ENGAGE media coverage!

I was watching The Project on TV last week and you can imagine my surprise when I saw that Jessie Mulligan had covered a story about ENGAGE in NZ! He interviewed Professor Richard Poulton and founder Jimmy McLachlan and they both talked about the roots of this research beginning with the longitudinal study from Otago University and how 1000 New Zealand families have been tracked and interviewed over a 45 year period. The ENGAGE program has been rolled out in early childhood centres and is also being trialled in low decile schools. Jimmy professes that children who learn how to self regulate at a young age are better off than those who don't. Research shows a direct link to those adults who don't; become a burden to society as they often end up in prison, or having drug/alcohol abuse problems and experience family violence. A key finding from the results of the Dunedin study is that "Childhood self-control predicts physical health, financial success, and a lack of criminal behaviour among adults", (Moffitt & Caspi, 2013). One Pasifika mother of 6 children told the story of her youngest child being different from the others - always crying, having meltdowns and not having the language to express himself. His kindergarten teacher commented that playing the ENGAGE games with his peers helps him with his social and language skills. This positive intervention of focusing on self regulation skills has a lasting impact on all young learners who are involved in the program. Playing small and whole group interactive games such as those found in the early years is fun and engaging with other children. For example, "Simon says, Snap, Memory, ball and spoon race" as well as a combination of relaxation/yoga moves to help a child learn to calm down and re-set themselves if involved in confrontation or after an emotional outburst.