Highest Quality Early Childhood Development through Honoring Relationships Rooted in Equity and Social Justice

REGGIO EMILIA PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE

The Family Development Program has made a deep and enduring commitment to the continuous study of the Reggio Emilia philosophy and practice.  Holding a strong image of the child as a capable and inventive learner influences every aspect of our work.  Reggio provides foundational understanding for our Wemagination Resource Center outreach, training and celebration of materials.  With generous support from the Brindle Foundation, we also partnered with the Center for Development and Disability’s Early Learning Network to produce an 8-part webinar series on Reggio themes to accompany the 2014 Reggio International Children’s Wonder of Learning exhibit in Albuquerque.  Two Family Development Journals were produced through this collaboration (Spring 2014 and Spring 2015) that explore core ideas from Reggio in honor of children’s joy in learning.

EARLY CHILDHOOD ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERSHIP (ECAP)

Based on collaborative work of the Pregnancy to 3 Task Force that began in fall 2010, a group of early childhood leaders from a range of sectors developed the Early Childhood Accountability Partnership (ECAP) as an open network that serves young children (pregnancy through age 8) and their families in Bernalillo County.  Members started the partnership out of a concern that inequitable distribution of resources, along with social inequities and fragmentation of responses, create and perpetuate poor outcomes in Bernalillo County for young children and their families.  Today, ECAP engages over 60 organizational members and serves as one of the four collaborative action networks of Mission Graduate, a major cradle to career initiative led by United Way of Central New Mexico.  The Family Development Program’s Director is one of the founding members of ECAP and currently serves as Co-Chair of the ECAP Leadership Team.   Other Family Development Program staff provide leadership as co-chairs for both the Early Literacy and the Family Supports Strategy Groups.  Staff give time monthly to ECAP as their own  active learning community to enrich the Family Development Program’s statewide work with Early Childhood Investment Zones.

NEW MEXICO PYRAMID

New Mexico has invested in comprehensive social-emotional teaching and learning strategies made available through the Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL, Vanderbilt University). Two of the Family Development Program statewide program staff are members of the Master Cadre who are providing train-the-trainers services statewide for this initiative.  Our director also serves on the Leadership Team for New Mexico Pyramid integration across sectors.  Family Development Program staff participate in train-the-trainer sessions in order to integrate CSEFEL resources into our statewide professional development.

THE NURTURED HEART APPROACH

The Family Development Program has supported the leadership and investment made by the City of Albuquerque’s Early Learning Programs, YDI and Albuquerque Public Schools to adapt strategies from The Nurtured Heart Approach as a powerful strengths-based initiative for understanding children’s behavior. We intentionally integrate the Nurtured Heart Approach in our training to help illustrate how this approach can build inner wealth in children.

CARING COMMUNITIES

Members of the Family Development Program Team have been trained in Caring Communities, an initiative developed by CLN Kids.  The curriculum promotes understanding and family support strategies for children who are homeless.  We are helping CLN Kids meet community requests for this important training approach as one of their volunteer partners.

Contact Us

Family Development Program
A Center for Excellence in Early Learning
MSC 06-3630
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
phone: 505.277.5800
email: fdp@unm.edu

About Us

“When as educators we expect to make profound changes in our students’ lives, we haven’t the right to begin without their parents at our side.” - Dr. Maria Chavez, Founder

The Family Development Program (FDP) is a community-based outreach program of the University of New Mexico’s College of Education.

 

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