Empowering Generational Greatness (EGG) Toolkit from The Family Partnership

6:59PM Jan 29, 2025

Speakers:

Narrator

Priscilla W.

Trinette Potts

Keywords:

inclusion matters

childhood trauma

executive function

kindergarten readiness

opportunity gap

adverse childhood experiences

brain science

mindful activities

personal narratives

professional development

state funding

early education

family partnership

toolkit implementation

teacher satisfaction

Welcome to Inclusion Matters a podcast about children's development from the Center for Inclusive Child Care.

Welcome to Inclusion Matters, a podcast from the Center for Inclusive Child Care. I'm Priscilla Weigel, the executive director, and I'm happy today to be joined with my guest, Trinette Potts, who I've known for years in the field, in various capacities. Trinet has been around for 25 years, supporting young learners and families through family child care. You're a former family child care provider, a director, a trainer.You've helped educators and providers start their businesses and support that, and now you're at the family partnership as the Egg Project Manager. Welcome Trinette.

Thank you, Priscilla, thank you for having me here on the podcast. I appreciate it.

Well, I'm excited to hear more about the Egg Tool Kit, and I think we'll just jump right in there and explain a little bit about the history and what it is, and then we'll go from there with some other questions.

Okay thank you. So I'll start with the brief history of the toolkit. It began as an idea seven years ago with John Everett Till who was our Chief Strategy Officer at the Family Partnership. He learned about the earliest effect of childhood trauma and how it manifests in disruption and executive function development and self regulation skills during the ages of three to five. And then he also learned that it takes more than 20 years before you see these effects in the lives of children as they become adults. And so he learned that the effects of like the long term effects of childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences impact mental, physical and social health. But the other thing that he realized is that it didn't have to take 20 years before we see these ACE'sshow up in adults. That you can actually mitigate those when they are preschool age, ages three to five, and ages three to five is when the preschoolers, when they that's the largest growth development for executive function and the easiest right in that age group. So what John did was he reached out to Doctor Christine Wing, and the two of them came together to create the Egg Toolkit. And so the Egg Toolkit it helps buffers against the ACE's, protecting the development of executive function, and it boosts kindergarten readiness. So together the two, they started it. And of course, EGG stands for Inspiring Generational Greatness, and they did this in collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Developing Child, and the University of Minnesota's Center for Early Education and Development and along with other educators in the field, leading experts in brain science, child development and curriculum design. So that's just a brief history, and they can tell it better than I can, right?

Well, that's impressive. I mean, I know John, and I know the work that CEED at the University of Minnesota does, and also Harvard, the Center for the Developing Child . Combine all that together and wow, that's some serious work. That's impressive.

Yeah. And so one thing that we like to emphasize about Egg Toolkit is that the foundation of it is rooted in brain science and early childhood development. That's where the strongest foundation. And we know that brain science research shows that Edwards childhood experiences disrupt development of executive function and self regulation skillss. So children with higher rates of ACEs may experience worse outcomes in school, right? And then face greater risk of life as an adult that includes heart disease, depression and substance abuse. And so with EGG, we hope to buffer those impacts of ACEs with the toolkit, and a lot of work that we do that has been done with developing the Egg Toolkit based around executive function, around mitigating the harmful effects of childhood trauma and ACE's and the activities that are in the toolkit, which I'll get to in a little bit. But all of it is designed to bring a holistic view of educating the child as well as the educator in executive function, and how to integrate all those different skills that's needed for executive function, and how to build that into your daily routine with children, right?

That's beautiful. Well, and that's something that I think every early educator really needs more information about, because it is so critical, as you noted, during these early childhood years. That's when these skills and tools are really set in the minds of children, their their executive functioning really is going to be that that guide or that support that's going to help them be successful throughout life. And so when I when you think when folks are thinking about, you know, okay, well, I love the name Empowering Generational Greatness, because that is exciting to think about, and it probably has something to do with the ACE's and thinking about those childhood traumas that really can affect child's long term development in a negative way. And so what this tool kit is really trying to do is, as you said, mitigate those things change the path. And how does it do that?

How does it do that? Okay, so we want to talk about like boosting kindergarten readiness, right? So the way that executive function helps boost kindergarten readiness is by providing children with cognitive skills needed to focus, follow instruction, manage transition, regulate emotions, complete task independently, which are very important for the success of kindergarten or for the kindergarten classroom setting. And so all those skills that I just mentioned, I know teachers would love for their children in their classroom to have these, right, because it's going to make for a better classroom. But when these children go on to kindergarten and they have these skills, and especially children who maybe have had some impactful events in their lives that have caused trauma or the ACE's, right, this is really going to help them be successful. So it boosts kindergarten readiness. It also helps close the opportunity gap in early childhood by providing children with cognitive skills needed to succeed in school, including the ability to focus, plan, regulate emotions, manage working memory, these skills, and also we adults need these as well. Yes truely. But working with working with our young ones with this. And so what research shows is that targeting executive function development through early childhood, that interventions can benefit children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, potentially mitigating achievement gaps associated with social economic disparities. And so that's one of the things. When you think about the work that we do and working with children, we want to we want to reach those children, and we want to be in those classrooms. We want those teachers educated on how to work with them. Because we really do want to close that opportunity gap. We really want to close that achievement gap. And so working with children, helping them build those executive function skills, it does that.

Well, that's beautiful. And I think too, when you think about the early childhood field, and yeah, there are a lot of young children in a lot of childcare settings who are experiencing the ramifications, the outcomes of adverse childhood experiences just based on factors that they had no, you know, say in or they just happen to be part of this family structure, or this, this, you know, long term family pathway and their their experience as that young child, they're soaking it up like a sponge. And so it sounds like the, you know, Egg Toolkit is something that's going to really equip educators to better understand what some of those challenges are, and then also provide ways for them to build some more experiences. Is that correct?

That is correct. So components of the toolkit. We have components that are like my story, our story. It's like children telling their personal narratives. We also have exploration activities that the children do. We have more books. We have group time, so there's two group times, and then we have mindful moments, right? So teaching mindful activities to the children, and all these help with those things. So the children, they come into the classroom, and then they're going to have this wonderful experience with this wonderful curriculum that's going to help them navigate and to learn, right, and to build so that they are resilient. So the toolkit is designed to be used in preschools, parenting groups and home visiting programs, and they offer fun, flexible, evidence based activities that just take 30 minutes a day, five days a week, 30 weeks per year. So it's designed to be implemented over school years. So if you have the summer off some programs, then that's good, right? But if you don't have the summer off, you can go back and you can reinforce some of the modules that maybe you thought we could use. We could spend some more time on these right before the school year starts again. So each toolkit includes all the necessary materials for implementing the toolkit over school year, along with ongoing professional development and coaching and support and the professional development that you get. So we do train you on the on the on the toolkit, on the Egg toolkit. And the training that you get this four hours, and they're developed approved, so that is wonderful, right? So not only are you getting a curriculum, but you're getting some developer approved hours to go with it, as you work with Egg Toolkit.

Yeah, yeah, and also Parent Aware. So can folks also use it toward their Parent Aware rating? Or that's that's pending as well or.

That is pending, yes, that is pending. So we're just waiting to hear from them, but we're excited about it, right? Another plus, another, it would be another plus, yes. And so we're looking for that. So through language, storytelling and mindfulness activities, children develop a greater focus and resilient which are essential skills for boosting kindergarten readiness, closing opportunity gap and mitigating the harmful effects of ACE's And these skills have lifelong benefits extending into the next generation as children grow up to be parents themselves. So with this toolkit, we like to call it a Two Gen approach, nice or Two Gen toolkit. But, and so for the preschool setting, that's great, right? But also for the parent version of it that we're using with our ECFE programs, that's really good, because our ECF programs ECFE, they're using it right with the with the parents, and then the the child educator that we're using it with the children, and then they come together and they use it together with the parent and the child. So you know, like you're getting that you're getting a double dose, or the children are getting a double dose, the parents are learning about it as well the skills that are needed for executive function.

That's exciting. Now, is this just available in Minnesota, or is it just available in the metro? Or what's the regions that you can access it?

It's available statewide, not only just Minnesota, but throughout the United States of America, right? We've already piloted in five other states, and so we're piloting that here in Minnesota as well. Yeah this is our first year.

And you said for for ages three, three to five, there was okay. So, because I was thinking, so, if someone is so you, I mean, it seems pretty simple to build in the routine into your daily practice. And so when you've worked with sites that are providing care for kids, what are some of the things that people have done, have they used it at group time? Have they used it like a different part of the morning? When do they plug it in to their day?

Yeah, all of that. So some of them use it like early in the morning when they do group time, because we have what we call the feel wheel, and the feel wheel, it's pictures of different facial emotions expressions. And so they use it in group time, like, right? And so whether they're singing a song of who's here today, and then the child says they're here, and they don't ask them, how do they feel? And they use the feel wheel. They pass the feel wheel around, they can say how they feel. And if they choose an emotion that doesn't match, you know, what the teacher is seeing, then the teacher is prompted to say, "Well, it seems like maybe you're a little bit upset. It could it be that you're upset this morning, you know?" And she could kind of talk a little bit about what's going on, or they can use it at a different time of the day. But the good thing about it is that this toolkit comes it's built in internal state language, or internal state words, and so you're helping children learn their internal state, whether it's a state of perception, right, what we see, what we feel, that type of gut, or whether it's a state of physical state, whether they're tired, they're hungry, they're scared, whether it's emotions, volition, thinking, the mental state, moral judgment. So you're helping children through these daily activities, but you're also embedding those internal state words, and they're learning these words, right, so they can express what they're feeling and what they're going through, which we know that when children can express their feelings and their emotions, they're less likely to have these big meltdowns, yes, or those big emotions. And we have calm those emotions down, because they can tell you what's going on with them. A lot of times, children are frustrated because they can't communicate, right, effectively the way we understand it. So they lash out, and they may bite another kid, or hit another kid, or storm off from the group, or they don't want to do it, right, and so these eternal state words that are embedded in this toolkit, and this curriculum is wonderful, is awesome. And we've we've been hearing a lot of teachers who have used the toolkit say that they're, they are enjoying the classroom environment a lot more because they're having lot less meltdowns, right? Yes, those big emotions are happening fewer and far inbetween, which is really great. That is really great. And so we know right now in the classroom, like, one of the pain points is the classroom environment, right? Or or the teacher satisfaction in the classroom with what's going on. And so this toolkit is help to not only nurture joy in the classroom and bring satisfaction to the children, because they get frustrated, I believe the most and then, but we have more of them than we do teachers, right? Yeah. So then the teachers are saying this, you know, they are really injoying seeing the effects, and children using their words, and parents telling them you know what they see at home with the children, and so you have happier homes as well with the children, as the children are better able to communicate.

So if a site is choosing to use the toolkit, are there other, are there tools that are available as part of it that they can help share the information with families and say this is what we're doing in the classroom, so that families are aware. Or how does that work? Because I know you mentioned ECFE, so that's when the parents are actually actively involved. But sometimes in childcare, you know, whatever happens in childcare, then they go home and they don't even talk about it. Is there, is there a way to bridge that communication between childcare and home with the family understanding,

Yes, so we have flyers. We call them flyers that we have. It's a two pager. And so we give those to the sites to give to parents as an introduction as to what they're doing in the classroom. We've also had some of our sites, host family night, family fun night, and then they, you know, let them know what it is that they're doing in the classroom. Um, not been able to be a part of you know that, and which is really nice, and they introduce EGG, but then they're also been able to give this to them, like in their newsletters of what they're doing, and in the classroom with their children.

Yeah, and so when you train educators on the use of the tool, you're providing them with all of that language that you were just sharing with us about those, you know, the emotional states of the children, all of that so so they don't I'm just, I'm thinking it it seems like a full package, a full package, yes and easy to implement.

Yes, it is a full package. It is easy to implement. And like I said, it's been in the works for seven years. And one of the great things about how the fact that it's been in the works for seven years and they've revised it, is that they have taken teachers feedback, because that was the whole point. We need feedback from the teachers. How is this working in the classroom? How can we improve? How can we make it better? So although, like I said, we work with Harvard, The Center for the Developing Child, and we work with the University of Minnesota CEED, but we also got input from educators and also parents, and they really helped shape, I'm sorry, parents and teachers, and they really help shape how EGG is designed, because we don't want it to be cumbersome for the teachers or just another curriculum that sits on the shelf because I can't figure out how to implement this, and or, and if I can't, it just takes too much time, too much energy, right? We want them to be able to use this, and that it's when they look at it, they they have joy thinking, okay, I'm going to be able to implement this, use this, and provide this. And so the curriculum itself, right? We have the toolkit. We have EGG, but we also have a set of books that come with it. So all the books that you would need for the 30 weeks are provided with the toolkit. It's fantastic. Yes, and the materials. We do have a section in the manual in a toolkit for more books. So that if you say children, we know you say you have a class of four year olds, we know not all four year olds develop at the same pace and at the same rate. And so if you find that one of the books you're using maybe isn't challenging enough, there's other books that you can choose from the list of books for that particular module that will bump up the challenge for the children to learn. Or if you have books, a book, and you're working on a module, you said this is a little more advanced, well then you can choose from the other option of books to bring it down to the children's level, right? So that way, you're not stuck with you're not stuck with something that the children can't use whether they need more or whether they need less.

Yeah, and now, by books, do you mean storybooks that you can use during group times to read to children? Okay? Lovely books, fantastic. And then those, the content in the storybook is something that would really spur conversation with the teacher and the child, and all of that flows from there.

Yes, so we have prompts and pumps. It's like a it's stickers that you put in the book, and the stickers are in the in some of the in the books, on some of the pages, because you want the the children and the teachers having that conversation about it, right? And each book and each module has a set of internal state words that are used. And so this helps bring that conversation, build that conversation, as they read the books to the children during circle time, or if it's just a one on one time, right? You know, sometimes in dramatic play, and children have free time, they want you to read a book to them, and if they pick up the book for the week, that's a great time to do some one on one with them.

Sure, oh wow. This all sounds really fabulous. Trinette, and I can tell you're passionate about it, because it's you can hear it in your voice when you're talking about the details. So if there's educators who are listening right now, what do they do to get a hold of this toolkit? What can they do? How do they how do they get one? What are they? What are the steps.

They can reach out to me. Okay, well, first of all, we have a website, and that website is it, eggtoolkit.com. They can go there and they can they can reach me through there. They can also reach me by email if they wanted to. And that's tpotts. So it's my name, tpotts, but just t teapots at the Family partnership.org or they can reach me by phone, and that's at 612-523-4446, they can reach me. But there's one other, if you don't mind, there's one other thing I'd like to talk about, the the toolkit, yes, before we go and it's about personal narratives. So we have a section called my story, our story, or our story, my story, and so it's about personal narratives. And those personal narratives help build executive function skills in preschoolers by encouraging them to plan, to sequence thoughts, to regulate their emotions and to monitor their behavior while recalling and telling the story about their own experiences. And we enjoy this right? Because they learn, okay, what happened first, what happened next, what happened last. And so they're learning to tell the story. They're learning to talk, they're learning to and so we really encourage that, right? It works on them with sequencing, working memory, self awareness, language development, and then their inhibition, like that whole control piece, staying focused, but you tell the story, you know, throwing out all the irrelevant learning to throw out all the irrelevant stuff that doesn't matter, but being able to focus and tell a story. And so you work with them as a group, doing that, but then also work with them individually, learning to tell their own story. So in the beginning of the curriculum, you know, they may be two, you know, two, two steps, right? Two to three events. But then toward the end, they may be telling you five to seven events of a story that happened, right? So it builds over the course of the 30 weeks. And then we also have mindfulness activities. And so mindfulness activities, they help build executive function skills by enhancing attention, improving emotional emotional regulation, reducing distraction, fostering self awareness, allowing individuals to better manage their thoughts, their feelings and their behaviors. And so with the mindful activities, you know, we have like muscle the conscious muscle relaxation, we have one that's called the noodle dance. We have videos that we use. There's this one that the children really love, and I love and the teachers, but it's called belly breathe, and it's a video from Sesame Street, and it's yeah, and the kids, they do that, and the teachers do it, and everyone just loves it, but just teaching the children how to help mindfulness and how teaching the children but also teaching educators how important mindfulness is in building executive function in children. How important telling, telling those personal narratives, how important that is, right? And being so intentional about what you're doing in the classroom. But it's not any more work than what you're already doing. It's, it's simple, and it's really, it's all laid out really well. That sounds lovely. So I would love to work with any and everybody on this.

Oh well, and I think too, as you're telling about all the different pieces of this toolkit, it also builds such a deep, connected relationship between the educator and the child. Because you're listening, you're in tune, you're asking, you're here, you know, you're just immersed in what they want to tell you, and you're helping them put those thoughts together. And what a beautiful, beautiful pathway to that positive relationship of connectedness. And I can see how it could truly empower generational greatness because of the skills that you're laying as a foundation. So this is fabulous, Trinette, we're going to we'll include your information and a link on our website once the podcast is posted as well, so people can find it easily. But I thank you so much for being here today. Wonderful to see you, and wonderful to hear about this amazing resource for educators,

Yes, and thank you for welcoming me. And if I could just say one last thing before I go, I just wanted to acknowledge that we were giving state appropriated funds.

Oh, nice. I was going to, I forgot to ask, How is this all being funded?

Yes, yes. So it's being funded through the Minnesota Pilot Program, and it's through state appropriated fund, through our state legislator. Yes, that's fabulous.

Yes, that's fabuous. Minnesota does a good job of taking care of children and families and educators, and we're hoping that that will always continue. And I thank you, Trinette Potts, for the part that you've played in it in the in the past 25 years, and what's ahead for you at the Family Partnership.

Thank you so much. Priscilla.

Thanks for listening. For more resources, visit us at inclusive childcare.org.