Working For Kids Master Coach Training

Become a Working For Kids Master Coach. Master coaches undergo a 2-day training session where they learn how to give Working For Kids training to community members including parents, childcare workers, teachers and others who work with children. Working For Kids was designed as a four-part training program developed to teach those who work with young children about how the brain develops and how strong brain development can be fostered effectively through fun and engaging activities---setting children on a lifelong trajectory of success. The four sessions are designed to last about an hour and a half each. However, the Working For Kids training program can alternatively be scheduled as a one day 6-hour training session, three 2-hour training sessions, or two 3-hour training sessions. It is best to accommodate the scheduling needs of the group being trained.

Training Session 1: How Experiences Shape Brain Development?

This training session describes of how brain pathways form during development to support all the skills a child will gain as they grow up and learn. For each skill a child learns (focusing attention, understanding emotions, language skills, problem-solving skills) a network of brain circuits develop that allow them to do the skill well. These pathways form in the brain from birth until about 25 years of age, with each pathway forming at a specific age. You can learn new things later in life, of course, but you use the pathways you already have, you don’t develop new brain pathways. In this session we will discuss when various brain pathways develop, and how to help children develop the strongest brain pathways possible. Helping children build strong brain circuits is fun, rewarding and sets children on a positive road to succeed in school and in life!

Training Session 2: Supportive Environments Are Key to Healthy Brain Development 

Supportive environments, with adults who are caring, offer support, and encourage children to develop new skills are critical for healthy brain development. In such environments the cycle of learning, that involves a child becoming interested in developing a new skill, engages them in activities that allow skill development, and allows them to gain self-confidence in performing that skill, is supported and encouraged. A key to effective skill learning is to individualize the strategies to the child so that they become deeply engaged in skill development. This session will focus on how to create supportive environments and how to work with children to encourage their participation in the learning cycle. Such environments not only play a strong role in brain development but also serve to buffer children from the negative consequences of adverse childhood experiences when they occur.

Training Session 3: Experiences Build Brain Architecture

In this training session participants will play The Brain Architecture Game (www.thebrainarchitecturegame.com; also see the Training Resources page of this website) --- a fun, interactive game where groups of players build a brain and see if it will be able to grow tall and strong and survive life stresses. You will learn the amazing power of life experiences in shaping brain development, as well as learn how caring adults and older children interacting with children are critical to the development of strong brain pathways and preventing long-term negative impacts of adverse childhood experiences on brain development and long-term health.

Training Session 4: Putting Knowledge Into Action: Ways To Interact With Kids

How you interact with children matters. Interactions where adults listen to what a child is interested in and help them make the best use of their interests are particularly effective in promoting the development of strong brain pathways. The first part of this session focuses on ways of interacting with children to maximize their skill development. 

 What activities will help children build strong brain pathways for the skills they need to succeed in life (focusing attention, communication skills, language skills, problem-solving skills)? In the second half of this session you will learn about age-appropriate activities to play with children to help them build these skills. More than 250 activities are part of the First Pathways Game, a freely available Working For Kids game that is available at thefirstpathwaysgame.com and as a free IOS and android app for cell phones (see the Training Resources page of this website).

Working For Teens Coach Training

We are now offering training specifically designed to offer Coach training to adults and professionals who work with adolescents, and in particular adolescents who are involved with the juvenile justice system. The brain continues to develop new circuits through 25 years of age, and the circuits developing in adolescence and during the early 20's are those governing planning, complex reasoning, decision-making, and inhibitory control. It is useful for all teens to learn how to strengthen these brain pathways, and this is particularly true for adolescents in the juvenile justice system. Not only do we have coach training custom-designed for adults and professionals who work with teens, but we have developed a series of new visual novels that teens can access on their cell phone as a free app that are designed to strengthen decision-making skills (see the Training Resources page of this website).

Executive Training Session: Strategies For Communities To Facilitate Strong Brain Development in Children.

A one session training program has been developed to teach community members, business leaders, health care workers, and legislators who want to learn about how the brain develops and what types of activities, programs and interactions best facilitate the development of strong brain pathways in children’s brains for social-emotional skills, language skills, problem-solving skills and conflict resolution skills. This training can be customized for the group receiving it and usually lasts 2-2.5  hours.

This training session describes of how brain pathways form during development to support all the skills a child will gain as they grow up and learn. For each skill a child learns (focusing attention, understanding emotions, language skills, problem-solving skills) a network of brain circuits develop that allow them to do the skill well. These pathways form in the brain from birth until about 25 years of age, with each pathway forming at a specific age. People learn new things throughout life, but they don’t develop new brain pathways but use the pathways they have after the period of brain development is complete. In this session we will discuss when various brain pathways develop, and how to help children develop the strongest brain pathways possible. The amazing power of life experiences in shaping brain development, as well as the important role that caring adults and older children interacting with children play, will be discussed. Key aspects of programs that facilitate the development of strong brain pathways to set children on a positive road to succeed in school and in life will be highlighted!  

Training Workshops

Training workshops are designed to allow participants who have taken Working For Kids Master Coach training sessions to use the information they have learned to design programs for use in their own community setting (e.g., parents at home, in-home child care, a preschool, an after school program) to help children build strong brain skills. These are day-long sessions where participants work in groups, using a series of activities to guide them in developing strategies that will work well in their own setting, for helping children stay engaged and have fun learning skills. Skills that can be focused on in workshops include social emotional regulation (i.e., focusing attention, emotion regulation, sharing), language skills (i.e., learning new words, reading, story-telling), and problem-solving skills. Single workshops or a series of workshops can be taken.