Fall / Winter Newsletter
Vol. 9, November 2023 - February 2024
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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 from birth to kindergarten and expecting parents in the Newport County area.
This edition features late fall and winter activities held for our families.
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Turkey windsock craft made by the children at our sessions. |
Routines and Transitions
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This month, Dr. Katherine Partridge, a psychologist from Bradley Hospital, and Thamara Davis, a child psychiatrist at Bradley Hospital presented at our sessions about the importance of establishing routines at home with our children. They talked about the “good enough plan” and how to use the time we have with our kids to encourage positive interactions at home.
The families shared their different bedtime routines, and it was a good introduction to our topic for next month: dialogic reading.
We ended our sessions with a beautiful turkey windsock made with toilet paper rolls! The kids painted the rolls, glued ribbons and feathers and finished them off with silly googly eyes.
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Spencer Hardy, from EBCAP’s Head Start Home-Based program, reading a book at our Middletown Group. | Dialogic Reading Strategies |
The theme for this month was around family and how to spend time together while reading books. Parents learned about reading strategies with children and the importance of establishing a routine for book reading. Book recommendations for different topics were also given to the parents.
Reading books with children, offers the opportunity to talk about social emotional skills such as the management of our emotions, social interaction, transitions, etc.
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In December, all of our Baby Steps families received a winter activity kit, which included a puzzle, coloring book, stamps, play dough and other materials for arts and crafts to do at home.
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(Left) Joel Beauchemin playing his Fiddlestix. (Right) Jacqueline Katz reading a book and wearing one of her many hats. |
We focused this month on providing enrichment activities for the families to promote family well-being and reduce stress at home.
At our Saturday group we had Fiddle ‘n Fun, a musical, hands-on learning experience, with singing, movement, instruments, and more! Kids learned about Suzuki-style activities using simple one-stringed instruments. These Fiddlestix are incredibly fun, durable, and have been proven to prepare young listeners for learning the violin.
At our Middletown location, we had Mrs. Katz and her Hats, a story time that comes to life through wearing different hats!
Our book of the month was Hot Cocoa Calm, a story that teaches breathing exercises for children to calm down when experiencing big feelings.
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Bear Paper craft made by one of the kids | Social Language/ Communication |
For the month of February, we celebrated love with a bear paper plate craft. Children decorated a plate with pink paper, added ears with hearts and a face, to make this cute craft!
Our Assistant Coordinator, Kimberly Remington, led the topic this month around Communication skills, turn taking and social interaction.
We also welcomed Cyndi Dewhurst, a Speech Language Pathologist from Easter Seals. She encouraged families to engage in one-on-one conversations with their child by making eye contact and actively listening to their cues.
Her message for the parents was to show genuine interest in what children have to say, even if it’s just babbling or simple sounds.
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Graduation will be held on June 8th at EBCAP's Head Start location. We invite all families to be part of this event. It is a day full of fun and outdoor play (weather permitting). | |
Kim Spence with her son Carson and Deon Thompson with her son Kamari. | |
Family Spotlight
We like to be a space for new friendships and new beginnings. We are happy to have moms like Deon Thompson and Kim Spence, who were neighbors and strengthen their friendship through our program. Thank you for putting your trust on learning about your children’s development on us!
-Baby Steps Team-
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Try this craft to do at home with children!
Open the link below and follow the instructions to do this bear plate paper craft.
Click here
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The Thank you Letter - by Julia Denos.
A celebration of gratitude and simple ways of brightening others' days with a sweet, brightly illustrated story about a girl's letters… and her town's overwhelming response.
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The Last Marshmallow – by Grace Lin (bilingual edition).
An effective way to teach children about early division and sharing equally.
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Hot Cocoa Calm - by Kira Willey.
A book that teaches children how to take control of their emotions and breathe their way to calm.
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Baby Goes to the Market – by Atinuke.
Join Baby and his doting mama at a bustling southwest Nigerian marketplace for a bright, bouncy read-aloud offering a gentle introduction to numbers
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Dental Hygiene and Nutrition
Guest: Lidia Galloza, RDH
Dr. Zebian, DDS
EBCAP Dental Center
Heidi Hetzler – SNAP-Ed (University of Rhode Island)
March 2nd
March 7th
March 14th
March 19th
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My Child's Feelings
Guest: Cyndi Dewhurst, Speech and Language Pathologist
April 4th
April 6th (field trip)
April 9th
April 11th
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Positive Parenting/Discipline
Guest: Christopher Carbone, Expressive Arts Facilitator
Dr. Katherine Partridge, Psychologist, Bradley Hospital
Carissa Perkowski, Early Childhood Educator
May 4th
May 9th
May 16th
May 21st
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Register for our regularly-scheduled playgroups on Tuesday mornings, Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.
Click here to look at the flyer for the remaining dates for the year.
For more information on our sessions email us at babysteps@ebcap.org or call us at 401-367-2001 Ext. 2226
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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
babysteps@ebcap.org
Phone (401) 367 - 2001 Ext. 2226
Baby Steps Team
Cristina Boza
Kimberly Remington
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