Enriching Education: Great Kids Inc

 Great Kids, Inc. knows there's no such thing as a perfect family. That’s why this international leader in early childhood development is launching new tools and resources to help strengthen family relationships and connections when it matters most!

Whether a social worker or home visitor in need of assistance navigating complex family dynamics, a child care provider trying to enhance and offer additional skilled services, or a parent wanting to make a positive difference for their family, Great Kids can supply curriculum and in turn empower providers and parents to provide children with safe, loving homes where they can reach their highest developmental potential!


Investing time and energy into these programs will also improve youth's social and emotional development, which is crucial to all communities!

I had a chance to learn more in this interview with Jennifer Hayes, Great Kids Director of Product Development.

Why is family education an important component of programs that work with children?

In my experience, supporting a child’s growth and development within the context of their family and environment is critical. Parents or guardians are often referred to as their child’s first and most influential teachers, and the experts agree. Researchers tell us that when we support parents and families to grow Protective Factors, they can navigate challenging times while continuing to support their child’s healthy growth and development. This means it’s important for programs to support families to build resilience, grow a social network, know who to lean on when support is needed, along with increasing their parenting competence and confidence. At Great Kids, we offer products that support children and their families. This holistic approach supports children’s growth in all developmental domains while helping families build practical parenting skills to promote healthy growth and development. In fact, our newest products, like Growing Great Families and Hope at Home, incorporate child development goals as well as Protective Factors in each module.

What are some examples of topics where families may need support?

As children grow and enter new stages of development, families often need support on how to respond to their children with empathy, especially during challenging parenting moments. To support parents with this, topics like setting limits, discipline vs. punishment, and typical developmental milestones for their child’s growth may be beneficial. Another topic I think is critical for families to learn about and practice is how to repair the relationship when things don’t go as planned. Parents aren’t perfect. Mistakes will happen. Our Great Kids products support parents and guardians to learn how to reconnect with their children to repair a rupture in the relationship — a critical parenting skill. Another great topic we included in our Growing Great Families and Hope at Home manuals is supporting families to learn what they want for their child and how they plan to support their child to grow those characteristics. Helping families uncover what is important to them, their family values and culture, shapes who a child will become.

How does investing in the social and emotional development of children benefit everyone?

So much social and emotional development happens in the early years of childhood. And social and emotional skills are the foundation for lifelong learning and development. Think about a world where more people understand emotions, empathize with others, control their strong emotions, and articulate what feelings they’re experiencing with a wide range of words that accurately describe their emotions. It’s a world filled with people who have self-awareness and emotional intelligence. People, communities, schools, and businesses can succeed more when these characteristics are present. In order to get more of those people or attributes into the world, we have to start at the time we build the foundation of these critical skills - in early childhood. At Great Kids, we incorporate social and emotional learning as the underlying principle in every manual, training, and product we develop. When children gain these skills, we all win!