This approximately 80 minute presentation provides an overview of trauma in young children, and focuses on trauma-informed practices for the early childhood classroom in response to the individual and community trauma experienced by our youngest learners during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Janet Pozmantier is an award-winning author, curriculum developer, trainer, and child advocate specializing in primary prevention programming. She has created and successfully implemented child abuse prevention, relationship, parenting, mental health, trauma, and youth suicide prevention education curricula for children, youth, and adults. She is the co-author of a book on early childhood development (The First Years, DK Publishing, 2001) Janet served as the Founding Director of the Center for School Behavioral Health at Mental Health America of Greater Houston and is a certified Mental Health First Aid Trainer (Youth and Adult) and a certified Master Trainer for Mind Matters.

This approximately 20 minute presentation provides all educators with the tools needed to practice mindfulness, and manage stress and anxiety while serving young children on the front-lines of classrooms amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Jenni graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communications and minors in international business and Spanish from the University of Texas in Austin. She developed a passion for education during her three years living in Santiago, Chile teaching English at DUOC UC, a community college. For the past six years, Jenni has worked at IDEA Public Schools in various roles from Spanish to AP Psychology lead teacher. In 2017, Jenni expanded the campus’ social emotional learning program by developing a trauma-informed yoga course. Jenni is trained in trauma informed yoga, Niroga’s dynamic mindfulness, and completed her 200-hour yoga teacher certification.

The success of both the yoga and AP Psychology courses inspired Jenni to seek a master’s in educational psychology from the University of North Texas in 2020. Now currently the project manager for the Austin Region, Jenni helps cultivate new social-emotional programming for staff and students, while maintaining, improving, and supporting established company culture expectations.

This single-page summary provides practical examples of the ways in which traditional early childhood practices dovetail with the principles of trauma-informed learning introduced earlier based on Jim Greenman’s “Pillars of Security”: people, place, routine and ritual.

“Caring for Our Children, Caring for Ourselves” is a comprehensive collection of research-into-practice activities supporting trauma-informed instruction in the early childhood classroom.