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Cynthia, an early childhood educator, stands at the window holding 1-year-old Jack as he waves goodbye to his mother. His mother waves back. Tears stream down Jack's cheeks. Cynthia whispers quietly, "I see your tears. Are you feeling sad?" She pauses, then says, "It is really hard to see your mama go, isn't it?" She waits for Jack's response, then reassures him: "I'll be here for you today. Your mama will be back after your nap." Jack begins to calm in the security of Cynthia's arms. He hands Cynthia his favorite book, and they sit down to read it together.
Cynthia created this routine with Jack's mother to help Jack through his tearful goodbyes. Their plan is succeeding. Cynthia learned about working closely with families through her participation in the o to 8 Mental Health Collaborative (hereafter, the Collaborative), a rural workforce training effort that supports early childhood professionals in their vital roles as infant-family and early childhood mental health (IFECMH) providers. The work that early childhood education professionals do necessitates an understanding of, and skills in, early childhood mental health support. Relationships that parents and children form with an early childhood teacher are often their first significant relationships outside their own families. Those relationships can be intense, requiring substantial trust in the teacher. This trust can be the foundation of a partnership for good mental health, as Cynthia and Jack's mother experienced.
Through training offered by the Collaborative, Cynthia has grown to understand the importance of promoting the social and emotional skills of the children in her care. These training sessions, delivered by practitioners from multiple disciplines, focus on relationship-based, family-centered services. Cynthia recognizes that the individualized care she gives Jack helps lay the groundwork for his lifelong mental health. She understands that early childhood educators foster good mental health in young children by building warm and responsive relationships with children and their families and by valuing each family's culture and community. When she and Jack's mom worked together to create a morning drop-off routine, they were supporting Jack's healthy social and emotional development-his mental health.
Mental health, as an important component of an individual's overall health, is a notion that has been gaining national attention in recent years, as society comes to...