Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Soccer Season has Begun!


Though the weather is still flirting with winter, spring is in the air and soccer season is here! Mark your calendars because the South Franklin Community Center’s Soccer League has its first game day on April 9th!
Where: Boulder Apartment Field & Franklin Elementary Field
Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Why: Its awesome!!!
Run completely by community volunteers and donations, the program is a part of United Way of Utah County’s focus on education and helping children succeed in school and beyond. The South Franklin Community Center is in its 5th season of providing a free soccer league to families in Utah County. 
Its a blast for the kids that participate and for the parents and friends that watch. There are still open slots so if your child is interested in signing up they can register until the end of April. They get a free team t-shirt and get to compete with kids their age. You can pick up a form at either United Way of Utah County (148 N 100 W, Provo), Centro Hispano (817 S Freedom Blvd, Provo) or the South Franklin Community Center (750 S 650 W, Provo).
If you have questions feel free to contact either Laura or Kim at 801-374-2588.
The soccer league is still in need of volunteers, specifically referees. If you are interested in volunteering, visit http://bit.ly/ehcNB2 .

Monday, March 28, 2011

Promote Literacy!

I've been getting SO excited for this summer, thinking of all the activities and outings that my daughter and I will do.  One of the things I'm SUPER excited for is story time at the Provo City Library.  I went to their website today to see when they do story time, and I was surprised to see all of the different activities they have for different age groups!  It's also great, because they aren't sitting down and just reading, they're doing puppet shows and finger plays that are appropriate for the different ages.  And the sessions are only 20-30 minutes, which is great for kids who have a lot of wiggles.  Come on parents!  Let's get our kids excited about reading :-)  Here's the link for Provo City Library's Kids' Corner (http://bit.ly/e3Amqd)  or visit your local library's website!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Relax....

Question to everyone: What do you do to relax?

I constantly feel exhausted managing our home and running after my two year old; and she's the only child I have!  I know some of you have one, more than one, or none--and I'm assuming ALL of you have some amount of stress.  So what do you do to relax and unwind?

The best thing for me are these at my fingers...


...and this musical genius's sheet music in front of me...


...and I am good to go.  

Nothing puts me in a better mood than letting all my pent up emotions run rampant through my fingers as I play his songs.  I just...LOVE to play his music.  (If you haven't heard any of his songs, find some to listen to.  He is AMAZING.)

Now, back out to you.  Share with us your stress-relieving techniques!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Books, Balls, and Blocks!

It's getting closer!  Our Family Event is only a month a way!  Be sure to mark your calendar and register to attend "Books, Balls, and Blocks" at UVU Centre Stage.  We will be having several activities using these items to help stimulate your child's development in many areas, including communication, problem solving, and fine motor skills.  You don't want to miss this!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Need to see the dentist?

If you are needing cheaper dental care, consider going to the Utah College of Dental Hygiene in Orem.  They have $10 cleanings and other discounted services.  Their front office phone number is 801-426-0774.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Potty Training

As a mother of 2.5 year old, I've been contemplating potty training for some time, though I haven't really begun because this is something I would like to do with her when I will be home with her all day, and not gone for half of it as I am now.  I've been researching different methods, and I've come to the conclusion that overall, you want this time of vulnerability to end not only successfully, but positively as well.  For myself, I'm inclined to follow the method outlined in the Touchpoints books, written by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D.  (These are fantastic books to read in and of themselves.)  Dr. Brazelton advises parents to allow children to "toilet learn" on their own time and terms, thus increasing the odds of success, and coming out of the experience on positive terms with your child.

What did you do with your kids while they potty trained? Do you remember how you were potty trained?  What would you do the same or differently?

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Documenting Milestones




Hello Help Me Grow Blog readers! My name is Stephanie and I am a first-time mom of the cutest 4 month old boy in the world! (Yes, we moms are allowed to be biased. I’m sure your baby is the cutest in the world to you, too). But really, look at this picture.  You have to agree he is in at least the top ten.  :-)

I have learned a lot over the last 4 months and continue to learn new things every day.  I hope I can continue to write here some of the things I have learned and hopefully learn from all of you from the comments you leave.

Today, I wanted to share something that actually happened while I was pregnant.  Didn’t you find that there was a lot of pressure to prepare to document every little milestone your baby has?  I couldn’t believe all the journals and books and things I saw to have you write the date of everything.  Now, I could understand the big ones, like first smile, first step, first roll over, first tooth, etc.  However, I was also seeing people document everything like first time looking at me or first time he moved! (ok, that might be an exaggeration, but really…)  In other words I was feeling overwhelmed.

I guess it is important for you to know also that I am extremely intimidated by keeping a journal for all of my kids.  For the first, it may not have been a big deal.  However, as I thought about adding one, two, three, maybe even four…I got more and more nervous.  I had to think of an easier solution.

Then, I found it!  Two Minute Tuesdays.  Each Tuesday (or Wednesday, if I forget), I pull out our video camera and take a short 2-3 minute video of my little guy.  I try to get him to do some of the new things he learned that week, but if he won’t do them, I just talk about them while I video his cute face!  I have to tell you, it has been SO fun watching him grow and I love going back to old videos to see how much he has grown.  At the end of the first year, I plan to put them all together and put them on DVD.  Also, after the first year, we will not be doing it every week. Maybe once a month or so. This documenting technique has taken all the pressure off of writing everything down and we have a blast doing it together!
So, what are some ways that you like to document your child’s achievements?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Create your own games with blocks

I created my own activity for kids with colored blocks. Be creative and let your kids join in the fun!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Success!

Happy Monday to you all!

In an attempt to fulfill the purpose of this blog, which is to reach out to parents and let them (you) know that they aren't alone, the Help Me Grow team has revamped our posting schedule.  As part of this make over, every so often we will be sharing success stories that we've had with parents that have called in needing help.  Have no fear, we will definitely be calling for your consent before we release ANY information :-)

 And for our first success story, I thought it would be appropriate if I shared a personal story.  When I first started working with Help Me Grow, I got an Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) to do with my 2 year old daughter.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the ASQ, this questionnaire is comprised of age appropriate activities to do with your child, and these activities measure how your child is developing compared to the "average" child that age.  The purpose of the ASQ is catch developmental delays early on, but some parents like being able to keep track of how their child is doing regardless of the presence of a delay.  Anyway, when I started, I got an ASQ to do with my daughter.  She scored alright, but it was informative to me to see what the different activities did to help her develop.  Some of them I would have never have thought to do with her, and some I wouldn't have seen the value in doing them.  But having the ASQ available to me has given me an extra source of confidence in knowing that I can do certain things to be sure that my daughter is developing the way she should, as opposed to relying on someone else to tell me how she's doing.

If any of you readers are interested in receiving the ASQ to do with your child, feel free to contact us through 2-1-1 and ask for Help Me Grow.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Happy Birthday Help Me Grow!



Yesterday, March 1st, was Help Me Grow's first birthday!  We are one year strong.  We have helped 234 families and 99 are currently active. We have processed over 300 parent screenings, have made 28 referrals to early intervention and over 400 referrals to numerous community resources.  Thank you for all the support and help you have given to the Help Me Grow line.  A special thanks to 2-1-1 specialists for sending parents our way.

The Help Me Grow Team :-)