BabySteps Fall Newsletter 2014

BabyEmpoweringSteps

Parents

FALL NEWSLETTER

BabySteps employee, Keisha Bogan, and I were sitting on a picnic bench having a conversation with Verdine Judd, a grassroots community leader. We mostly listened as Verdine talked about her neighborhood and expressed her hope for the children who live

there. Verdine is the mother of three children and has several grandchildren, some who have been participants at BabySteps since our beginning in 2004. She and her family live in one of the subsidized housing communities in Okolona, MS.

I’d sought out Verdine, on this sunny autumn afternoon, to learn more about the neighborhood garden project she spearheads. She had just hosted a very successful gathering the previous week, celebrating their third year in operation. Verdine, and many of the children in the 17 - family complex, had grown and harvested green beans, tomatoes, okra, and collard greens from the garden. Verdine and her family prepared the vegetables along with fried chicken and homemade banana pudding and served them to the residents. Approximately 50 folks gathered to enjoy the food and each other’s company. I wanted to know how she got the parents involved.

Verdine believes the time she spends teaching the children how to tell the difference between a weed and a bean plant is much more than a simple gardening lesson. She pointed out that they are learning important life lessons like how it feels to work hard and then reap the reward. “As the children watch and wait for the plants to grow, they

are learning patience and delayed gratification. As they work side-by-side, they learn the importance of cooperation and teamwork.” The parents observe (often, in amazement) as their children perform tasks and follow through on commitments, things they sometimes have difficulty doing at home. The time Verdine gives to the garden and the children demonstrates her commitment and care for her community.

“It’s like making Stone Soup,” remarked Verdine. “We all put in our little bit to make more and to make it better.”

BabySteps lives the “Stone Soup” philosophy as well. To make it more and better we have a cadre of volunteers who help us. Guest readers who share books with students in the elementary school and early childhood centers, male mentors who spend quality time with little boys enrolled in the B.E.S.T. program, retired teachers who gather to provide fun, educational activities and lunch for the children during extended vacation/holiday breaks from school and church congregations who use a portion of their donations to pay tuition fees so preschoolers can stay in school ─ these are the folks who put in their little bit to make it “more and better” for the families at BabySteps.

BabySteps is dedicated to improving the lives and futures of children in northeast Mississippi, one family at a time. Parents take notice when we do amazing things with their children. They like what they see and come to BabySteps to learn how they can help their little ones do more and perform better in and out of school and join us in making our own version of “Stone Soup.”

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

In April of this year, the University of Mississippi Museum Traveling Trunk Program visited BabySteps. The program visits

early child care centers and schools in the North Mississippi region, with “Traveling Trunks” in tow. Each trunk is packed with exercises, educational props and artistic materials to enrich classroom studies. Tierney Charlton, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, presented the B.E.S.T. Boys with the African Art trunk.

The boys learned about different African musical instruments and masks and the tribal significance of each. The boys were also given an opportunity to create masks of their own. The visit ended with Ms. Charlton reading the book, We All Went on Safari and teaching the boys how to count in Swahili!

The B.E.S.T Boys began the year focusing on the thematic unit, “A Healthy Start.” They learned about the importance of exercising and eating a balanced diet. A personal trainer and volunteer mentors held an interactive fitness session with the boys, teaching them how to perform exercises such as sit-ups, push-ups and mountain climbers. Both the

trainers and the boys had a great time!

Also in April, the B.E.S.T. Boys took a field trip to HealthWorks! — a children’s health education center in Tupelo, MS. The facility offers a wide variety of fun, informative, health-related activities, including exhibits, puppet shows and activities that engage all the senses.

The B.E.S.T. Boys had a fantastic time as they learned about the different food groups, how the brain works, the importance of exercise and maintaining healthy teeth and gums.

Through our partnership with Okolona’s Community Readers (a volunteer group of parents, pastors

and local city officials), BabySteps has had enormous success incorporating reading into our children’s lives.

The Community Readers make bi-weekly visits to various early child care centers throughout Okolona. During each visit, they read a book and engage the children in related learning exercises in order to increase their comprehension and language skills.

This past June, we concluded the inaugural year of the B.E.S.T. (Boys Early Success Team) Program. In line with President Obama’s My Brothers’ Keeper initiative, the B.E.S.T. program was created specifically to address the needs of young males of color.

The program, which ran from September 2013 through June 2014, had three specific goals. The first goal was to prepare 30 African American three- and four-year-old boys academically, socially, emotionally and behaviorally for entrance to kindergarten.

To meet this goal, we offered families partial scholarships to partnering early child care centers, enhanced our existing curriculum with materials specifically devoted to social and emotional development and provided early childhood teacher development for the staff with the assistance of an on-site instructional coach.

Our second goal was to ensure that the initial successes experienced by these boys would be nurtured and encouraged by informed parents. To that end, we encouraged B.E.S.T. parents to attend monthly parenting sessions, participate in in-home visits twice a month and volunteer at an early childcare center.

The third goal of the program was to further connect with the community. This was accomplished by establishing a male mentoring program. Men from the community participated in various workshops and mentoring activities.

The B.E.S.T. program received wide media coverage in Okolona and surrounding communities.

One of our community forums and a mentoring activity at the local barbershop were featured on the news. The Chickasaw Journal ran a press release on the B.E.S.T. program and a follow-up article on the program’s progress. Facebook and Twitter expanded our reach outside of Mississippi and garnered additional attention and support.

A tweet featuring B.E.S.T. mentors and boys at the barbershop received over 27,000 views after being re-tweeted by celebrity Russell Simmons during a “Sons and Brothers” chat.

But BabySteps isn’t just focused on our boys. Our girls are the best too! Check our website, www.takebabysteps.com, soon to see all of the wonderful activities and exercises we will be creating with our girls in mind.

We thought we’d share this wonderful recipe just in time for the holiday season! We tried it and it’s delicious! Consider using this as an opportunity to teach your children or grandchildren about fresh ingredients, colors, numbers and measurements as they help in the kitchen.

Aunt Mae’s Sweet Potato Pie (Recipe makes one 9-inch pie)

Ingredients:1 9-inch pie shell (unbaked) 1 pound sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk2 eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla extract1/4teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large mixing bowl, blend hot sweet potatoes with butter until smooth. Add remaining ingredients (except crust). Mix well. Pour ingredients into pie crust. Bake 40 minutes or until golden brown. Let pie cool before digging in!

Source: www.allrecipes.com

WHAT’S

Read aloud so preschoolers can:• Continue to associate reading with warm, pleasant feelings• Learn about words and language; expand their listening skills• Build their vocabularies with words they understand and can use Choose books preschoolers enjoy, including stories with:• Young children who have experiences similar to your preschooler’s• Simple plots your preschooler can retell in his/her own words• Facts, explanations, and new people, places and things While reading aloud:• Run your finger under the text as you read• Pause so your preschooler can say the word that ends a

predictable phrase• Stop to ask thinking questions like, “What’ll happen?” or “Why did

he do that?”

Source: RIF (Reading is Fundamental)

TIPS FOR READING ALOUD WITH PRESCHOOLERS

BabySteps has consistently collected information to determine our impact on individual participants and throughout the community. Independent evaluators have conducted focus groups, administered questionnaires and analyzed various forms of data to assess our effectiveness. They have also suggested course correction when necessary. Since we opened our doors in 2004, we have made some pretty impressive inroads.

ü GROWING OUR PROGRAMWe have grown in size, from our first class of 10 children in 2004 to 40 children in 2014.We have greatly reduced the costs to support a family while simultaneously increasing the number of families we serve.

ü SUPPORTING PARENTSBabySteps parents have demonstrated an increase in knowledge and use of improved parenting techniques and disciplinary practices. Parents have begun to form their own informational support network. This is directly in line with our goal to train indigenouscommunity leaders who will ensure that the information they receive is disseminated throughout the entire community. Parents have come to regard BabySteps as a trustworthy and reliable information broker for school and community issues.

ü IMPROVING ACCESS TO SERVICESParticipating children and families display greater knowledge about health, nutrition and exercise. When needed, we will accompany parents to special education meetings to help them make the best decisions for their child and family. We also make recommendations for services that may benefit the family, i.e., GED/ABE services, social services, stress management, etc. We have also observed greater levels of parental involvement resulting from increased connections of children and families to needed resources and services.

ü IMPROVING FAMILY LITERACYWe have observed an increase in BabySteps parents’ awareness of the importance of reading, the availability of reading materials in homes and the level of parent/child interaction through reading. BabySteps staff members met with parents to discuss the 2013 Literacy-Based Promotion Act and how it will impact their children. We have launched a weekly Family Literacy Night, the goal of which is to help students transition from learning to read to reading to learn. We have also begun encourage lap reading in our in-home training sessions and to distribute books to families at most parent meetings.

In September, BabySteps held a Community Resource Event. The purpose of the event was to connect local families with community-based family-oriented services and resources. Representatives from various organizations were on hand to provide general information and answer specific questions. Participating vendors included: CATCH Kids, Fresh Start, Excel Commons, Parents for Public Schools and others. Sheila Vance from the Early Years Network of the Mississippi State University Extension Service was one of the featured

presenters. Her program works with parents to teach them how to handle the stressors that sometimes accompany parenthood. In explaining why this is important, she said, “If you have a healthy parent, you have a healthy household.”

During that same month, BabySteps hosted a book signing by civil rightsleader, political advisor and author, James Meredith. Mr. Meredith captivated the audience as he read excerpts from his book, A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America, and recounted his experiences as the first African American student at the University of Mississippi.

A native Mississippian, Mr. Meredith is quite familiar with both the city of Okolona and the writings and legacy of BabySteps founder, William Raspberry. Meredith echoed sentiments often expressed by Mr. Raspberry when he said, “What any human being can do in life depends on the foundation laid between birth and five years of age... if we can start a turnaround, I think Okolona is the place.” We couldn’t agree more!

The month of September ended with a presentation at BabySteps by the Northeast Mississippi Birthing Project and The Tupelo Family Resource Center. Elaine Vontress, a community-based doula, was on hand to introduce the services offered by The Birthing Project — ranging from tips on breastfeeding to emotional support groups for new mothers.

“If you have a healthy parent, you have a healthy household.”- Sheila Vance Early Years Network MSU Extension Service

What any human

being can do in life depends on the foundation laid between birth and five years of age.”

- James Meredith

AUTUMN ACTIVITY: WAX PAPER LEAVES

In December, we will close out the year with a holiday party and an Open House and early registration for prospective BabySteps families.

NEXT UP AT BABYSTEPS

“When we were kids, one of our favorite Fall arts and crafts activities was making waxed leaves. We would go outside and collect the prettiest leaves we could find. Then, we would take them inside and our Mom would iron them between two sheets of waxed paper. Once they had cooled, we would cut them out and tape them to the window so that when we looked outside, it always looked as if beautiful leaves were falling from the sky.” - Patricia Raspberry

Here’s how you and your little ones can create beautiful falling leaves.

THINGS YOU’LL NEED: Assorted colorful leavesWax paperLarge, heavy bookThin cotton cloth, like an old T-shirt or dish towelHousehold iron

INSTRUCTIONS:1. Collect the leaves you want to preserve. Make sure the leaves are still fresh and pliable. Leaves that have

already dried will not work.2. Place the leaves between sheets of wax paper. Lay them on a hard, flat surface. Make sure none of the

leaves are touching.3. Place a large heavy object, such as a dictionary, on top of the leaves to flatten them. Let them sit like this

for 24 to 48 hours.4. Remove the pressed leaves and place between new sheets of wax paper. Place the paper with the leaves

between layers of soft, thin cotton cloth. 5. (Parents only!) Set the iron to a low setting and place the cloth covered leaves on the ironing board. When

the iron is heated, press it firmly onto the cloth where one corner of the wax paper is located. Slowly pull the iron across the cloth over the paper while maintaining firm pressure. Repeat until the entire sheet has been covered.

6. Repeat the ironing process a total of three times, allowing a brief cooling period of five to ten seconds between each ironing. This helps ensure the leaves won’t be discolored by the heat.

7. Check the wax paper and leaves. If the leaves can shift or if the paper separates, another ironing may be necessary. When the leaves remain firmly in place and there is no separation around the edges, the process is complete.

8. Use scissors to carefully trim around your leaves, leaving a border of waxed paper to seal them in. Your leaves are now temporarily preserved and ready for display.

Source: creativebug.com

LET’S “FALL” IN LOVE WITH READING!

Here are a few new books that caught our eye. Hopefully, one or more will appeal to the little Readers you know!

Penny and The Magic Puffballs by Alonda WilliamsAge Range: 4-8 yearsPenny wanted to wear her hair down like all of the other girls in her class. She wondered why her friends had long straight hair and she did not. Feeling different made her feel sad. Penny’s mom assures Penny that her hair is perfect and that just because it’s different, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. She decides to style Penny’s hair in puffballs. Penny soon discovers that wonderful magical things happen when she wears her puffballs.

Lola Plants A Garden by Anna McQuinnAge Range: 2-5 yearsAfter Lola reads a book of garden poems, she wants to plant some flowers. She gets books from the library and chooses her plants. Then Lola and her mommy buy the seeds, make the garden, and mark the rows. Now it’s time to wait. . . .

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew DaywaltAge Range: 3 -7 yearsPoor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown Crayon. Black wants to be used for more than just outlining. Blue needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking—each believes he is the true color of the sun. What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best?

2013 BABYSTEPS SUPPORTERS: THANK YOU!

VISIONARIES ($10,000 - $20,000)Mrs. Sondra D. Raspberry

INNOVATORS ($9999 - $5000)Mr. and Mrs. Michael Jackson, IIDr. Patricia D. Raspberry and The Honorable Renee P. Raymond

LEADERS ($4999 - $2500) Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Hall, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Herman Ward, Jr.

CHAMPIONS ($2499 - $1000)Mrs. Nellie AdamsMr. and Mrs. Kent AmosCREATE Foundation, Inc.Mr. Kenneth W. GainesMr. and Mrs. Hugh GaskillMs. Aisha L. GoensMr. and Mrs. Reginald HarrisonMr. and Mrs. Nathan KotzMr. Mark J. Raspberry

BUILDERS ($999 - $500)Ms. Martha M. HamiltonMrs. Margaret Dodson HatcherMr. and Mrs. Thomas N. MasseyDr. Michael P. Stiglitz

BELIEVERS ($499 - $250)Anonymous DonorMr. and Mrs. Noel EpsteinMr. Lloyd Hall and Mrs. Susan Dale HallDr. Denise HayesHGF, Inc.Mr. William R. McClellanMr. Omar MooreMr. and Mrs. Arnold M. RandolphMs. Catherine W. RichardsonMr. Patrick Swygert

SUPPORTERS ($249 - $100)Ms. Toletha BaldwinBank of America Charitable FoundationMr. Chris Brummer and Ms. Rachel LokoMs. Jamie Cohen, Mr. Jerry Cohen and Ms. Marcie FerrisMs. Carmen CollierDana DavidsonMs. Gale DawsonMs. Edie Faser and Mr. Joe OppenheimerMs. Marcie FerrisMrs. Cora FloydMs. Patricia GastonDr. Jacqualyn GreenMs. Mary Margaret HallMs. Rose HarperMr. and Mrs. Michael Jackson

SUPPORTERS (CONT.) Ms. Susan L. JacobyThe Rev. and Mrs. James D. KingMs. June MillionMr. Patrick Judd MurrayNew Zion Baptist ChurchMr. Rich Porter and Mrs. Sharon WalkerMr. and Mrs. David RaspberryMs. F. Gail ReedMs. Charlotte ShawDr. and Mrs. Jerome D. SmithMr. and Mrs. Ric SmithMs. Joan Dodson TilleryMs. Geraldine W. TwittyMr. Charles WebbMr. and Mrs. David WiddifieldMs. Erma WilsonMr. and Mrs. Steven Woods, J

FRIENDS ($99 - $20)Anonymous DonorMrs. Cheryl R. ArvidsonMr. and Mrs. Charles E. CottenMs. Mary Lou FoyMr. Joseph LivingstonDrs. Clarence and Ivy LoveladyMr. Jesus Ramos and Mrs. Karen SzatalowiczMr. and Mrs. Michael RyanMr. and Mrs. Knox Tull, Jr.