Drs. Kim Heuschkel and Trish Joergensen (Holy Family University faculty) along with Alison Angelaccio (Bucks County Community College faculty) and Pat Miiller (Quality Child Care Coalition of Bucks County – QCCC – Coordinator) have been a core group for a book club focused on early childhood. Starting in the summer, 2018, the group read The Most Important Year: Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of Our Children by Suzanne Bouffard. Our discussion was rich and the topic of pre-K is still on our minds. In the fall we read Deb Curtis’ Really Seeing Children. Through this wonderful collection of classroom stories and teacher reflections we were able to remember that children are the most important part of early childhood education. At the December meeting of the QCCC of Bucks County, we announced our winter selection: The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Dr. Nadine Harris Burke. Dr. Harris Burke is a pediatrician with a background in public health. The Deepest Well is a response to the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. This study found links between adverse childhood experiences and health outcomes later in life. While the ACE Study (https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html) reports sobering and often painful statistics, Dr. Nadine Harris Burke offers interventions that can address some of children’s early adverse experiences.. For more information about Dr. Harris Burke’s work check out The Center for Youth Wellness (https://centerforyouthwellness.org/).
What have you been reading? We are always looking for good recommendations. Would you like to join us or start a book club with your friends and colleagues? Let us know at soe@holyfamily.edu. Please put Book Club in the subject line.
Our Book List (so far):
The Most Important Year: Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of Our Children by Suzanne Bouffard
Really Seeing Children by Deb Curtis (ISBN: 9780942702644 -Softbound)
The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Dr. Nadine Harris Burke.
