Are you looking to make your year-end contribution to a program that serves children and families in ways that impact lifelong success? Consider giving to Help Me Grow Alabama!
Follow this link to DONATE NOW. If you choose to give online via Pay Pal, indicate "Help Me Grow Alabama" as part of instructions for the recipient (an option Pay Pal provides when you review your donation information, prior to confirmation). If you choose to mail in a contribution, be sure your check is dated 2015 for it to be tax deductible for this year. Don't forget to write "Help Me Grow Alabama" in the memo line.
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Showing posts with label Basics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basics. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Considering Your Child's Development
Are you wondering if your child’s development is on track? You should contact Help Me Grow! To get an idea of some of the developmental milestones we’ll be looking for, here are some typical indicators of healthy child development from Family Education:
Age 0-6 Months - A lot happens during your baby's first months. Your baby will begin his development by learning to open and focus his eyes. He will begin responding to his name and your voice, and will learn big and small body movements. He might begin to babble and will use his fingers to grab, hold, and shake objects. As his development continues, he'll learn to grasp smaller items, release objects, sit and play on his own, and may begin to move around by creeping along on his belly.
Age 6-12 Months - Your child will continue learning how to move his body, and will begin creeping, crawling, pulling himself up to cruise along furniture, or may begin walking. He'll also learn to play with toys appropriately, wave good-bye, and begin to babble simple words like "Mama" and "Dada".
Age 1-2 Years - As your child grows into his first year, he may begin to stack, bang, and place objects inside others. His grasp will be precise, and he might begin scribbling and using a sippy cup independently. He'll also begin to engage in pretend play by feeding dolls or stuffed animals. His walking and running skills will also become more steady and established.
Age 2-3 Years - As your child's language continues to develop, he will begin using two-word sentences and will know and understand upwards of 50 words. He will also show an interest in playing with children his own age, and will begin alternating his feet when climbing the stairs.
Age 3-4 Years - Building towers and drawing shapes are just some of the developmental milestones your child will reach in his third and fourth year. Aside from buttons, he will begin dressing himself, can speak in simple six-word sentences, and will continue to develop motor skills such as learning to catch a tossed ball.
For ideas for age-appropriate activities, check out FamilyEducation at: http://life.familyeducation.com/child-development/activities/63988.html
Age 0-6 Months - A lot happens during your baby's first months. Your baby will begin his development by learning to open and focus his eyes. He will begin responding to his name and your voice, and will learn big and small body movements. He might begin to babble and will use his fingers to grab, hold, and shake objects. As his development continues, he'll learn to grasp smaller items, release objects, sit and play on his own, and may begin to move around by creeping along on his belly.
Age 6-12 Months - Your child will continue learning how to move his body, and will begin creeping, crawling, pulling himself up to cruise along furniture, or may begin walking. He'll also learn to play with toys appropriately, wave good-bye, and begin to babble simple words like "Mama" and "Dada".
Age 1-2 Years - As your child grows into his first year, he may begin to stack, bang, and place objects inside others. His grasp will be precise, and he might begin scribbling and using a sippy cup independently. He'll also begin to engage in pretend play by feeding dolls or stuffed animals. His walking and running skills will also become more steady and established.
Age 2-3 Years - As your child's language continues to develop, he will begin using two-word sentences and will know and understand upwards of 50 words. He will also show an interest in playing with children his own age, and will begin alternating his feet when climbing the stairs.
Age 3-4 Years - Building towers and drawing shapes are just some of the developmental milestones your child will reach in his third and fourth year. Aside from buttons, he will begin dressing himself, can speak in simple six-word sentences, and will continue to develop motor skills such as learning to catch a tossed ball.
For ideas for age-appropriate activities, check out FamilyEducation at: http://life.familyeducation.com/child-development/activities/63988.html
Monday, February 10, 2014
HMG: An Overview
We're looking forward to expanding Help Me Grow Alabama to more areas of the state in the future. Take 4 minutes and check out this video from the Help Me Grow National Center that briefly explains the model we plan to implement.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Plan for the Future to Have a Future
This 5-minute video depicts a theory of change from Frontiers of Innovation for achieving breakthrough outcomes for vulnerable children and families. It describes the need to focus on building the capabilities of caregivers and strengthening the communities that together form the environment of relationships essential to children's lifelong learning, health, and behavior.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
HMG Utah in the News!
Our friends at Help Me Grow Utah were featured in their local news. This is a great clip that fully describes the value of Help Me Grow in just five minutes! We're excited to be bringing this service to Central Alabama and are actively looking for ways to grow it in other parts of our state.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
HMG Washington Video
Take 5 minutes and enjoy this powerful video from Help Me Grow Washington. Consider the impact HMG is having on families in central Alabama already!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
We're on (web)TV!
In our last post, we shared that we would be delivering a live Strengthening Families and Help Me Grow training on Alabama Public Health Training Network. In case you were unable to catch us last Thursday, here's the link to our webcast!
Just select the download for whichever media player your computer prefers. The presentation is an hour and a half. If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, here is an outline of the presentation:
2:57 - Gail Piggott, Executive Director of Alabama Partnership for Children (APC), provides overview of the discussion including a history of the APC and the Blueprint for Zero to Five
26:11 - Robin Mackey, Strengthening Families Coordinator and Research and Policy Analyst of APC, introduces Strengthening Families and explains the five protective factors
56:02 - Alycia Jeong, Smart Start Coordinator of APC, discusses Help Me Grow four major components and implementation in Central Alabama
1:17:00 - Alycia Jeong & Robin Mackey discuss Books, Balls, and Blocks event and its fit into Help Me Grow and Strengthening Families frameworks
1:21:08 - Gail Piggott concludes the training and answers questions
Please visit the ALPHTN site and watch our video!
2:57 - Gail Piggott, Executive Director of Alabama Partnership for Children (APC), provides overview of the discussion including a history of the APC and the Blueprint for Zero to Five
26:11 - Robin Mackey, Strengthening Families Coordinator and Research and Policy Analyst of APC, introduces Strengthening Families and explains the five protective factors
56:02 - Alycia Jeong, Smart Start Coordinator of APC, discusses Help Me Grow four major components and implementation in Central Alabama
1:17:00 - Alycia Jeong & Robin Mackey discuss Books, Balls, and Blocks event and its fit into Help Me Grow and Strengthening Families frameworks
1:21:08 - Gail Piggott concludes the training and answers questions
Please visit the ALPHTN site and watch our video!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
A Tale of Two Children
Consider the differences between a child given the opportunity to succeed in life, and one who was not given such opportunities. Follow the link to read this powerful, short post shared by our partners at American Academy of Pediatrics and Reach Out and Read.
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A Tale of Two Children by Dr. Olson Huff
It was, according to the opening words of Charles Dickens’
famous novel, A Tale of Two Cities, “the
best of times the worst of times.”
Although
far removed from the French Revolution, the contrasting scenes those words
evoke are very much reflected in the lives of America’s children today.
Consider the increasing numbers of those in poverty who live on the fringe of
hope and for whom the worst of times simply last and last and last. If
current research on the developing brain is accurate, and mounting evidence
says it is, then the child who sits in that fringe will be hard pressed to move
beyond it. For what we are now learning is that the stress to the
delicate brain of a very young child, struggling to survive in a hostile
environment punctuated with violence, rejection, hunger, illness, homelessness
and fear is too much to permit its normal development. The chemical dance that
inhabits and protects us becomes a frenetic force that destroys rather than
nurtures and, as a result, the brain forever loses vital connections that have
been designed to plan, think, behave, learn and rejoice.
Consider then, the tale of two children...Monday, November 19, 2012
Alabama Partnership for Children
The Alabama Partnership for Children (APC) is a nonprofit organization located in Montgomery that works statewide to help build and maintain systems that serve children birth to age five and their families. The agency is the co-lead for Help Me Grow Alabama and is committed to developing Help Me Grow as an effective statewide service.
Along with Help Me Grow, the APC has other programs that connect new parents to resources, serve child care providers in education and professional development, and advocate for investment in early childhood systems overall. Each program of the APC is designed to give young children a Smart Start in life. APC does everything in partnership with other public, private, state and local organizations. It believes that interaction with and input from others is the only way to effectively improve communities and make long-term impact on people's lives.
Through Help Me Grow, the Alabama Partnership for Children is dedicated to protecting children by encouraging parents, providing information and awareness about appropriate child development, supporting efforts to identify developmental delays, and connecting children and families to the services they need. Call 1-866-711-4025 or visit www.SmartStartAlabama.org to learn more.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Welcome!
Welcome to the Help Me Grow Alabama blog. Help Me Grow (HMG) is a national model that is being replicated in Alabama. HMG is founded on four basic components: young children need regular developmental assessment to identify and treat developmental concerns; families, doctors, and community service providers all need to be a part of the treatment process; everyone should be able to call one simple phone number to help connect them to the resources they need; tracking data is important for measuring impact and identifying areas of need. We are just beginning to implement our program in the Central Alabama five county area of Blount, Shelby, Jefferson, St. Clair, and Walker counties. On Friday, September 14th, Help Me Grow Central Alabama and the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics will conduct their first pediatric training. Check back here to learn more about Help Me Grow, the services we offer, and topics that relate.
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