Programs

Tianna first learned about Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley as a high school student when she was pregnant with her daughter Avalynn. She attended group classes and received home visits, and said she learned helpful information about regarding the ‘Baby Blues’, infant sleep and crying, and generally what to expect with the birth of her first child.

“Everything was new to us and I thought there was no way we could do it,” said Tianna, “but looking back I could never imagine not having her in our lives.”

As Avalynn approaches her second birthday, the family continues with visits and is on a path for a successful future. Both mom and dad have steady employment and they have secured stable housing. Tianna is preparing to get her driver’s license and graduate high school in the spring, and is looking ahead to her options for college.

When asked about her daughter, Tianna said Avalynn enjoys books, currently preferring to ‘read’ on her own, and loves to sing and play outside. Tianna credits home visiting with her understanding of Ava’s developmental milestones. “I would never know what she was supposed to be doing if it weren’t for home visits,” she said.

Parent educator Robbyn Bowman praised Tianna’s confidence in parenting, saying, “I have never seen a mom reason with a toddler quite the way she does.” Tianna’s reply was simple and matter-of-fact, stating, “I believe kids understand everything you say.”

Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley hosted the Reach for the Stars gala with Caribbean flair on April 30 at the River Falls Golf Club, and despite the chilly, wet weather, the climate among the nearly 250 guests was warm and festive. The event was the organization’s 12^th annual, and a finale for Executive Director Patty Draxler, who is set to retire on May 19^th. “It has been wonderful to watch this event grow over the years.  Each year we have built on the year before,” she said. “It is thrilling to see the level of support for early childhood initiatives grow, and Reach for the Stars plays a very integral part in generating this positive support.”

A highlight of the evening was hearing from participant Tori Isler of Amery, who shared her experiences as a parent and how her family has benefitted from Family Resource Center programs. She spoke briefly about her own childhood, and how her mother worked nights and then left the family when she and her siblings were young. Tori shared that she had wanted to be a mom for as long as she could remember, but specifically aspired to be the type of mom she had never had. When she and her husband had their first child, they were confronted with challenges they did not anticipate. “While he’s an amazing little person, he’s also anxious, timid and sometimes fearful,” Tori related, saying that her son would often scream for prolonged periods until he was 5 or 6 months old.

Tori signed up for Play & Learn after her second child was born. After a period of time, she began home visits as well. “Because my son has a harder time with a lot of things, he made it harder for me to be the kind of mom I wanted to be,” said Tori. “My parent educator gave me some validation that it wasn’t just something I could be doing different or better. Just knowing there was someone else who was helping us look for a solution was such a relief.”

The event program also included a premiere showing of a video produced by University of Wisconsin – River Falls student Kelsey Tyznik, featuring interviews with several Family Resource Center program participants. Board member Mary Sue Ash presented the annual John M. Coughlin Volunteer Award to John Marnell of Hudson. She thanked him for his leadership and vision through his years of service on the Board of Directors and as a member of the Reach for the Stars planning committee. Marnell was instrumental in formalizing Board Member roles and responsibilities, staff succession planning and cultivating new business sponsorship for Reach for the Stars.

Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley wishes to extend sincere appreciation to all businesses and individuals who contributed their support through the event, which raised nearly $60,000 in support of programs for local families.

Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley will launch four new Play & Learn partnerships this fall – three of them at area libraries. The popular parent-child groups provide opportunities for children to have early social experiences while also promoting positive parent-child relationships and learning through play. Parents can discuss parenting strategies, dilemmas, and everyday happenings with a Parent Educator and other parents going through similar situations. All groups include parent-child play, parent discussion topic, children’s activity, snack and story.

“We are pleased to announce new partnerships with Ellsworth Public Library, Hazel Mackin Public Library (Roberts), Hudson YMCA, and St. Croix Falls Public Library,” said Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley Parent Educator Coordinator Betsy Byker. “We can reach more people when we partner,” said Byker. “Everybody wins.”

While the Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley offers one group at its Baldwin office location, eight additional groups are available through community locations, including libraries and churches.

Libraries have been a natural fit over the years, as they tend to be accessible and familiar within communities, often serving as an information hub. Another important key to the success of these relationships has been that “we have the mutual goal promoting early literacy and family reading”, said Byker.

Hazel Mackin Library Director Krissa Coleman is eager to offer the group, stating, “We’ve been waiting for this partnership opportunity for a long time. We have a wonderful facility to serve our community and this type of programming will be an added benefit to help parents with young children. It is always great to connect with other parents and the children learn so much with early literacy, taking turns and sharing.”

Participant Nicole Young of Hammond started attending with daughter Evelyn when she was 18 months old. “We had attended a couple moms groups together and were regular visitors at the library storytime,” said Young. “Play & Learn was a whole new experience for us. The predictable routine of our sessions allows kids to anticipate what comes next. They get practice playing with other young children, and following directions from a teacher or other parent. Parents learn from each other, and from the staff. We get ideas of activities and songs we can do at home.”

“Play & Learn is the most highly-anticipated activity in Evy’s week,” continued Young. “She has made friends there that we also meet up with occasionally outside of Play & Learn.”

Over 400 parents and children participated across Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties in 2015. Registration begins Monday, August 29 at 9:00 a.m. by calling the Family Resource Center at 715-684-4440. View the fall schedule

READING PREPARES CHILDREN TO BE EXPERT LANGUAGE USERS

New study shows that reading picture books with young children has a profound effect on their vocabulary development

A baby’s first words are an exciting milestone, and development of early language helps a child gain understanding of the world around them while at the same time easing frustrations in showing what they want or need. Of course, talking with your young child plays an important role in developing their vocabulary, but a new study[1] shows that reading with them is even more beneficial.

Past research has looked at how much spoken language a child hears in their home and how this corresponds to both the size of their vocabulary and I.Q. test scores; the recommendation has been that the more parents talk to their child, their greater the impact upon their vocabulary development. A new study by Dominic Massaro, psychology professor at the University of California—Santa Cruz, points to reading as having a more significant impact than talking on vocabulary growth. “We talk with a lazy tongue,” Massaro said. “We tend to point at something or use a pronoun and the context tells you what it is. We talk at a basic level.” Findings of the study confirm that language used in picture books are two to three times more likely to include words beyond the 5,000 most common in the English language – even employing rare words that are uncommon in conversation among adults. “Reading takes you beyond the easy way to communicate,” Massero said. “It takes you to another world and challenges you.”

Because there is a correlation between mastery of words as an adult and early language acquisition, reading more picture books with babies and toddlers is an important strategy for building both grammar and vocabulary from an early age. “You are stretching them in vocabulary and grammar at an early age,” Massaro said. “You are preparing them to be expert language users, and indirectly you are going to facilitate their learning to read.”

Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley promotes reading with children from birth to school entry as part of its mission to strengthen children, families and communities by offering education, resources and support. Programs include Baby & Me, Play & Learn and Home Visiting as well as a Young Parent group. All groups and classes are available at no cost to families in Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties. For more information, visit https://frcscv.org or call 715-684-4440.

In addition, several area libraries have joined a nationwide initiative, “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten,” promoting reading and related benefits in early childhood. While a thousand books may sound daunting, it is more achievable than you might think – reading just one book daily for three years is 1,095! For more information, visit your local library or https://1000booksbeforekindergarten.org.

[1] http://edsource.org/2015/study-says-reading-aloud-to-children-more-than-talking-builds-literacy/82045

When Robyn Lehman of Deer Park first ventured out of the house alone with baby Hazel, it was a warm Wednesday morning in August, and they headed back to Amery Hospital & Clinic for Baby & Me. Robyn said it seemed like the ideal first outing, knowing she could find support from staff and other moms if need be. Now at six months old, Hazel observes other babies in the group with confidence, and listens attentively as almost five-month-old Hannah Novak of Clayton chatters across the room.

“It’s been nice having something to get out of the house for,” said Robyn. “I enjoy talking with other moms. Plus, it’s just fun to see other babies grow up,” noting that she finds it helpful to see how other babies achieve milestones and generally learning what is typical. “(After prenatal class), this is the next step in learning about your baby,” she said. “It’s nice to know what’s coming developmentally, even if you’re not there yet.”

Sarah Stalheim of Amery has recently joined the group with two-month-old Asher. Sarah finds the group a more engaging way to learn about her son than resources she finds online. “The Internet is just not the same as talking to other moms,” she said. After her first class, Sarah and Asher went home and started working more on tummy time. “It helps learning what to focus on. I had heard about tummy time but not necessarily how important it was.”

Baby & Me in Amery is facilitated by parent educator Marla Butler, who has worked with the Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley for over 10 years. “We cover a variety of topics in Baby & Me; I am continually evaluating the needs of the group and work to bring in information that will be relevant. We cover some topics fairly regularly – for example sleep and nutrition – because both mom and baby’s needs are always evolving.”

Amery Hospital & Clinic CEO Debra Rudquist is glad to offer the group in partnership with Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley and United Way Success By 6. “Offering the Baby & Me classes at Amery Hospital & Clinic is an important part of our mission to improve health and well-being in partnership with our patients and community. The vision statement for the Success by 6 program – All children in our communities by age six, with the strong support of family and community, will have the necessary physical, mental, emotional and social development to successfully grow and learn – is very much in-line with our Children’s Health Initiative which focuses on improving early brain development, providing family centered care, and strengthening communities,” she said. “It’s clear that there is a strong link between health and well-being early in life, and health and well-being later in life, so this focus on children’s health is critical to the health of our communities.”

Hospital social worker Kathy Rasmussen believes Baby & Me provides an important opportunity for parents to learn and connect with other moms and dads in the community. “We assume that parents know what to do with babies, but becoming a parent was one of the most humbling experiences I’ve ever had. I think Baby & Me is good for everybody, because parents of all backgrounds learn from each other – I truthfully wish I’d had that as a new mom,” she said, adding, “We’re all in this together.”

Baby & Me is offered at no cost to families, in six locations across the St. Croix Valley. For more information or to register, call the Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley at 715-684-4440.

Photo caption: Moms and babies gather at the weekly Baby & Me group in Amery.

Baby & Me class schedule