In the news

Dr. Marilyn Price-Mitchell, developmental psychologist and author of Tomorrow’s Change Makers, has just posted a very positive and comprehensive review of the CosmoKidz program. Check it out at  https://www.rootsofaction.com/caring-children/.

The title of the article, Raising caring kids: A resource guide for teachers, parents and mentors was also among an impressive list of the Best Back-to-School Articles for Parents: 2022  in her Roots of Action website.

The end of an era

For those of us who believe that better social worlds are made in what we actually say and do, the CosmoKidz research of the last eight years with children in a variety of school settings reinforces this. The skills that enhance social emotional development and improve communication competency are learnable, teachable, and contagious, even with very young children.

The CMM Institute, in partnership with the Kettering Foundation and with grants from the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund, has now gathered a substantial database and we are reporting with confidence that CosmoKidz makes a positive difference in the lives of children, their teachers, and the overall school culture.  After three years of using CosmoKidz and CosmoTweenz schoolwide at Independence Leadership Academy, the 2022 end-of-year composite schoolwide average scores based on the observation of children’s social emotional development overtime saw an approximately 65 percent improvement. This includes skills such as handling conflict better, expressing and managing strong emotions, taking ownership to make a situation better, solving problems in helpful ways, the ability to self-regulate, listening better, and treating others with kindness and respect. What was also noteworthy was a 73 percent change for teachers in their feeling more connected to students because of conversations they had using CosmoKidz topics; a 70 percent increase in their assessment that they know more about the social worlds of students because of the conversations they had using CosmoKidz topics; and a 68 percent improvement in their experience of a more respectful and caring schoolwide culture. Teachers also reported a 72 percent increase in their awareness of how they are relating with others (both adults and children) since using CosmoKidz.

A new focus and a new website

Now that our research has concluded, we are setting our sights on getting CosmoKidz out into the world and making it available to anyone who has children, grandchildren, or who works with children. We have digitized all of our activity sets to make them accessible to anyone with a computer and internet connection.  Activities are for children between 4 and 12 years. Please check out our CosmoKidz website at:  www.cosmokidz.org  and share the link with your family, friends, and colleagues.

We also have a limited supply of boxed CosmoKidz and CosmoTweenz sets that we are donating to individuals, groups or organizations who will use them. Among other places, sets have been donated to teachers, early childhood educators, Head Start programs, School Boards, the United Way, and State Libraries.

If you would like to inquire about receiving donated CosmoKidz or CosmoTweenz sets, send an email to kimpearce@aol.com.

Stay tuned for CosmoTeenz in 2023

The CMM Institute’s five Teen/Young Adult Fellows are working creatively and diligently to produce products/activities they think will be helpful for their teen peers across our planet. They are currently gathering data on the hopes and concerns of teens and the products and activities that are already available to them. Once they finish this phase of their Fellowship, they will put their creativity to work to create what they think will help support the hopes of teens.