|
Spring/ Summer Newsletter
Vol. 2, April - August 2021
| |
|
Welcome to the Spring and Summer edition of the Baby Steps Buzz, your source of information, highlights and activities of the Baby Steps program. Baby Steps is a parent education program that provides a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment for all families with children aged birth to three in the Newport County area.
This edition features our graduation and summer collaborations with community partners. We invite you to join us as we explore ways to Read, Learn and Grow Together!
| |
Baby Steps Graduation
June 2021
| |
The Baby Steps Grab-N-Go Graduation Picnic was a fun and safe way to honor our Baby Steps families, and to congratulate the graduating children. After a full year of physical distancing, families were eager to see one another again, even if only briefly and outdoors. Families took pictures and local Middletown bakery “Patisserie" catered the delicious food.
Baby Steps Assistant Coordinator Kimberly Remington, L/COTA, worked behind the scenes to ensure that families had everything needed for the event. She greeted our families on Graduation Day with a smile! Kimberly offers her skills and many years of experience to assist with program content and delivery. She also leads the Thursday Night Baby Steps sessions in order to make the program more accessible to working families.
We would also like to acknowledge the following people who, by generously donating their time and assistance, were vital to the success of the picnic: Volunteer Advisory Board Members Amintha Cinotti, Lissa Fernandez, Cathy Lind, and Molly McGregor and Salve Regina University Student Service Advocate Miranda Gallagher. Thank you!
| |
Jessica poses with her two children Ariana and Logan. Ariana is now a Baby Steps graduate! As a parent participating in the program, Jessica has learned from experts in child development, shared ideas with other parents, and received helpful resources- all at no cost. | |
Congratulations Sofia! Having participated in Baby Steps this year, Sofia has strengthened her vocabulary, practiced fine motor skills with craft projects and enjoyed interacting with other children her age. | |
Dalton - all smiles for the camera! An early emphasis on reading has helped Dalton and his fellow program participants develop an interest in books. The free books they received are educational as well as engaging and entertaining. | |
You don't have to be a graduate to have fun! Ruby and Logan take turns driving around the garden at the graduation picnic. | |
While Baby Steps families were on summer break, the Baby Steps team continued making new friends and establishing new partnerships to support families with children aged birth to three. | |
|
|
Judy Hall, Coordinator of the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, reached out to our program for collaboration as both of our programs support Early Childhood Literacy. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library puts books into the hands and hearts of children across the world. They work in local communities and mail a hand-selected age-appropriate, high-quality book each month to registered children from the time they are newborns until they reach age five. This is completely free to participants, regardless of family income. | | | |
Church group gives gift baskets | Understanding the struggles of young families during the past year, members of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth identified Baby Steps to receive Baby Welcome Baskets for program participants. The baskets included beautiful handmade items from the knitters' group along with baby necessities and a laminated prayer for families. The generous members of St. Mary’s helped to fill the baskets with diapers, wipes, baby wash, shampoo, bottles, teethers, books, a receiving blanket and even a teacup with assorted teas for mom. The baskets were assembled and blessed at a service on Mother’s Day and then delivered to Baby Steps Coordinator Mishana Boyark to be distributed to participating families. | |
|
Career Closet Provides New PJs
Baby Steps collaborated with East Bay Community Action Program's Career Closet which provides work-appropriate clothing at no cost to people who are unemployed, completing job training and education programs, or seeking employment. Career Closet had recently received a donation of new children's pajamas and provided them for free to Baby Steps families. For more information about Career Closet, please contact Kim Wetherald, Director of Office Volunteer Services, at 401-435-7876 or email: kwetherald@ebcap.org.
| |
This summer, Baby Steps collaborated with Alexandra Harkness of Lucy’s Hearth to provide comforting welcome bags to new families. The bags contained spa items, a journal, pens, motivational stickers, and information on local resources. Lucy's Hearth helps families experiencing homelessness due to economic hardship, family crisis, divorce, eviction, and severe shortage of safe, affordable housing. For more information about Lucy's Hearth, please email: info@lucyshearth.org or call 401-847-2021. | |  |
|
Baby Steps Coordinator Mishana Boyark participated in Newport Public Library's Tuesday Morning Fun Family Read Aloud sessions throughout the summer. She offered free books and information on Baby Steps and East Bay Community Action Program's (EBCAP) evidence-based family visiting and Head Start programs. It was a great way to introduce Baby Steps to new parents and share information about other maternal/early childhood education programs at EBCAP.
For more information on family events at the library, please visit https://newportlibraryri.org
| | |
|
September
Welcome Back and Apples
Guest Speaker: Beth Canning “How Does your Child Learn Part 1”
Book: How do Apples Grow?
Craft: yarn apple craft
| |
|
October
Positive Parenting – Part 1
Special Guest Speaker – Katherine Partridge, Psy.D., Staff Psychologist, Pediatric Partial Hospital Program, Bradley Hospital
Book: Scholastic’s Touch and Feel Fall
Craft: handprint pumpkin (modeling dough and coffee filters)
| |
|
November
Communication – Part 1
Book: Llama Llama Give Thanks
Craft: coffee filter turkey
| |
|
Thank you for your continued support of the Baby Steps Program!
Your generous help and participation makes it possible for Baby Steps to provide a strong community resource to increase early childhood literacy and support family development.
| |
|
Baby Steps is a program of East Bay Community Action Program
Contact Us: 401-490-1380 or mboyark@ebcap.org.
| | | | | |
