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Summer/Fall Newsletter
Vol. 5, July - November 2022
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Welcome to the latest edition of the Baby Steps Buzz, your source of information, highlights and activities of the Baby Steps program. Baby Steps is a family education program that provides a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment for all families with a child/children aged birth to four and expecting parents in the Newport County area.
This edition features fun summer and early fall activities held for our families.
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July - We Moved, and We're Loving Our New Location! | | |
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It is official! Baby Steps is now located at East Bay Community Action Program's Head Start building in Newport. Our new address is 8 John H. Chafee Blvd., Newport, RI 02840. Our new space has so much to offer our families. The collaboration with Head Start has been extremely beneficial for Baby Steps’ success.
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August Summer Camp Session
On August 20th, Baby Steps welcomed all of our families to a “Summer Camp” themed session at Head Start. This was our first session at our new location. Families enjoyed a nutritious breakfast and decorated a paper fan to stay cool. The children engaged in various outdoor activities. The kids had a great time on the playground and sand pit. The biggest hit was the inflatable dinosaur that sprays out water. The kids had a blast!
Left: Charlie, age 16 months, digging in the sand on Head Start's amazing playground.
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Connor, age 2, enjoying some watermelon after running around. | |
Kiara, age 2, playing in the dinosaur sprinkler. | |
Left: Siblings, Arianna and Logan, decorating their fans with markers, crayons, and dotters. We used paper plates and popsicle sticks to create our fans to stay cool in the August heat.
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September- MLK Collaboration and Conexión Latina Kick Off Session
For the month of September, Baby Steps collaborated with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center and Imagination Library. Imagination Library Program Coordinator, Judy Hall, and MLK Center Executive Director, Heather Strout, helped facilitate two great sessions. Our Saturday morning session was located at Head Start and our Thursday night session was located at the MLK Center. Read more about the MLK Center and Imagination Library - click here.
September 10th - After welcoming our families and serving a light breakfast, families listened to Judy Hall and Heather Strout share all the great services the MLK Center has to offer, including Imagination Library. Judy then led a children’s yoga session on the rug, accompanied by the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Judy let the children pass around her very special wonder box and then ended her portion with some breathing exercises. We then welcomed Cathy Gould, from Newport Public Library, to read stories and sing songs that followed our theme. We ended the session with a caterpillar craft that the children painted.
September 15th - This session followed the same routine as our Saturday session, except we were at the MLK Center in Newport. What made this session so special was getting a tour of the MLK Center and then our families were given the option to shop in the food pantry if they wanted to. Our families were thrilled to learn about all of the great resources offered by the Center.
|  | Conexión Latina supports the needs of the Hispanic/Latino community by creating connections and partnerships with resources and advocacy, and creating pathways to increase access and representation throughout the city of Newport, Rhode Island. | |
Judy Hall, the Imagination Library Program Coordinator, leading our families in a child-friendly yoga session. | Our volunteer, Cathy Gould, from the Newport Public Library reading to our families. | Connor, aged 2, and Ruby, aged 2, using green and red paint to paint their very hungry caterpillars. | |
Baby Steps is very proud to collaborate with Conexión Latina, an amazing community partner. On September 27th, Baby Steps held a session at Conexión Latina where we will now be offering monthly sessions.
After welcoming our new families and explaining all that Baby Steps has to offer, our wonderful translator, Cristina Boza, read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle in Spanish. We then interacted with the families by facilitating a child yoga session. Children then painted a caterpillar.
This session followed the same theme and topic as our traditional sessions for the month of September. Baby Steps incorporated the evidence-based Parents as Teachers curriculum to help educate our families on the importance of play and spending time outside with your child. We were thrilled to welcome 15 new families to Baby Steps!
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October - Field Trip to Escobar Farm
On October 8th, we took our families to the corn maze at Escobar Farm in Portsmouth, RI. We invited our families to come between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to get lost in the “Field of Dreams” maze! This family fun activity incorporates all three of our curriculum topics (how does your child learn, positive parenting and communication).
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Eden and Harrison, showing off their painted faces. | |
Our program coordinator, Lexi Lewis, with her family before they ventured through the “Field of Dreams” corn maze. | |
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What did children learn from this fun adventure?
Children learn through play. This experience allowed children to play at the farm and get exposed to new things. While the children played, parents offered simple coaching along the way to get through the maze. This positive parenting helped strengthen family relationships. While communicating as a family through the maze, language skills were strengthened. Pointing and naming new things to children helps support their vocabulary.
Special thanks to our friends at U.G. Nasons, a local HVAC company, for their generous donation of pumpkins for each of the families attending our field trip!
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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.
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Baby Steps is a program of East Bay Community Action Program
Contact Us
Lexi Lewis: (p) 401-474-2032 (e) alewis@ebcap.org
Kimberly Remington: (p) 401-533-1160 (e) kremington@ebcap.org
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