Dr. Donna Housman
Dr. Donna Housman has spent her professional career in the world of early childhood development and education. As a clinical psychologist, she began her career working with children and adolescents on issues such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicide. Believing that it is far easier to prevent than repair, Dr. Housman founded Housman Institute, along with its lab school and early childhood development center, based on emotional foundations of learning and cognition and informed by research in neuroscience, child development and early education. Seizing the opportunity to inform the architecture of the brain in the earliest years, her Emotional, Cognitive, and Social Early Learning approach, begin to ECSEL, promotes healthy brain development and a positive sense of self by fostering the building blocks of emotional intelligence starting from birth. Dr. Housman has trained thousands of early childhood educators, children, and families in her ECSEL approach while being a consistent source of vital counsel and guidance for families and educators on young children's social and emotional development.
Books by Dr. Donna Housman
In Shemmy's Wild Ride, an ECSELent Adventures story, Shemmy explores what it means to be a big kid.
She feels like a big kid, but the training wheels on her bike prevent her from keeping up with her older friends at the park, and she's the only one who has her lovey, Mimi Curie, with her in her bike basket. Is Shemmy ready to shed these familiar comfort objects and try new things on her own? Learn, grow, and develop alongside Shemmy as she navigates the challenges of growing up, letting go, and gaining self-assurance.
Shemmy invites children to join her as she discovers that becoming a big kid involves sadness along with anxiety and uncertainty in the loss of letting go of the familiar and excitement about experiencing the many new adventures ahead. After all, embracing the unknown requires perseverance and the confidence to engage and stick with new experiences that help build a positive sense of self-at any age.
Selected by experts as one of the New York Post's list of "48 best gifts for 4-year-olds"!
In Gilly and the Garden, an ECSELent Adventures story, Hemmy and Shemmy are so good at caring for their garden, it's time for them to care for another living thing, too! Yet even when they take the very best care of something they love, the unexpected happens. Learn, grow, and develop alongside Hemmy and Shemmy as they experience the ups and downs of responsibility, the peace that can come from navigating a range of emotions, and the way joyful memories can help lessen the pain of death and loss.
In The Ottersons' Eruption, an ECSELent Adventures story, Hemmy feels left out when Daddy invites Shemmy to go to the store but not him. While shopping, Hemmy and Daddy disagree about buying a tasty new snack, and Boom!, emotions erupt right in the aisle. Can Daddy keep his cool while Hemmy loses his? Learn, grow, and develop alongside Hemmy and the Ottersons as they tackle explosive emotions, learn what sadness and anger truly mean, and discover ways to keep their feelings from bubbling over like a volcano!
Hemmy and Daddy invite children to join them in recognizing and managing their own emotions and those of others, all the while growing closer, understanding one another better, and solving their prickly-feeling problems together.
In Riley's Really Big Worries, an ECSELent Adventures story, Riley's best friend, Milo, sneezes and sprays germs all over him! Riley has many worries, and icky germs are now at the top of his list. But are all germs bad? And do our worries need to take control of our thinking, feeling, and behavior? Learn, grow, and develop alongside Riley and friends as they begin to share their feelings and discover ways to become the boss of their worries.
Riley and his classmates (characters in Housman Institute's ECSELent Adventures program) invite children to join them in understanding that everyone has worries-big or small-and that by sharing them, they can begin to find solutions to their worry problems. Along the way, they learn what germs are and how each person can help keep germs-and worries!-from spreading.
In Franklin’s World Takes a Turn, an ECSELent Adventures story, Franklin is excited to become a big brother.
But when little sister Zoe arrives, Franklin discovers that having a new baby sibling changes everything—including his place in the family and how much time Mommy and Daddy have to spend with him. To make matters worse, a new student at school wants to play his games with his friends! Is there enough love and friendship to go around?
Franklin invites children to join him as he begins to understand and manage his emotions while gaining confidence in his ability to adapt to a world of changing circumstances through compromise. Readers will learn and develop alongside Franklin as his feelings of security in his parent’s steadfast love grow bigger and stronger and he discovers how sharing and taking turns can help turn his upside-down world right side up!