Dr. Martha Edwards, Director of the Ackerman Institute’s Center for the Developing Child & Family, visited China this month to implement Bright Beginnings parenting initiatives in Beijing. Bright Beginnings is a parenting program founded by Dr. Edwards that serves at-risk families with infants and toddlers.
Dr. Edwards trained staff at the Educare Center in Beijing to implement Bright Beginnings parent-child groups. Educare provides early childhood education for children ages 3–6, as well as parenting education for parents of children at birth through the age of six years. Dr. Edwards also presented to faculty and students at Capital Normal University on children’s social-emotional development, and participated in a roundtable discussion at Educare with six other early childhood professionals.
This meeting inaugurated an ongoing relationship with Educare who has asked Dr. Edwards to return next year to continue the training and provide consultation on how to implement Bright Beginnings at the Center. We look forward to exploring the expansion our consultation to include Ackerman’s early childhood social-emotional program, Competent Kids/Caring Communities, and the Personal Best parenting curriculum.