A five course series | Available in English and Spanish

Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND) Foundations

A self-paced 5 course program that helps early childhood educators, caregivers, and professionals strengthen positive, responsive interactions with young children.

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English
Self-Paced
Format
Letters of completion

Courses
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About Stanford FIND

FIND Foundations is a strengths-based, self-paced online programme designed for early childhood educators, caregivers and professionals working with young children. Developed by Stanford FIND, the programme translates decades of developmental science into practical strategies that can be used in everyday early childhood settings.

Across five courses, learners explore how interactions between adults and children shape the latter's learning, behaviour, relationships, and brain development. Through real classroom videos, reflection activities, practical examples and downloadable tools, participants will develop skills that they can apply immediately in their daily work with children.

What This Offering Explores

This offering explores how interactions between adults and children influence young children’s learning, behaviour, relationships and brain development. Participants will learn practical, research-based strategies for strengthening serve-and-return interactions, building on children’s strengths and responding to challenging behaviours with confidence and empathy.

Key areas include

  • Serve and Return interactions and their role in early brain development

  • Strengths-based approaches that build on children’s interests and abilities

  • Supportive responses such as encouragement, naming, and positive reinforcement

  • Strategies for extending adult-child interactions

  • Tools for preventing challenging behaviors

  • Responsive strategies for addressing challenging behaviors in the moment

This offering is designed for

Early childhood
educators and practitioners

Caregivers and care providers

Classroom assistants and
early learning support staff

Family support and child development professionals

Professionals working with young children and families

Individuals seeking to strengthen positive, responsive adult-child interactions


No specialized background or prior training is required.

5 Courses Available:

What You’ll Learn

By completing this program, learners will be able to:

  • Understand why early caregiver-child interactions are critical for child development

  • Support children through encouragement, naming, and positive reinforcement

  • Recognize and apply Serve and Return interactions

  • Extend interactions through back-and-forth exchanges, waiting, and following the child’s lead

  • Use strengths-based strategies to support children’s learning and behavior

  • Prevent challenging behaviors using routines, clear directions, pre-teaching, and encouragement

Meet our Collaborator

FIND Foundations was developed by Stanford FIND — Filming Interactions to Nurture Development — a research-backed professional development model designed to improve the quality of adult-child interactions.

Developed at the Stanford Center on Early Childhood by Dr. Phillip Fisher and colleagues, FIND translates decades of developmental science into practical, scalable tools that support educators, caregivers, and systems.

Develop your passion,
take your skills to the next level!

Join us in ensuring a brighter future for every child through continued learning and connection with the ECOS community.