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

Addressing the social emotional work of restarting in the early education and care system

As the pandemic’s lockdown has continued and we move into the fall season, we continue to feel our resolve tested and our stress levels raised. Very young children have also felt this stress.

So, as parents and guardians return to work and children return to their care settings, special attention must to be paid to the social emotional needs resulting from both the pandemic and the return to the new realities we all face. Responding to this need, Connected Beginnings Training Institute (CBTI) is offering a training for professionals serving very young children and their families in order to prepare for the ways in which social emotional wellness can be addressed as programs open their doors once again. Read more…

Supporting Your Family’s Mental Health

In this interview with UNICEF, psychologist Lisa Damour shares her thoughts on parenting issues that may be coming up across the age groups during this time of such disruption. One highlight:

“Here’s the bottom line: Kids need predictability — as much predictability as you can offer in a situation like this. So don’t wake up every day and figure out the schedule. Try a schedule, or maybe try a provisional one for a week as a family and then review it at the end of the week.” Dr. Lisa Damour.

Facing This Together: A Message from Our Director

As the first weeks of our experience with COVID-19 pass, our initial ideas and plans for coping have been tested. Some of us have received far too much advice and resources, to the point of feeling overwhelmed. Others have felt isolated and perhaps as if their needs are not being addressed or understood. And of course, on any given day, we can feel somewhere between those two realities.

With so much to think about, Connected Beginnings would like to offer some support on staying emotionally well during this stressful time, for the families we serve and the families we call are own.

Please feel free to be in contact with any needs or concerns we may be able to help you address.

Stay safe. Stay Well.

Mary signature 2

Mary Watson Avery

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