Core Capabilities

Core capabilities, which include executive function and self-regulation skills, help us successfully navigate life With these skills, we are able to plan ahead, set goals, resist impulses, adapt behaviors, and work on executing goals.

Some of the core capabilities that adults use to manage life, work, and parenting effectively include planning, focus, self-control, awareness, and flexibility

Unfortunately, we are not born with these skills, but they can be built over time Our experiences form connections that help us develop these skills, with experiences in early childhood providing the foundation The full range of skills and the neural network that connects them continue to develop into the adolescent and early adult years

Exposure to ACEs and trauma in childhood can derail the development of core capabilities For children facing adversity, it is important for adult caregivers and communities to focus on helping to build these skills through training and targeted interventions, focused on promoting intergenerational attainment of skills

The video 'How Children and Adults Can Build Core Capabilities for Life' from Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University provides an excellent overview of how these skills are built over time

HowCoreCapabilitiesWork

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2016) "Building Core Capabilities for Life: The Science Behind the Skills Adults Need to Succeed in Parenting and in the Workplace "

Learn more: developingchildharvardedu/building-core-capabilities-for-life