Children's Institute - Rochester NY

Family changes such as separation and divorce can be a time of big feelings and challenges for children and parents - a time when supportive resources can make a positive difference. Dr. JoAnne Pedro-Caroll, Clinical Psychologist, therapist, consultant, and previous CI staff member has authored a book titled, Putting Children First. The book explores the risks parent conflict poses, as well as the important protective factors that support children’s resilience. Movie producers and writers used the basis of this book to create a new animated film called Spellbound. It follows a brave young princess on a quest to save her family and kingdom after a spell turns her parents into monsters. This production can now be viewed on Netflix. We hope you enjoy the movie!

Recently our staff attended the Festival of Inclusion at Nazareth University. This is an annual event hosted by The Golisano Foundation, Best Buddies in New York, and Special Olympics NY. An interactive day of fun, acceptance, and respect for the whole family!

Congratulations to Matt Tae, a 4th year medical student at UR, who presented his GROW research project as a candidate for Distinction in Community Health. His project is titled, “Identifying and Evaluating Demographics, Health Needs, and Impact of Community-Based Developmental Screenings for a Pediatric Population” and was based on work and data from our Get Ready to GROW program here at CI! CI staff members Geri Cone and Kristin Lynch attended the presentation to congratulate Matt and help celebrate the meaningful collaborations in the Rochester Community! All the research projects are available to view here: https://lnkd.in/d5Dz9DaM

REGISTRATION IS OPEN! Seed & Sew's Seed Teacher Summit is back for it’s THIRD year! Early childhood educators, this is for YOU! Join us for a FREE virtual summit packed with 10 hours of professional development across 18 workshops—designed to help you create more connected, inclusive, and emotionally supportive classrooms. Here’s what you need to know: -March 11-13, 2025 -Workshops are available for free for one full week! -Includes 10 hours of professional development across 18 workshops -Learn from experts like Eli Harwood, Leah Kuypers, Maria Davis-Pierre, & more! Let’s build stronger classrooms, together! Register now at seedandsew.org/summit

Our final #SELday shoutout! Parents and caregivers, you are doing an amazing job! At CI, we often emphasize that “parents are a child’s first teacher.” Throughout this #SELday week-long celebration, as we’ve engaged with schools, early childhood sites, and families, it’s clear that you are making a significant impact. In our final shout-out for the #SELday Skills for Success – Ready for the Future celebration, we want to honor parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and all caregivers for helping the children in your lives develop essential life skills through Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Below are a few resources that may be helpful as you continue to prepare children for the future. Access the resources below: https://lnkd.in/d7MC3haG

???? ?????????? ?????? ?????????? ?????????????????? ?????????????? ?????????????????? #???????????? ????????????????! This week, Children’s Institute staff visited 9 Early Childhood Centers to read to and engage 3- and 4-year-olds in discussions about their feelings. When asked, “How did you feel this morning?” one three-year-old replied, “I felt loved!” Young children (ages 2-5) know so much more about feelings and can name many more emotions than you might imagine. They are also very aware and can articulately identify how various situations make them feel. Staff also left parent resources at 18 childcare centers on how they can support their children at home in developing SEL skills around the community. Thank you to all the CI staff who helped spread the word about #SELday! We invite everyone to take a moment and reflect on times throughout the day when you felt loved. What a wonderful reminder for us adults, always on the go, to pause and appreciate such heartfelt feelings. When do you feel loved? A shout out to all Early Childhood Care Providers for supporting SEL every day, which is evident based on the knowledge the kids have at such an early age!

CI had acquired a Mobile Screening Unit, aka the Bus, five years ago to aid in our work. Since the pandemic, we no longer have the same opportunities. Sadly, it’s time to sell the bus. We are hopeful that we can find an organization to use it! If you are interested, please contact our Interim Executive Director Terry Hartmann at (58) 295-1000 Ext 270 or [email protected]. For more details, click here: https://lnkd.in/dM5JkK_y

#SELday continues, and today is #CISEL Resource Day! Dear Teachers, We know you love teaching, work tirelessly, and strive to make a difference. Yet, it often feels like you can't take on one more thing. In recognition of #SELday, we want to ease your mind and share 13 strategies that will allow you to have fun with your students, reinforce content, and integrate opportunities to develop their SEL skills. Resource available to download on our blog! https://lnkd.in/duiyMCKE

#SELday continues with SEL week! Elizabeth Devaney, Director of Whole Child Connection, recently wrote about the rising need for our social emotional skills as adults. "What I keep trying to remember is that, as we navigate the coming months, our children are watching us, looking for signals of how to feel, how to manage stress and anxiety, and how to treat each other," says Devaney. "It is time for us to pull out every social emotional skill we have – to put our self-awareness to the test, really examining what we are feeling and how it is affecting our behavior." Read the full blog here: https://lnkd.in/dWwCZbDy

#SELday continues! School 15, The Children's School of Rochester, works hard to integrate SEL habits into their school culture. Read our blog to see their "I CARE" learning habits and how they put them into action. https://lnkd.in/dNnVCB2i