Dr. Brazelton celebrated his 95^th birthday last month with the publication of his memoir, Learning to Listen: A Life Caring for Children, which follows both the roots of a brilliant career and the evolution of child-rearing into the twenty-first century.

Preview an excerpt from the book in The Atlantic (5/1/13): The Lasting Influence of Mother-Infant Attachment

Listen to an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered

Listen to an interview with Dr. Brazelton and Dr. Sparrow on WBUR’s Here and Now

Read selected reviews and interviews in:

USA TODAY (5/1/13)

New York Journal of Books (4/29/13)

The Boston Globe (5/11/13)

Please SAVE the DATES! Brazelton Touchpoints 17th National Forum, May 2-3, 2014

Marriott Courtyard Boston Downtown, 275 Tremont St., Boston, MA.  Call now to reserve your room at our special rate of $184+tax/night.  Mention Brazelton Touchpoints Forum when booking your reservation.  Call 617-426-1400.

Please continue to check back for more information.

From our friends at Early Education for all:

Earlier this year, President Obama announced an unprecedented proposal to make more than $75 billion in new funding available for early education, child care, Head Start, pre-kindergarten and home visiting over the next 10 years. The plan recognizes the need for high-quality programs and services for infants, toddlers and preschoolers and creates the opportunity for a state-federal partnership to provide these programs for children in Massachusetts.

The president’s plan is a bold step forward and could improve the opportunities for countless young children for years to come.

But it’s not going to happen if we don’t make ourselves heard.

Wednesday, June 5, will be a prime opportunity to for us to speak up in a unified voice on behalf of young children and families across the commonwealth and the country.

Make some noise. Get people talking. Tweet.  Post on Facebook. Keep the momentum going and take action!

Here are four things you can do this week:

1.  Send a message to Congress asking them to take action on new early learning investments.

2. TWEET! – Please join the National Women’s Law Center (@nwlc) and special guest tweeters for a tweetchat to discuss President Obama’s early learning initiative! on June 5 from 2 – 3 PM.  Use Hashtag: #PreKForAll, #prekplan.

3. FACEBOOK – Change your profile photo to a photo of a child or you as a child.  Then post about the importance of high-quality early education and support for President’s plan. Click here for talking points to use in posts.

4. Share this message with friends, family and colleagues and ask them to join you and take action.

We can do this!  For more information contact Emily Levine or visit the National Women’s Law Center Day of Action page.

Father Engagement week is June 3-7, 2013. Below is a link to the OHS e-blast that went out recently announcing the series and series resources, including expected release dates: http://www.magnetmail.net/actions/email_web_version.cfm?recipient_id=128531078&message_id=2627414&user_id=TransMgt&group_id=776064&jobid=13999644.

Fatherhood Webinar is scheduled for June 4^th. Click here for registration page. Below you will find a description.

Description:  Head Start has a long history of focusing on male family members and father figures as important contributors to children’s learning and development and to family wellbeing. Male family members and father figures have important and unique contributions to make to their HS/EHS communities, and everyone benefits when their wishes to make a positive difference are welcomed. This webinar will introduce a new resource from the Office of Head Start– Head Start Father Engagement: A Birth to Five Programming Guide. Presenters will draw on the Parent, Family and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework to identify systemic and integrated strategies for father engagement. They will provide an overview of current research, discuss program planning, and identify professional development activities that will support programs efforts.

The PFCE video on Engaging Fathers is set to release on June 5^th. To view the video, please visit  https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/family

Video Series Overview

The Best Practices in Family and Community Engagement Video Series is designed to support each program’s efforts toward systemic and integrated engagement. Rooted in the Office of Head Start’s (OHS) Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework (PFCE Framework) the videos highlight examples of innovative approaches to engagement that foster positive relationships with families and lead to positive outcomes for children and families.

Engaging Fathers Video Overview

This video highlights the strategies one Head Start/Early Head Start program (Early Education Services, Brattleboro, VT) uses to engage fathers in their children’s learning and healthy development. Dedicated fathers learn from one another, make connections, and build a community that helps them fulfill their role as one of the most important people in their children’s lives.

Read a preview of the foreword by Dr. Brazelton and Dr. Sparrow. For more information about the book, For Our Babies: Ending the Invisible Neglect of America’s Infants, click here.

To learn more about WestEd’s For Our Babies initiative, visit ForOurBabies.org.

Birth to Three Goes Virtual 
This year, the Early Head Start National Resource Center will conduct its annual Birth to Three Institute online. The “virtual” Birth to Three (vBTT) events will be free and accessible to anyone with a computer and internet access but registration is required. The vBTT website launched recently, featuring a schedule, speakers, and registration information. Click here to register.

For more information on Dr. Sparrow’s presentation, please click here and refer to:

Track B: Child Health and Prenatal Services

PLENARY: Prenatal Brain Development: Nurturing Babies in a Healthy Environment

Monday, June 3, 2013 • 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. EDT

From our friends at the National Women’s Law Center:

Things are moving and they are moving fast!

In April, the Obama administration announced a new early learning initiative that will expand high-quality early learning opportunities for children ages birth to five.

This plan is definitely bold. $75 billion dollars bold to be exact. But now that the plan has been announced, it is our job to create a groundswell of support and move it forward.

But we can’t do this alone. Here is what we need you to do:

1. If you represent a national, state, or local organization, please sign on as a supporter of the Strong Start for Children – Building America’s Future campaign. A letter with all signers will be presented to the White House. The comprehensive campaign principles and link to join can be found here.
2. If you haven’t done so already, please take a second to thank President Obama for his new early learning initiative. Each and every thank you note will be delivered to the White House in the second week of May.
3. Please save the date and start planning for the Early Learning Day of Action on June 5. On this day, organizations across the country will host events in support of President Obama’s Early Learning initiative. The goal is to generate as many press worthy and attention-getting events as possible. As you move forward with your planning, please note that these events can and should take many forms — member visits to child care centers and preschool programs, press conferences, rallies and other events with allies such as the business community, education community, etc. If you can organize a local event, please email the details to strongstartforchildren@gmail.com.

Thanks for everything you do. I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Helen Blank
Director of Child Care and Early Learning
National Women’s Law Center

Michael Petit
President
Every Child Matters Education Fund

Thank you for a wonderful weekend.  It was great to have you all with us for our 16th National Forum.  It is important to have feedback from those of you were able to attend the Forum, so please take a moment to complete the 2013 TP Forum evaluation. Thank you in advance.

To complete this year’s post Forum evaluation, please visit here or cut and paste this link into a new window. Or cut and paste the link below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ForumEval2013

Dear friends and colleagues,

Many thanks and much appreciation to our Brazelton Touchpoints communities for all of your thoughts and warm wishes for our safety and care for our heavy hearts.

Here in Boston, our Brazelton Touchpoints Center staff and their families and friends are all safe and physically unharmed, but it has touched us all very profoundly — from family members and friends who were running, to spectators who were at the finish line, or to first responders who have been working around the clock. We are heartsick for the children whose families have been hurt or lost and for the families whose children were harmed. We are proud of our colleagues at Boston Children’s Hospital who were on the front lines and are continuing to care for the children and families who were admitted yesterday.
In fellowship, peace and renewed commitment to our work together — one child, one family, one community at a time.

Terry Ann Lunt,
Executive Director
Brazelton Touchpoints Center