This class offers foundational knowledge in trauma’s impact on early childhood development and equips childcare providers with responsive regulation-based tools for everyday practice. Through the integration of theory and real-world examples, the class will highlight how trauma responses may manifest in play, attention, emotion, and behavioral responses. Providers will engage in exercises to practice co-regulation, grounding and reflective modeling to support children’s self-regulation. A central component is provider selfcare; therefore, participants will explore strategies to recognize compassion fatigue, activate resilience, and sustain attunement in challenging contexts.

The class will also guide and emphasize the importance of scaffolded safe and predictable routines, relational repair, and responsive scaffolding in caregiving settings. Ultimately, the aim is to fortify childcare providers’ capacities to hold children emotionally, even under conditions of adverse impact.