FORWARD THINKING LEADERSHIP PROGRAM AT STAR SPENCER MID-HIGH SCHOOL Resources for strong families
SMART START’S FREE EARLY BIRDS PROGRAM
New parents receive ongoing education and support Parent Promise and INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center’s Right Track program provides new parents education and support after returning home with their newborns. Before leaving the hospital after delivery, parents receive information about the services offered and a care/resource package. Parent educators schedule an appointment to visit the family within a few weeks of hospital dismissal. Melinda Campbell, MSW, LCSW with INTEGRIS Case Management, says timely in-home visitation and support can make a tremendous difference in the lives of their patients, especially in monitoring concerns like the development of postpartum depression and following safe sleep recommendations. Sherry Fair, executive director of Parent Promise, calls the new program “groundbreaking.” Parent Promise is a nonprofit organization offering home-based support programs to assist parents in creating a loving, nurturing and safe home. The Women’s Center at INTEGRIS has been a top referral source for Parent Promise. “The earlier we can begin working with vulnerable families, the better opportunity these families have to start on a path to parenting success,” said Fair. “This program is a front-line effort in the direction of providing more nurturing homes and families, ensuring children are on a healthy track physically and emotionally.” The program is free to patients due to funding provided through grants from the Arnall Family Foundation and the INTEGRIS Foundation. Find out more about the educational resources and support available through Parent Promise at parentpromise.org.
Parenting program offers free resources
Smart Start Central Oklahoma offers its free Early Birds program to support parents and caregivers of children under 5 with toys, books and activities to develop school readiness. More than 4,000 participants benefit from the program each year. Early Birds promotes healthy parent-child relationships and interactions, provides children with positive early learning experiences and supports parents as their child’s first and most influential teacher. “The years before age 5 are the most critical for a child’s developing brain,” says Stacy Dykstra, executive director for Smart Start Central Oklahoma. “During a child’s first 5 years of life, the parent is the primary and most important teacher and role model, so it’s important to give them the support and skills they need to serve as confident, effective teachers of their children.” During each 90-minute class parents learn how to take advantage of teachable moments throughout the day, and a trained instructor discusses developmental milestones, everyday learning, purposeful parenting and family health and wellness. In support of school readiness, Early Birds enables parents to help their children develop healthy social-emotional skills, and the open atmosphere encourages discussion, sharing of resources and the opportunity to meet other parents. Parents receive a free bag of educational toys and books to stimulate learning and development at home. Parents may attend Early Birds beginning with a prenatal class and then three times per year until their child is 5 and ready to enter kindergarten. Classes are offered in Oklahoma County public school districts and at community partner locations in both English and Spanish. A complete schedule can be found at www.smartstartcentraloklahoma.org/early-birds.
METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / FEBRUARY 2020 7
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