s executive team: Eric Heller, Interim Executive Director and Carol Anne McGowan, Associate Director.

Activities and Services

To achieve its mission, Connected Beginnings relies on the related efforts of many other organizations, agencies, and systems including: Early Intervention, Early Education and Care, Civic leaders, decision-makers, and public … Read More