Come one, come all!

Ok, as some of you may know, I've been doing an internship this semester at United Way of Utah County with their program, Help Me Grow.  For all of these last four months, we have been working on our annual family event, which is taking place April 30th at UVU Centre Stage.

This activity has a ton of merit.  Parents with young children in the area: Please consider bringing your kids to this event.  There will be SO MUCH information on parenting alone that will make it worth your while, not to mention all of the fun activities that will occupy your children for 2 hours.  There is a fee for going, but it is minimal.  $5 for families with 1-2 children (this includes one child's t-shirt), $10 for families with 3-5 kids (2 children's t-shirts), and $15 for families with 6+ kids (3 t-shirts) *Additional kids shirts can be purchased for $2.50 a piece*.  Small price for a family outing.  Plus, if you register now *today* you will be entered into the final two drawings to win educational toys for your kids.

 

I'm really excited for this event.  REALLY.  I'm excited to see how much fun my daughter has.  I'm excited for all the parenting information that has been running around our office since I've been there to be put on paper for everyone to benefit from.  I'm excited to see all of the parents there learning how to help their children grow and develop.  I'm excited to see all of the pro-active-ness.  It's going to be AWESOME! 

Nursery Rhymes?

Remember when you were little?  Like, REALLY little?  Did your mother, father, grandparents, or other caregiver say nursery rhymes with you?  Which was your favorite?

The one that I do most often with my daughter is "There Was An Old Woman"

"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do!
She gave them some broth without any bread,
Then scolded them soundly and sent them to bed."

Kind of a sad story.  But my daughter gets so into the tone and facial expressions I use while telling it, that it's really become a bonding moment for us.

So, aside from building relationships over nonsensical (Hey Diddle Diddle), depressing (Ring Around the Roses), and trivial (Georgie Porgie) poems, why would we continue the tradition of sharing these nursery rhymes with our children?

"Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they're four years old, they're usually among the best readers by the time they're eight." [Fox, M. (2001). Reading Magic. San Diego, CA: Harcourt.]

So keep on singing those lullabies and reciting nursery rhymes.  Change the words if the topics are too dark and gruesome for your children ;-)  But continue preparing your children to read and enter the world of books!

Easy Baby Book Idea!

How many of you parents have felt, or do feel, guilty about not being as consistent as you would like to be about updating your child's baby book?  Be honest, you can raise your hand.  I know that I have suffered from those feelings of insufficiency as a mother.

Now, another question: How many of you, who are now feeling guilty about the previously mentioned subject, would like an easy, "kill two birds with one stone" alternative to documenting your child's development?  I'm raising my hand.

Solution: ASQ.

Some of you may not be familiar with the ASQ.  Allow me to alleviate your confusion.  The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) is a developmental screening tool that we at Help Me Grow distribute to the families that call us looking for resources.  Since the overall, ultimate reason for our existence as a program is to empower parents, we are stalwart advocates of this tool.  The ASQ is a questionnaire that is divided into five areas of development, with six activities in each area.  This assessment is completely non-intrusive, and is actually a good way to spend time with your children.  At each stage of development, the activities are designed to inform parents of "normal" or "average" development at that period of life, and to allow parents to determine if their child is developing at the same pace.  If a child is not quite at the suggested level, we can supplement development in that area with activities to promote progression.  If a child seems to be more noticeably behind where they should be, our office will refer the parents to a local community resource to make sure there isn't a problem; and if there is a problem we will get them to an agency that is able to help them.

So, how does this work as a baby book?  After parents send in their child's completed ASQ, we score it, and contact the parents to let them know how their child is doing.  If requested, we can return the completed and scored ASQ to the parent for their records.  They will have that information available, and they will have documented what their child was able to do at each age as they developed.  For more information about the ASQ, visit http://www.agesandstages.com/asq/asqbenefits.html

Resource Spotlight!

Within our county, there are Early Intervention Programs associated with each school district.  For those of you who reside in the Alpine School District, you may be familiar with Kids on the Move and their Bridges program.  Though some of the Kids on the Move programs are only for residents within the Alpine School District, Bridges serves all of Utah County.

Bridges is a service providing classes and training for families of children 3-5 living with autism spectrum disorders.  This summer they are offering new classes, from ABA Home Based Training and Development, to Autism Preschool and Social Groups!  If you or someone you know may benefit from these services, or you would just like to learn more, please visit their website here.

Thank you to Kids on the Move and Bridges for all they do for our community!

Fun in the Sun!

April is HERE!!!! Yay!

I've have a secret to confess.  I am NOT one of those people that can bask in the sun any day it pleases to show itself.  Myself, I prefer to enjoy a lovely day of dark clouds and cool-ish weather, preferably sometime between April 1 and September 30.

However, I realize that most people do not share my enthusiasm for dark clouds that warn of windy weather and fearsome storms.  So, share with us some of the ways you get out and enjoy the Spring/Summer sun!  What do you do to get YOUR KIDS outside to enjoy it?  Do you go to the park?  Sell lemonade?  Or just lie on the ground and soak up that Vitamin D (wearing sunscreen, of course)?

(photo courtesy of http://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-summer-fun-carl-purcell.html)

Autism Speaks

Hey friends!  April 2 is Autism Awareness Day.  As a sign of support for Autism awareness and research, join with communities all over the country by wearing BLUE!  Part of Autism Awareness Day includes the Light It Up Blue event, where companies everywhere will be lighting their businesses with blue lights!

Thanks everyone for your support of Help Me Grow, and I hope that you will all do your own research as well to support Autism Awareness!

(photo courtesy of http://www.lightitupblue.org)