Beginning Babies with Books
Overview
Beginning Babies with Books is an early intervention literacy program that promotes the love of reading and learning to young children. It also helps at-risk families learn about the importance of early reading and the impact that pre-reading skills can have on a child's success in school.
A child's success in school is correlated to the education level of the mother and the number of books in the home. Yet 61% of low-income households with children have no children's books. http://www.firstbook.org
Thanks to our dedicated partners and volunteers, through Beginning Babies with Books we are able to distribute 10,000 books to parents and young children in family health centers, child care centers and social service agencies in the city of St. Louis.
How you can help
- Volunteer with the Beginning Babies with Books program.
- Donate books to our programs so we can provide them to families in need.
- Donate funds to our programs so we can purchase books and supplies for our parent workshops.
- Talk to others about the importance of the early stages of literacy and the impact low literacy has on our region.
- Work with a parent to help prepare them to read to their child.
- Become a parent mentor in the Parents in the Classroom program.
- Become a participant in the Parents in the Classroom program.
- Enroll in a literacy program or help a friend enroll.
For more information on how to help contact Jennifer Schmidt at (314)776-7102 ext. 23 or jschmidt@ymcastlouis.org.
Parent Programs
Parents in the Classroom
Beginning Babies with Books matches volunteer mentors with parents that are wanting to learn reading tips and activities to share with their child's classroom. Mentors and parents will meet once a month to prepare a reading activity. Beginning Babies with Books will provide a set of books for the parent to take to the classroom, read and give to the children to take home. If you would like more information about learning reading tips and activities or to become a parent mentor, please contact Jennifer at (314)776-7102 or jschmidt@ymcastlouis.org.
For activites that help spark your child's interest in reading, visit http://www.rif.org.
Parent workshops
Beginning Babies with Books provides free 30 minute to one hour workshops to qualifying agencies in the St. Louis area. During the workshops, we address a parenting topic and read a picture book that relates to the topic. All participants receive a copy of the book that was read, plus one to two additional books to share with their children. We believe that receiving support and recognizing what you already do well then building on those strengths is key to good parenting. If your organization would like more information about parent workshops, please contact Jennifer at (314)776-7102 or jschmidt@ymcastlouis.org
Giving Yourself Credit: Positive Solutions for Challenging Times.
We are all guilty of failing to give ourselves credit at times; instead of lifting ourselves up we tear ourselves down. This workshop will help parents discover their parenting strengths and learn to build on them.
Enjoying Daily Routines
One of the best ways to enjoy life is to create routines to help manage the ‘difficult’ times. This workshop will help parents discover simple techniques to create easy daily routines.
Setting Limits
All children challenge rules. This workshop will help parents understand why and how to stay calm while enforcing them.
Positive Behavior Management
Disciplining children is a key component of any parent’s job, deciding what types of ‘punishment’ to use can be even trickier. This workshop will help parents learn alternatives to spanking that really work!
Self-Calming
Being able to recognize emotional build-up is the first stage in self-calming. This workshop will help parents recognize strategies used to self-calm.
Helping Children Wait
Waiting is a learned and necessary life skill. This workshop will help parents learn games and strategies that will help their children to wait more patiently.
Preparing Your Child for Transitions
Children may have difficulty making transitions for many reasons. This workshop will help parents prepare children for transitions.
Empowerment and Reading
All children can be empowered to read. This workshop will help parents understand how structured choices, opportunities for exploration, and self-concepts can lead to reading empowerment.
Creating a Reading Environment
Family involvement is essential to any child’s success as a reader. This workshop will help parents develop a reading environment in their home.
Communicating with Healthcare Professionals
Taking your child to the doctor can be a scary event. This workshop will allow parents to discuss ways to develop a positive relationship with their child’s healthcare professional and to learn how to prepare their child for visits.
Celebrating African American Authors
Many books that are presented as African American books are not by African American authors. This workshop will introduce African American authors and why they became authors.
Be Affectionate
Parents must be the ones to instill the value of affection in their children. This workshop will teach the importance of appropriate affection towards children.
Creating a family pattern with Pattern Books
Rhyming and pattern books are valuable tools in the stages of early reading. This workshop will teach parents the value of rhyming and pattern books, while allowing parents the opportunity to create a pattern book of their own.
Effects of Parental Substance Abuse on Families
Abusers often neglect their children both in regard to physical as well as mental needs. This workshop will explain the strains on the family provided by the substance abuser and will provide an outlet for current/former abusers to look at their addiction from a family standpoint.
Emotionally Intelligent Children
Children with a high level of emotional intelligence are more likely to ensure they live a happy, successful and responsible adult life. This workshop will emphasize the importance of helping your child become emotionally intelligent.
Reading the Family Fun Way
Parents and caregivers are the first influence on a child’s desire and ability to read. This workshop will give parents the stepping stones to make reading a fun family adventure.
Father Workshops
We offer a series of workshops based on the needs of fathers, the father based workshops can be combined with the parent workshops to create a longer series.
Be a Dad
Any man can be a father, whether present in that child’s life or not. While this is technically true it really takes a man to be a DAD! This workshop will express the importance of being actively present in the child’s life.
Fathers as Unique Role Models
Fathers are an important piece in the puzzle of life. They play essential roles in front of and behind the scenes. They are providers and protectors of their families. This workshop will allow fathers to discuss the challenges and opportunities of being a role model.
Circle of Fathers
Do men have the emotional support they need to make it through the difficult times of being a father? This workshop will help fathers find their circle of men to help them through the difficult times.
Teen Parent Workshops
Being a teen parent can be very difficult. At Beginning Babies with Books we strive to give these parents the tools and support they need to maneuver through a difficult time in their lives and become amazing parents.
The “I Message”
The “I message” refers to statements we make to others about ourselves. This workshop will help teen parents understand how to effectively inform others about the feelings of hurt and anger they have developed after a situation.
Am I in a Healthy Relationship?
Relationships can be hard to understand whether abuse is involved or not. This workshop will help teens understand that in a healthy relationship partners work toward the relationship equally.While in an abusive relationship one partner takes advantage of the goals and uses them against the other.
Agency Collaboration
As part of the YMCA's focus on youth development, health and wellness and social responsibility, Beginning Babies with Books partners with numerous agencies throughout the St. Louis area. We offer book distributions, provide parent and educator workshops.
Book Distributions
If your agency would be interested in free books to give to the children you serve, contact Jennifer at (314)776-7102 or jschmidt@ymcastlouis.org.
Parent workshops
If your agency would be interested in collaborating with Beginning Babies with Books to bring the parent workshops into your organization, please contact Jennifer (314)776-7102 or jschmidt@ymcastlouis.org.
Educator Workshops
Early Childhood Educator workshops are fee-based workshops that are one to two hours in length. Workshops include: discussion, introduction of lesson plans, book lists, and an opportunity to select and make classroom resources.
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