Newsletter, January 2021
Baby Day to Feature CCF Faculty, Staff, Students, Parents
Baby Day is just around the corner! First3Years’ 3rd annual event will be a week-long celebration, taking place virtually February 7-13. This digital event will provide partner-led activities for caregivers and very young children like yoga, music, dance, art, and more. CCF will be providing the following sessions:

Sunday 2/7 (on-demand): How to Promote Your Child's Language Development During Play with CCF student worker and BBS graduate student Irina Kavrakova

Monday 2/8 (10am): Developmental Screenings Overview with CCF staff Maria Maese, MS, IMH-E (II)

Monday 2/8 (on-demand): Little Toddlers, BIG Emotions with UTD faculty member Dr. Jackie Nelson

Tuesday 2/9 (10am): Conversación acerca de la disciplina positiva with Play With Me program parent Laura Damian

Friday 2/12 (on-demand): Fun for Families, Serious for Science with UTD faculty member Dr. Candice Mills

Also, join UTD faculty member Dr. Meghan Swanson and her Baby Brain Lab on Monday February 8th at 11am, Friday February 12th at 3pm, and Saturday February 13th at 11am for an interactive baby storytime!

Register to attend at babyday.us/events. It's free!
2021 Spring Lecture Series
Join us online to hear about the latest research in developmental science in this year's 2021 Spring Lecture Series! The series kicks off on Tuesday February 2nd at noon CST with an important discussion with Dr. Meghan Swanson on how babies learn language and what caregivers can do to support their language learning! The lectures are free and open to the public. Sign up here to receive targeted reminders about the next lecture or click this link on February 2nd to join us for the first lecture!
CCF Resumes Community-Based Service Learning Class
CCF's community-based service learning class is back and serving undergraduate UT Dallas students in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences this semester. This hands-on learning course is designed to give students the opportunity to develop a variety of skills including observing behaviors of parents and their young children ages 0-3, identifying patterns of typical and atypical child development, modeling the use of positive behavioral strategies with children, and leading discussions about parenting strategies and promoting optimal child development.

Here's some of the feedback from students who participated in CCF activities in Fall 2020:

-"I was glad to be part of this program where we gained hands on experience while having fun and learning new things."

-"Thank you for the wonderful experience! I learned a lot especially from my mentor; she really helped build me up in a lot of areas."

-"I really like the connection to the group, the networking opportunities, and applying things I've learned in class."
From the Director
The Spring semester is underway and with it, new enthusiasm and excitement. Our Play With Me program and service learning course are a great means to connect students learning about child development with parents and young children looking for support and fun activities. More information about our plans to further connect this with our research operations will be coming out in the coming months. In the meantime, mark your calendars to hear the latest in developmental science via our spring lecture series and join us for some fun activities in partnership with Baby Day events. Wishing you the best for 2021.