Some final thoughts from our graduating EC-SEBRIS students

Here's what our graduating EC-SEBRIS students are taking away from the EC-SEBRIS Graduate Certificate Program:

The EC-SEBRIS program has provided me with a new foundational understanding in early childhood education that has played a crucial and pivotal role when working with both children and families.

–Brook Armstrong

I feel the EC-SEBRIS program has given me in depth knowledge regarding attachment and assessment that will inform my direct practice work with children and families.

    –Alena Cansler

After completing the EC-SEBRIS Certificate Program, I've gained personal growth as well as an expanded lens on early childhood education. I learned many approaches in early intervention and also the importance of reflective practice. It has been beneficial at my workplace as well as at home because I have a preschool-aged daughter.

–Jessica Cardozo

I graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor’s degree in Child Development.  Earning a degree has helped me advance in the child development field, and this has generated the interest in me to further my education and consider a career as a child development community college professor.  Having the experience of being in the EC-SEBRIS Certificate Program has been exceptionally beneficial not only for my professional growth, but also for my personal development. 

–Juan Miguel Diaz

The EC-SEBRIS program taught me the importance of children's social emotional development. I hope to one day start my own preschool based on the principles I have learned in this program.

–Jessica Frazier

What I gained from the EC-SEBRIS program was a theoretical framework for understanding child development through psychology, and how the first three years of life are critical in shaping who we become in adulthood.

–Serge Galy

I have gained so much knowledge from the program. I learned the effects of having meaningful relationships with families and children and I learned so much about the development and behaviors of children.  All the knowledge I have learned will definitely apply in my life and career!

–Eula Isabelo

The EC-SEBRIS program has been an excellent experience— one of knowledge and insight into the development of children that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

–Sylvia Jimenez

This program has given me the confidence to recognize and respond to behavioral challenges while using ethical and professional standards.

–Vivyana Jordan

I have greatly appreciated the time and effort each professor took with me during my time in this program. The individuals I have had the privilege of getting to know taught me a lot about different interventions, making and implementing plans to help me while working with children in the classroom. I have learned a great deal from the hands on experience that I received while working at my site. My future plan is to work in a preschool setting and eventually open up my own preschool in Texas.

–Brittany Martinez

From the EC-SEBRIS program, I learned to build better relationships with families and to understand and value every child. I also learned to help children with challenging behaviors and to create a regulation plans.

 –Maria Martinez

The EC-SEBRIS program has taught me the importance of socio-emotional development in early childhood, and ways in which to support children with behavioral challenges. This program has given me the necessary skills and abilities to work closely with families in order to support their child’s development.

 –Luciana Pacheco-McEvoy

In just a short year in this program, not only have I gained confidence to become a better educator, but also tremendous knowledge for early childhood intervention and how important it is for community development.

 –Linda Yang

During my experiences in the EC-SEBRIS  program, I have gained so much knowledge from topics like secure attachment, where we gained an understating of the primary regulatory sites in the brain associated with emotional regulation and the role of the early parent-child relationship in the brain development.

–Luis Sanchez

The most important skill I take from the EC-SEBRIS program is the ability to regulate myself, and to stay regulated when presented with extremely difficult behaviors in children (and, let’s be honest, sometimes their parents). I decided not to apply for the master’s program this year, so that I may take some time to explore the field and see where I feel I can make the biggest impact.

 –Megan Sullivan

The EC-SEBRIS Program has taught me so much. I am blessed to have met colleagues, mentors, and teachers that have fueled my passion for the field. Thank You. My school year was much more challenging because my eyes and heart were opened to things I would not have normally seen. However, I am confident that I touched more young lives than I would have normally touched without.   

–Cherryl Vivar

Congratulations to all of our EC-SEBRIS graduates! And good luck in your future careers!

Highlights of the First Annual Partnership Conference

The Department of Child and Family Development co-hosted the Inaugural Partnership Conference April 17, 2014.

Dr. Karen Moran Finello

The San Diego Association for the Education of Young Children, the California Council on Family Relations, and the Center for Family, School, Community Engagement (CFSCE) also hosted the conference.

The conference featured keynote presentations by applied developmental psychologist Dr. Karen Moran Finello and licensed clinical social worker Michael Jones.

Dr. Finello's presentation explored the topic of home visiting and its ability to support families and strengthen not only mental health, but child-caregiver relationships.



Mr. Jones presented on the topic of Trauma Informed Care, along with the importance surrounding a professional's ability to identify their own trauma histories and their awareness regarding the possible impacts of those experiences in work with clients.

Dr. Michael Jones

The conference also featured workshops by some of San Diego State's very own. Dr. Shulamit Ritblatt, Dr. Audrey Hokoda, Dr. Sascha Longstreth, Dr. Sarah Garrity, and the Director of CFSCE, Jeana Preston.

All of these experiences provided excellent opportunities for the 350 student and professional attendees to be inspired, while building on their knowledge of Infant and Childhood Mental Health.

Thanks to CFD undergraduate Victoria Kapper for contributing this post.

Dr. Shulamit Ritblatt

Master's Student Mashaael Alwashmi Explains Why SDSU Is First Choice

My name is Mashaael Alwashmi and I am from capital city Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I graduated from Princess Nora University, which has the largest female campus in the world. My undergraduate major was Home Economics that includes subjects about home, family, and children. I decided to join the (KASP) King Abdullah Scholarship Program that offers full funds for distinguished students because I graduated from PNU with honors.

I chose San Diego State University in particular for many reasons. First, my brother, uncle, and cousin were in San Diego seeking their education, and they highly recommended San Diego as a nice city for studying and for families. Second, SDSU was one of my first choices because they ranked high, especially the College of Education. Also, the Child and Family Development department has the most suitable master’s program that is an actual extension to my undergraduate major. In fact, the Ministry of Higher Education in Saudi Arabia added the program to their list for recommended and approved programs all over the world on: http://ru.mohe.gov.sa/default.aspx

I started planning to apply when I was in the American Language Institute (ALI) at SDSU by learning about the application requirements and completing them one by one. During the language-learning period I was able to earn an English level sufficiency certificate, qualify my undergraduate degree certificate, take the GRE exam, and write the required essays. After sending the required documents, I was extremely happy to hear from the department as per the scheduled timeline they had provided telling me that I was accepted in the Fall 2013.

I have loved the program so much. During the first semester, I had the pleasure of working with many people with different backgrounds. I especially loved the courses CFD 634, CFD 660, CFD 590 as well as ED 690. Additionally, the program was flexible to the extent that I was able to take some undergraduate classes that I really enjoyed and learned from. This gave me a whole new perspective in this filed and made me interested more and more about children's problems and developmental challenges. I look forward to the courses I will take this year that will assist me in writing my thesis on children’s school readiness in Saudi Arabia. I cannot wait to apply the knowledge I have gained from this master’s program in my country.

My goal is to enhance the invaluable experience of working with children during my studying in SDSU. I want to work with the SDSU Children’s Center and learn the successful ways that they follow, and apply them to my future children’s center in Saudi Arabia. Also. I will back to work at PNU as a lecturer, so I get the opportunity to transfer the great information and knowledge from the CFD master’s program to the Early Childhood Department at PNU.

Aitor Sendino Fernández from Spain Shares What he Took Away From the ECD Program

My experience at SDSU was very rewarding at a personal, academic, and professional level. I first came to SDSU as an exchange student for two semesters, taking several classes in the Child and Family Development department. Needing to adapt to such a different educational environment and methodology, compared to my country of origin, was a really interesting challenge.

All the professors and classmates were very helpful and I soon started enjoying the learning experience at SDSU, finishing with great academic results as well! After my two semesters as an exchange student, and thanks to one of my professors from the Child and Family Development department, I had the opportunity to come back to SDSU for a third semester working as a research assistant at the Youth Violence Research Lab, supervised by Dr. Emilio Ulloa and Dr. Audrey Hokoda.

I'm sure that the experience and the skills I gained working with such a great team will be very useful for my professional future. With the help of my mentor at the lab, I developed my own research project on dating violence, which resulted in a research manuscript. This manuscript in particular, and my international working experience at SDSU in general, are now helping me find better job opportunities back in Europe, giving me a competitive advantage over other candidates without any experience working or studying abroad.

In the next months, I'll be starting an internship abroad with a program sponsored by the Basque Government and the European Union through the Leonardo da Vinci scholarships.

Saba Borjianboroujeni from Iran provides an international look inside the Master's Program

When you get admission to go abroad and study in a different country, you have no idea what you are going to experience. In my first week at SDSU, I felt like Alice in wonderland. Everything was new and the system was not familiar for me, on top of the language barrier. However, the professors were very friendly- they helped me with all the new things. The program requires lots of writing and reading, which is more difficult for international students, so the first few weeks is all about adjusting to the language and new system.

After the first month, I started to realize how interesting my program is. In every assignment, the professors forced us to apply what we had learned in the texts and articles to real situations, which helped to understand the techniques more deeply. The professors make plenty of time for each student and clarify all the tasks. They explained all the assignments over and over for me; therefore, they tried to speak more slowly and simple in class, which I really appreciate. In total, I found my school and my faculty very friendly and helpful. This is an experience that is very unique and I wouldn’t exchange it with anything in my life.

The First Annual Child Development Conference, Co-Hosted by the Department of Child and Family Development at SDSU

Please join us for the First Annual Child Development Conference, Co-Hosted by the Department of Child and Family Development at San Diego State University. The conference will be held on April 17th in Montezuma Hall in the Aztec Student Union. This will be a great opportunity for students and members of the surrounding community to come together for a day of learning. The conference is dedicated to educating attendees about an array of areas in child development, it will include keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and presentations on current research. Don't miss out on this awesome event and chance to network within the community. Be sure to register for the event ahead of time and bring your friends! For full details see the flyer below and visit our website:  http://coe.sdsu.edu/cfd/community/organizations.php

International Student Defne Kabas of Turkey Tells her Experience in the EC-SEBRIS Program

The EC-SEBRIS program got me closer to my dreams of becoming a psychologist. It
taught me a great deal about the biological, psychological and the behavioral aspects
of children's development and how we can assist them reaching their potentials. I
learned to become a team with the teachers, the families and other students in order
to strengthen specific children’s abilities and support them in any struggles they were
having growing up. I learned many valuable lessons that I can speak about in my
interviews now, from the questionnaires that we learned to use, to presentations we
prepared in small groups.

I'm also very appreciative to have met amazing teachers and students in the EC-
SEBRIS program and learned so much from them. As an international student, I felt
very welcome and supported by many amazing people and encourage anyone who is
interested in children's development to enroll. They will not only be informed of socio-
emotional and behavioral development of children, they will also be able to intervene
and experience it with children in their field practice.

I just found a job in the Istanbul Medical Faculty, Psychiatry, doing projects about bipolar
disorder. We are investigating if there are any genetic influences on kids that have
bipolar parent/s. I will do my master’s in Clinical Psychology very soon.