Learn how you as a child-serving stakeholder can increase your impact as we engage in discussions about proposed policy changes, exchange information from state agencies, examine child abuse prevention developments, and discuss the family economic stability issues being impacted by the state budget.
The Picard Center has completed the first phase of evaluations for the United Way of Acadiana's The Leader in Me (TLIM) project. TLIM is based on Franklin Covey’s whole school transformation program, which focuses on teaching leadership and life-skills to create a culture of individual student empowerment. In Acadiana, TLIM program was initially implemented at two schools in Lafayette Parish in 2009--Judice Middle School and Plantation Elementary. TLIM program has expanded to 35 schools across Acadiana and to 3,269 schools worldwide. Drs.
Dr. Paula Zeanah's educational program, "Attachment Vitamins," is now in session. The 10-week educational program is for parents of children ages 0-5, and the “vitamins” are those that help parents understand and respond to their young child’s behaviors. The goal is to facilitate healthy relationships. Topics include attachment and the parent-child relationship, early child development, understanding and responding to young children’s behavior, how parents’ own experiences impact parenting, and support of early learning through reading.
Karen Burstein, Ph.D. and Executive Director of the Picard Center, will be evaluating a program led by Michelle Haj-Broussard, Ph.D., and the Lafayette Parish School System that is now well underway. The program seeks to provide dual language instruction (Spanish and English) to local students and to train teachers in appropriate techniques that will lead toward certifications. The primary goal of this project is to systematically train current and future English Language Learner teachers in an increasingly content-based approach to language acquisition.
The Picard Center is now in the spring phase of the 2017-18 CLASS™ observation schedule. This spring, the CLASS-ACT team continues to conduct toddler and pre-kindergarten CLASS™ observations in early childhood settings across the State of Louisiana. In addition to the regularly assigned observations, the Picard Center is conducting a small infant pilot to assess the quality of teacher-infant interactions in childcare centers.
Join us every last Thursday of the month to engage in reading, writing & art activities with your child! Storytime and Guided Play is for children ages 0 to 6 years (older siblings welcome). Please RSVP to Nicole Bourque at nicole.bourque@louisiana.edu or 337-482-2972.
Attachment Vitamins, an evidence-informed parenting education program developed by UCSF’s Child Trauma Research Program, provides caregivers with knowledge about early emotional development and the effects of stress and trauma so that parents can understand better their children’s needs, respond sensitively to challenging behaviors, and strengthen the parent-child relationship. The 10-session, 75-90 minute group format emphasizes trauma-informed parenting knowledge and enhances parenting skills including emotional attunement, mindfulness, executive and reflective functioning.
Developing policy in Early Childhood Education is one of the areas of expertise at the Picard Center. A recent op-ed piece has been released in reference to the concerns of early childcare. The author of the article is Matthew Melmed, Executive Director for Zero to Three, an advocacy group that focuses on resources for childcare, education, and policy (www.zerotothree.org).
York Forsyth has recently joined the Picard Center team as the new Data Scientist/System Administrator. York joins the Picard Center with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Management Information Systems from UL Lafayette and a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of New Orleans. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Informatics at UL Lafayette. He began his post-collegiate career as a system administrator and data analyst at the Picard Center in which he assisted with quantitative research and the management of data systems.
In 1995, Dolly Parton launched the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee, USA. Dolly's vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.
