Celeste Tinkoff's reflection on her first semester in the EC-SEBRIS program

This fall semester during the EC-SEBRIS program at SDSU I have gained a lot of new knowledge, reinforced prior knowledge I had obtained during my undergrad, and have been exposed to new horizons and new experiences in which I gained field experience. Coming from a background in psychology, the EC-SEBRIS program has exposed me to more in depth child and family focused ways of approaching mental health and the importance of early development, relationships with both young children and their families, and the role I have as an early childhood caregiver and advocate. The EC-SEBRIS program has introduced me to new information, such as various types of assessments and how they are to be used, administered, scored, explained, and interpreted. I have learned how to formulate a comprehensive assessment on a child, and which assessments are best to use for specific situations and children given their circumstances. I have also learned more about the importance of early relationships and how they affect the internal working model of children. The EC-SEBRIS program has refined my idea of presence when working with young children and I have learned through the program how much young children look to me as a caregiver and teacher. I am not only a role model, but a source of secure attachment, trust, security, guidance, and love for the infants and preschool children I work with. Lastly, I have been able to take part in, what I feel the majority of graduate school programs do not offer, this being our reflective supervision course. Although my time so far has been filled with excellent professors who have truly cared about their students’ success and rich new information, it has been a demanding journey in our otherwise hectic lives as students/employees/interns/parents/etc. The reflective supervision program has been a way for us to connect as peers and also seek guidance from a professional who is ready to listen and give constructive advice to help us navigate through our studies and site responsibilities. Having friends in law school and other graduate programs, I feel lucky that we have our weekly group meetings and biweekly individual meetings to reflect on our experiences, emotions, and struggles during the semester. We grow and learn about ourselves as individuals and how that affects us as early childhood mental health advocates. We also interact closely with our peers and share our journeys together. Overall I have enjoyed my first semester as an EC-SEBRIS candidate, and I look forward to the spring semester as well as the continued master’s program in 2016-7. For more information on the EC-SEBRIS graduate certificate program, visit website.

Leah Bray's Reflection on the Masters Program

Though I have only been out of undergrad for 1 year, it was a struggle coming back to school for my master’s degree. I did my undergrad at University of California, Irvine with a major in drama and a minor in education. I moved to San Diego a year ago and have worked as a specialist for a transportation company named Hyundai Translead. I knew I wanted to complete my master’s degree as soon as possible, but the challenge was deciding if I wanted a credential program or a new area of study; and then I found the MS in child development at San Diego State. Though I have my minor in education, I do not feel I have enough knowledge to pursue a teaching credential until I fully learn how children grow and development. This master’s program seemed like a perfect fit.

I quit my job at Hyundai Translead and started school two weeks ago. I did not know what to expect in this program, though I was nervous and excited to begin. Once I realized I had been assigned to Dr. Shapiro as the chair for my thesis/project I was intrigued. I met with her to discuss the possibilities and she told me a study she was conducting with a colleague regarding mindfulness between couples and how it affects a child’s development. Coming from divorced parents and a family where loving each other came second to responsibility, this topic seemed fascinating to me - seeing if mindfulness within one’s self translates into mindfulness between other people. It has been a very full two weeks, and I cannot wait to find what else I learn throughout this program. Though I have had some second thoughts before class started, it is clear to me now that this is where I am meant to be, and excited to find what opportunities open in the future.


For more information on the Master's in Child Development, visit our website.

A Few Last Words Before the End of the Year

As I end my year in the ECSEBRIS program, I am thankful for the knowledge I have gained overall. Learning about functional behavior assessments, behavior support plans, evaluation plans, data collection, assessment/measurement testing procedures/instruments, and regulation plans are tools that I feel confident using in the community for families.

Topics such as intervention techniques, atypical and typical development, emotional development, attachment, response to intervention, brain development in association to emotional regulation, and interpersonal neurobiology theories have provided me with so much growth. I have definitely enjoyed the benefits of personal reflection, and self-awareness skills. The staff and professors in this program have become a team of mentors for me along the way. I really feel that my level of growth is due to this cutting edge program with best practices and support! I highly recommend this wonderful program.

- Ashley Virgilio

Strong Recommendations from Mariah Rideaux

I came into this program on a last minute whim to strengthen my background experience for a Marriage and Family Therapy Masters Degree. I had intended it to be a stepping-stone, but instead I experienced a full 360 transformation. In addition, I have awakened a new passion I never knew existed within me. The EC-SEBRIS program has expanded and strengthened my skills of working with families. I have 6.5 years of experience working with children and thought I didn't have much room left to grow. However, I have blossomed in the way I work with children from a social-emotional perspective. I have learned to be more patience, understanding, and caring with the families I serve. The EC-SEBRIS program has also helped me learn to navigate my new position as the supervisor of a brand new preschool program in a hospital setting. To have the appropriate boundaries in working through a sensitive environment is a gift to both the families I serve and myself. I have an enormous appreciation for how important social and emotional development is in early-childhood and this appreciation drives me to create the most nurturing and supportive preschool environment possible. Instead of switching over into an MFT program upon finishing the EC-SEBRIS program, I have decided to finish this journey and obtain my Master's Degree in Child Development. I feel my time in this program is not ready to expire and I want to continue building myself into a strong early-childhood professional. I have already and will continue to strongly recommend this program to anyone interested in working with children and families. Having the EC-SEBRIS program as a foundation to fall back on will help any individual aiming towards a social service career-whether you want to work with young children or adults!

Mariah Rideaux

Amy Gregory's Thoughts on the EC-SEBRIS Certificate Program

My experience seven months into the EC-SEBRIS has continued to be positive, eye opening, and very rewarding. I have learned so much about myself through our reflective supervision class. This has helped me become not only a better teacher, but also a better person overall by being mindful of others in everything I do. I constantly catch myself thinking about how others might be feeling in any given moment, how my tone of voice and facial expressions are going to be taken into account when I speak to children, how can I best help serve the children in my care, and the list goes on and on. Also, throughout my reflective supervision class I have become more confident in advocating for children and families by not only having the necessary tools to do so, but also by having the support and guidance of my reflective supervision group. We have been able to remain in the same small reflective supervision groups we begin the school year with in August, which has made us a tight knit group of people. It is a special attribute this program is able to offer students in which I feel I now have a contact list of other professionals in the child development field to contact for support, questions, and guidance in my future, even after this program ends.

In our SPED 676 class, applied behavior analysis, we are learning how to conduct functional behavioral assessments. I have learned how to collect data on challenging behaviors that my students exhibit in order to find out the function causing the behavior. This has helped me begin to work on providing replacement behaviors in order to help my students challenging behavior decrease over time. In our CFD 671 class, positive behavior support and early interventions, we are learning about making behavior support plans. We will be taking the data collection from our functional behavior assessment in SPED 676 and using it to come up with a behavior support plan in CFD 671. The behavior support plan will include interventions that will directly address the problem behavior being worked on. I really like how the EC-SEBRIS is comprehensive in the sense that these two classes we are taking go hand in hand with each other. We are able to directly correlate and use the information learned in one class and apply that knowledge further into another class, which makes this program rather unique as well!

- Amy Gregory

Semester Reflection of the EC-SEBRIS Certificate Program

Throughout the semester I have seen a tremendous growth in myself as a person and as a caregiver. Being part of the EC-SEBRIS program has given me the opportunity to integrate feedback from the classes and comments and suggestions that have been given to me from our reflective groups. One of the things that I have learned and have continued to develop skills in is how I have linked what I have learned in class and by putting it into practice at my site at the Chabad Hebrew Academy. I have shared a lot of information that I have learned with co-workers, friends, and family members by informing them of the positive changes when becoming aware of children’s social and emotional behaviors.

The classes that I took this fall semester allowed me to gain so much knowledge in the social emotional development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers focusing on attachment, self-regulation, and developing theories that are applied in childcare. I also learned to use various behavioral assessments that suggest intervention and support showing me techniques on how to best provide the help and resources for children, parents and caregivers. One of the major things that I learned was, that when interacting with children I will continue to pay attention to their cues and remember that they are the ones who guide us. We as caregivers are there to make children feel protected, safe and secure, especially when they are independently exploring their environment. I believe that talking to children enriches their vocabulary as they hear and grasp new words, helping them build up vocabulary, as they get older and begin to talk.

I consider this program to be very helpful as I learned to self-reflect on who I am as a person and caregiver. I am very pleased to say I have enjoyed each class and how incredible of a journey it has been. I am eager for the spring semester to begin, to see what the program has for us EC-SEBRIS students; and for us to become aware and grow into advocators for early childhood.

-Stephanie Zapien

The EC-SEBRIS certificate program is an interdisciplinary program for early childhood professionals who want to improve skills for working with young children who demonstrate socio-emotional and behavioral concerns, and their parents. Certificate courses can be applied towards a Master of Science in Child Development.

The EC-SEBRIS program will accept applications for Fall 2015 admission from Oct. 1, 2014 to March 2, 2015. For more information on the EC-SEBRIS graduate certificate program, visit our website. Apply now to take the first step toward your a career that will change lives!

What the EC-SEBRIS Program Means to Ashley Virgilio

My experience so far has been wonderful. The ECSEBRIS program has a philosophy that I have adopted as mine. Positive socio-emotional development for young children is a key foundation so they are able to thrive in all other areas of development. The program has taught me professional tools so I can help children to have strong socio-emotional skills. My professors are wonderful and full of knowledge. I enjoy the reflection time I am getting as well through group meetings from my supervisor, conducting videos of myself working with the children, and my coach.  I previously attended SDSU for my undergraduate work in the Child and Family Development program and love how the skills I have learned during that time have carried over to the ECSEBRIS program. I really appreciate that consistency!

- Ashley Virgilio