August-September 2006
"The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn,” Sir John Lubbock.
- LittleFest of Storytelling II at the Quadrangle on Saturday, September 30
- EC Literacy Expert Comes to Springfield on September 12
- Welcome Baby Basket and Home Visiting Program Birthed by CHECH Workgroup
EC Literacy Expert Comes to Springfield on September 12
“Closing the Achievement Gap: Preschool Intervention on the Line”, will be the featured topic at the Tuesday, September 12 meeting of Cherish Every Child’s Implementation Team. Dr. Judith Schickedanz, Professor of Education in the Department of Literacy and Language in the School of Education at Boston University, will speak to early childhood leaders at the Early Childhood Centers of Greater Springfield, Inc. from 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. Schickedanz is a former preschool teacher, former Director of the Early Childhood Laboratory Preschool at Boston University, and served as Coordinator for the Early Childhood Program at Boston University for 20 years.
Her presentation will include specific strategies that research has shown are effective in increasing preschool children’s oral language and literacy skill levels. Dr. Schickedanz’s publications include Much More than the ABC’s; Writing in Preschool; Curriculum in Early Childhood: A Resource Guide for Preschool and Kindergarten Teachers; and she is the senior author with co-author David Dickinson of the comprehensive, language and literacy focused preschool curriculum, Opening the World of Learning, known as OWL.
If you would like to attend this presentation, please contact Chris Warren at the Davis Foundation at 734-8336.
LittleFest of Storytelling II at the Quadrangle on Saturday, September 30
Once again the Quadrangle will be host to a free day of storytelling and activities for very young children and their families, as LittleFest returns on Saturday, September 30 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Featured storyteller Tom McCabe will perform in the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden, while Bobby Gonzalez will perform Puerto Rican and Latino stories in the Library and Johnette La Conte will perform Native American stories in the Science Museum. All storytellers will perform their stories multiple times, so it is possible for children to experience all three performers. In addition, Food Play, a fun-filled show about nutrition, will take place at noon in the Davis Auditorium in the Museum of Fine Art, sponsored by Health New England.
LittleFest II, to be held rain or shine (as all performances will move inside in case of rain), is designed for families with young children and will also include continuous opportunities for children to do hands-on arts and crafts. There will be an Information Fair under the tent at the Quadrangle, designed to help families with small children access community programs and services such as the Community Music School and YMCA. LittleFest II, a program of the Springfield Library and the Springfield Museums, is made possible by a grant from Cherish Every Child, an initiative of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation.
Flyers in English and Spanish are available for distribution, and a limited number of display tables in the Information Fair are available free of charge. Email Rachel Griffiths at rgriffiths@springfieldmuseums.org by September 15 for information, flyers or participation in the Information Fair.
Welcome Baby Basket and Pilot Home Visiting Program Birthed by CHECHS Workgroup
The CHECH Home Visiting Workgroup has developed a pilot program to celebrate the birth of newborns and their families. The program will offer support for new parents at a critical time in their family’s development, as well as an opportunity to increase their knowledge about what to expect, where to go for help, and to link them with needed community resources.
To inform their work on the development of this program, the workgroup researched the capacity of existing home visiting programs in the Greater Springfield area, as well as models of programs and best practices of programs targeted at mothers with newborns.
The pilot program, based on a model that has been successfully implemented by two Boston area organizations, will deliver a Welcome Baby Gift Basket filled with gifts and information to support the family’s health and education. A trained paraprofessional or professional will visit with the family and assess the interest in and need for service provision. The home visitor will provide information about available resources and services and, when appropriate, will help the family access these resources.
An RFP has been released to local agencies with newborn home visiting expertise. The lead agency chosen to host the pilot program will be announced in early November.
