Core Components

The Incredible Beginnings® Programme, which is one of a suite of Incredible Years parenting and teaching programmes, is a group-based intervention delivered to early years childcare providers and pre-school teachers working with children aged between 1-5 years old.  The programme aims to improve children’s prosocial behaviour, school preparedness, reduce children’s aggressive behaviour and enhance day care / pre-school teacher abilities in encouraging and supporting parents with involvement to promote home-school consistency.

The programme is delivered by trained group leaders and comprises 6-7 full-day workshops spread out monthly or bimonthly. Twelve to fourteen childcare providers or pre-school teacher attend the workshops. It is important there is sufficient time between workshops to afford teachers the time to complete reading and practice assignments, practice and apply their new skills, and work on behaviour plans.

The format of the sessions includes (1) video and live modelling (2) group discussion and support (3) practice activities within sessions supplementary to the sessions (4) home activities and (5) reading assignments (or audio) underpinned by social, emotion and pre-academic coaching, nurturing child-directed play interactions using narrative descriptive commenting, proactive teaching with predictable routines and consistent positive behaviour management strategies.

The programme focuses on six core topics (1) Building positive relationships with toddlers and pre-schoolers & managing separation anxiety (2) Promoting language development (3) Social coaching (4) Emotion coaching and emotional regulation (5) The proactive teacher and, (6) Positive behaviour management.

Incredible Beginnings® group leaders are encouraged to visit day care and pre-school teachers’ classrooms between workshops to observe how they implement skills learned in workshops, and to support their individual goals and behaviour plans.

The programme is clearly operationalised with a comprehensive structured Leaders Manual in which the content of each session is fully described (session protocols for tweenies, toddlers and pre-schoolers) and a supplemental manual “Teachers Promoting Social & Emotional Development in Young Children” supported by 11 DVDs, or a 1-year streaming subscription, plus home assignments and handouts and teacher text, “Incredible Teachers”. 

Fidelity

Incredible Years® provides a fidelity of implementation’ framework for sites.  The steps required to effectively replicate the programme and achieve good outcomes include use of (1) standardised intervention materials; (2) 3-day in-person group leader training or 6 on-line 3-hour sessions by accredited mentor or trainer; (3) teacher training programmes are delivered by trained group leaders who are supported to become accredited in the program; (3) completion of bimonthly or monthly workshop protocols and participant evaluations; (4) ongoing group leader supervision, consultation and support by IY coaches or mentors; (5) fidelity monitoring using evidence-based measures and final summative evaluations and (6) agency organisational supports.

Modifiable Components 

The Incredible Beginnings ® programme is a universal prevention programme but has been shown to be effective for children with behaviour problems when delivered as part of therapeutic intervention. This programme has been delivered to multiple cultural groups.

Delivery of curriculum can be adjusted according to the developmental ages of the children in the classroom and teacher background and goals. Modification is achieved by varying the pacing of content covered and selection of vignettes shown according to age and developmental status of children.

Incredible Years® Inc. is based in Seattle and offers a series of inter-locking evidence-based programmes targeting parents, teachers and children. The Incredible Beginnings programme is one of the Incredible Years teacher training programmes. 

Support for Organisation / Practice

Implementation Support

Preparation for the Incredible Beginnings® Programme starts on site at least 6 months before the actual training, to ensure that training needs are addressed. Incredible Years® have available an agency readiness questionnaire that helps agencies determine their readiness for implementing the programme.  Incredible Years® also have an implementation effectiveness questionnaire that helps agencies understand the organisational processes and implementation components required to deliver the programme. Incredible Years® mentors/trainers work with agencies to enhance agency understanding of the training, supervision and consultation needs of childcare providers and pre-school teachers and group leaders. Incredible Years® mentors/trainers also help agencies in adopting the Incredible Beginnings programme and provide advice to agencies regarding logistical details and administrative support needed to implement this programme. 

Licence Requirements

There is no licensing requirement to deliver the Incredible Years® Programmes. However, a Brand License Agreement is needed for use of Incredible Years® materials on web sites.

Start-up Costs

Start-up costs include an upfront one-off purchase of the Incredible Beginnings Programme resources priced at $1,760. This programme includes a DVD set (11 discs), leader’s manual and supplemental manual, incredible teachers’ book, laminated calm down poster, stickers, cards set and teacher pyramid magnet. The programme vignettes are also available for yearly on-line streaming subscriptions. 

Group leader training is highly recommended. An agency may host an in-person training at their own site for between 15–20 practitioners. Cost is $1850-$2200 per training day, plus travel expense and trainer travel time.   On-line group leader training is also available (6 sessions, 3.25 hours per session) for a cost of $930 for an individual or $8220 for an agency-hosted on-line training for up to 15 people.

Other optional costs include certification / accreditation processing fee of $800 per person; additional video review or phone consultation costs $230-$265/hr. On-site consultation is also available for groups of 8-15 practitioners.

Building Staff Competency

Qualifications Required

Educational backgrounds for group leaders include teaching, school counselling and psychology. Incredible Years parent group leader or child group leader accreditations are accepted. Background in child development, adult group leadership, cognitive social learning theory and student teaching experience are desired.

Training Requirements

Incredible Years® offers a 3-day in person programme for 15-25 participants to equip group leaders with the ability to deliver the Incredible Beginnings programme to day care providers and pre-school teachers. On-line training is also available for groups of up to 15 practitioners (6 sessions of 3.25 hours each). The training is provided by an accredited mentor or trainer of group leaders. On training completion, trained group leaders can deliver the 6-7 full-day workshops to groups. And official in-person or on-line group leader training is required if participants would like to apply for accreditation. Incredible Years has a training progression process which enables continued development and accreditation of group leaders across multiple levels. For example, accredited group leaders are eligible for peer coach and then for mentor training and accreditation. 

The optional group leader accreditation process requires the completion of the 3-day group leader training; completion of 2 group teacher training workshops (each workshop lasting the full 6 days, spread out in bimonthly or monthly workshops, with a minimum of 10 teachers per workshop); and obtaining satisfactory video review for conducted sessions. Details of training workshops conducted by group leader should be submitted to support accreditation application. With accreditation, participants have verification that they are leading the 6-7 day programme to teachers with programme fidelity. A continued training progression process enables continued development and accreditation of group leaders across multiple levels (from group leader to coach to mentor to trainer). Certification application is processed by Incredible Years certification/accreditation committee.

Supervision Requirements

Consultation and coaching of leaders delivering the Incredible Beginnings programme is highly recommended by Incredible Years® Inc.  The process includes peer review and self-evaluation of videos utilising process checklists, review of video feedback by an Incredible Years® mentor, review of evaluations, consultations once or twice per year with an Incredible Years® trainer and monthly telephone consultations.  The cost of consultations with Incredible Years® mentors or trainers is $230-265 per hour.   

When group leaders become accredited / certified group leaders, it is highly recommended they continue to participate in fidelity checks which could be in form of video review of workshops they deliver, consultations with accredited mentor, or coaching sessions with accredited coach.

Theory of Change

The Incredible Beginnings® Programme is guided by cognitive social learning theory, modelling, attachment, development theories and research (Bandura, Bowlby and Patterson). The programme has an explicit logic model which describes the programmes short-term outcomes as (1) Improved childcare provider and pre-school teacher  confidence, support and knowledge of child developmental milestones and safety needs; ability to provide optimal emotional, physical, tactile, visual and language stimulation and nutritional needs and (2) to fundamentally improve childcare provider and pre-school teacher / child interactions and relationships to promote positive and nurturing teaching styles. The programmes longer-term outcomes aim to achieve improved child social and emotional well-being and improved child language, cognitive, emotional and physical development. 

Fit

Values

The Incredible Beginnings® programme is a universal prevention intervention. It aims to share ways to provide an early years education environment that supports children’s optimal early development, teaches strategies for managing children’s behaviour problems as well as language and development delays. 

• Does this align with the priorities of your organisation?

Priorities

The Incredible Beginnings® Programme has been developed as a prevention strategy for childcare providers and pre-school teachers of children aged 1-5 years to promote optimal child development, enhance children prosocial conduct and reduce behaviour problems.

• Is working with day care providers and pre-school teachers to enhance their classroom management skills a priority for your organisation?
• Are enhancing children prosocial conduct and reducing behaviour problems also priorities for your organisation?
• After the programme, will teachers implement their new skills on the entire classroom, or will teachers focus on challenging students within the whole classroom context?
• If focus will be on challenging children, would a targeted therapeutic programme be more beneficial?

Existing Initiatives

• Does your agency already provide similar programmes to strengthen classroom management skills and enhance children’s prosocial behaviour?
• Does your agency already provide similar programmes to reduce behaviour problems and promote academic success?
• Are the existing initiatives effective in addressing your organisations’ needs, and do the existing initiatives fit your current and anticipated future requirements?
• Are there components within the Incredible Years® Incredible Beginnings programme that are not met by existing programmes?
• Will your organisation be implementing the Incredible Beginnings programme with another Incredible Years programme?

Workforce

Educational backgrounds for practitioners of the Incredible Beginnings® programme include teaching, school counselling and psychology. Incredible Years parent group leader or child group leader certifications are accepted. Background in child development, cognitive social learning theory and adult group leadership, as well as children teaching experience are desired. After the 3 days group leader training, group leaders can offer the 6 full day workshop to groups of day care providers / teachers in their own environments. Each of the 6-7 full-day workshops can be delivered monthly or bi-monthly. Incredible Years recommend training at least 2 group leaders for any programme to be implemented. 

• Does your organisation have staff with the appropriate educational degree or certification and who are interested in learning and delivering this programme?
• How important does your organisation believe it is for practitioners to become certified/ accredited in the Incredible Years® Incredible Beginnings programme?
• Is your organisation committed to supporting practitioner training and accreditation?

Technology Support

This programme includes videotape modelling. For accreditation, group leaders are required to present videos of their group sessions for peer review and feedback from Incredible Years mentor or trainer. 

• Does your organisation have the technology to support practitioners in delivering this programme (DVD/ USB, TV, computer, projector)?
• To support practitioner certification and progression, is there technology to record videos for review, and technology to consult with Incredible Years mentor or trainer?

Administrative Support

Administrative support is required to conduct workshops, for evaluations, feedback, and for video recording and storage. 

• Does your organisation have enough administrative capacity and systems to meet these administrative needs?
• Are there policies and procedures in place regarding the video recording and storing of these recordings?

Financial Support

Start-up costs include purchase of the programme resources at $1,760; group leader training at $930 per person on-line; or as part of a 15-25 person cohort on site at $1850-2200 per day (in person for 3 days). Other optional costs include certification / accreditation processing fee at $800 per person for each level (certification as group leader or coach or mentor or trainer); additional video review; phone consultations at $230-265/hr.

• How many practitioners would your agency like to train?
• Do you have the finances to train these practitioners in the Incredible Beginnings® programme?
• Would onsite training be more cost effective for your agency?
• Is your organisation interested in continued training and accreditation of practitioners in this programme? Can this be supported financially?
• Does your organisation have the technology needed for programme implementation? If not, can the technology be purchased?

Comparable Population

The Incredible Beginnings® programme is a group programme for day-care providers/pre-school teachers who teach children between 1-5 years old.  This programme is designed to strengthen classroom management strategies. 

Evidence of improvements has been demonstrated in evaluations conducted in the US, and UK with day care providers and pre-school teachers.

• Is this comparable to the population your organisation intends delivering this programme to?
• Is there demand from teachers to gain further classroom management skills?
• Do day care providers / pre-school teachers in your organisation need to strengthen their ability to collaborate with parents for home-agency consistency?

Desired Outcome

The desired outcomes for the Incredible Beginnings® programme are the creation of an environment that supports children’s optimal early development, implementation of teaching strategies for managing children’s behaviour problems, as well as language and development delays. The programme aims to improve children’s prosocial behaviour, school preparedness, and reduced children’s aggressive behaviour and enhance day care / pre-school teacher abilities in encouraging and supporting parents with involvement to promote home-school consistency.

Research has demonstrated significant improvements in children’s development and behaviour, moving from clinical ranges of problem behaviour to normal ranges for behaviour in their setting.

• Are the above outcomes priorities for your organisation?
• Does your organisation have other systems in place that effectively and efficiency address the above outcomes?