Inspired by the local Fairmont Area Healthy Communities Initiative, the Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) program in Fairmont, Minnesota, began integrating the Developmental Assets into its curriculum in fall 2008.
Using the book Great Preschools: Building Developmental Assets in Early Childhood, the fall session of ECFE programming focused on the six Developmental Assets in the Support category: Family Support, Positive Family Communication, Other Adult Relationships, Caring Neighborhood, Caring School Climate, and Parent Involvement in Schooling. 
For the first forty-five minutes of class, parents and children participate together in asset-building activities and songs, and during the second half the children stay in the classroom while parents take part in parent education. The classroom teacher prepares for lessons using Great Preschools and supplemental activities, and tells the parent educator what will go on in the classroom. The parent educator discusses the asset-building books and activities with parents, and offers more suggestions for ways to build those particular Developmental Assets in their children.
Focusing on a group of six Developmental Assets for a ten-week 
session allows parents to understand the assets on a deeper level. Many parents realize that they are already building the assets in their children, and the classes help reinforce the message, remind them that it is not hard to do, and give them some new ideas.
Traditionally, topics from the classroom have been brought into the parenting room, and using the Developmental Asset framework has enriched the educational experience. According to Donna Maday, ECFE Program Coordinator, “Any topic they talk about can be tied into assets.”
Maday spoke positively about the usefulness and comprehensiveness of Great Preschools as a curriculum. Her advice to anyone considering implementing the Developmental Assets in their Early Childhood programs was to use the book. Her staff has been very receptive. They are “wonderful staff,” she said. “When you bring ideas to them they just pick up the ball and run with it. [They] just saw the relevance…and that a lot of parents could pick up on [it] and benefit from [it]. It’s really good material.”
Donna Maday can be reached at dmaday@fairmont.k12.mn.us.
back to February 2009 Asset Champion
back to initiative