This nine-unit curriculum translates current scientific research on early brain development into practical suggestions to help early childhood professionals understand the reciprocal link between caregiving and brain development. The curriculum was created and extensively field-tested by the Erikson Institute Faculty Development Project on the Brain, which worked with nationally recognized developmental and neuroscience experts and faculty from over 23 colleges and universities to develop, pilot, and refine each unit. The curriculum package includes a User's Guide with an overview of the curriculum, tips for developing a faculty study group to incorporate brain science into your early development curriculum, and suggestions for sequencing or excerpting from each unit. The nine teaching units flow in a meaningful sequence, yet the curriculum is flexible enough to teach most units individually as a part of other course materials or in-service training. Unit topics include: Prenatal Development; Neurobehavioral Observation; Building the Brain; Brain Basics; Brain Imaging; Stress, Coping, and Caregiving; Sensory Processing; Maternal Drug Use and Infant Development; and Language and the Brain. In every unit, lectures developed by expert authors explain in clear language how different brain systems develop and illustrate how early brain development is reflected in infant and toddler behavior and is affected by caregiver relationships with very young children. Geared to providing early childhood professionals with practical ways to use current science, each unit provides a host of information on how to recognize and support children's brain development in both typical and atypical cases. Each of the nine teaching units includes: detailed lecture notes, optional classroom activities to engage a variety of learning styles, suggested readings for faculty and students, student handouts (including Key Content at a Glance, References, and a Glossary), and Microsoft PowerPointTMslide presentations on an accompanying CD-ROM. (Includes Index.)