2017 Developing Healthy Boys Pilot Report
On November 29-30, 2017 nearly 60 early childhood educators and community leaders gathered for the Developing Healthy Boys pilot training. The event was convened by MERGE for Equality in partnership with Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start, Square One, and Preschool Enrichment Team, a program of Valley Opportunity Council. The event was held in downtown Springfield, MA at the La Quinta Inn and Suites, and was generously sponsored by Health New England.
The Healthy Boys Training Report (link above) offers a summary of participant demographics, program highlights, images, participant feedback, and future engagement opportunities. We hope you find this a useful resource in our collective work raising emotionally and socially connected boys, and as inspiration for expanding this pilot to other locations, too.
Gender Identity Development in Children
produced by the Academy of Pediatrics, published on healthychildren.org
Zero to Three is an organization that works to ensure that babies and toddlers benefit from the early connections that are critical to their well-being and development. The articles attached below address the questions and comments we often hear parents have about their children playing "typical boy" or "typical girl" way. The articles address why it is important to help children broaden their views of gender by offering a variety of toys how variety play can compensate for different tendencies and encouraging children to develop different competencies. The articles address how common it is for children to pretend they are they opposite gender and how that does not mean the child is gay or identifying as the opposite gender. We encourage you to read them.
Are there any differences in the development of boys' and girls' brains?
Healthy Gender Development and Young Children: A Guide for Early Childhood Programs and Professions produced by the National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement for the office of Head Start.
Masculine Norms and Violence, Making the Connection published by Promundo
