ready-for-life youth initiative

Born to Learn, which uses the nationally accredited Parents as Teachers curriculum, is one of the most important youth programs implemented at Bienestar to date. The program provides upstream support to promote the cognitive development of low-income, Latino children through coaching families with newborns and toddlers about the importance of interactive play, socialization, nutrition, and reading with their children.

Born to Learn is the crucial first step that sets the foundation of Listos Para Vida, a program designed to help low-income, Latino children of farmworkers be healthy and happy, achieve academic success, gain self-sufficiency and move out of poverty. The need to incorporate Born to Learn became evident when the instructors at our local Head Start programs reported that the children of Bienestar families were already "behind the curve" at the age of 3. This lag in skills can handicap children throughout their school career, and lives. Therefore it was essential that Bienestar take action.

The adults in the Bienestar community have an average educational level of just the 7th grade, and while they understand the importance of an education, they are not prepared to support the necessary cognitive development of their toddlers, giving them a strong start, without proper coaching. By participating in Born to Learn, parents learn effective ways to interact with their children from a very young age such as interactive games and activities. Methods to encourage language development, learning about numbers, shapes, and to foster language and reading readiness in their infant or toddler are also taught. A principle idea the program tries to instill in the parents is that they themselves are their children's first teachers, contrary to cultural belief that only school teachers are legitimate teachers.

24 children, ages one month to three and a half years from 21 families were registered for Born to Learn in October 2012. This is an increase of 13 more children than the previous program cycle. Parenting support groups are held once a month to discuss topics such as child and brain development, stress, the importance of play, music, reading, the difference between abuse and discipline, cultural differences, and how the upbringing of the parents' affects them now. Following the discussion topic, an activity is done with the parents and children, typically story read aloud or music game to show parents how the lesson can be implemented on their own.

In addition to the monthly parenting support groups, families receive a monthly, one hour home visit from bilingual/bicultural staff that have been trained through Parents as Teachers to use the curriculum and implement during home visits. Overarching themes that will be discussed during the hourly home visits will be family routines and environment, child and brain development, safety, attachment, goals, health and nutrition, sleep, temperament, discipline, and transitions. Each of these topics will be catered to the age and need of the family. We are grateful to our funders of this program: Bank of America, Portland Women's Foundation, City of Hillsboro.

Links:

• Sponsor a Born to Learn Child