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Connecting with Connections

March 2016

Your Monthly Connections For Children E-Update

Dear Friend,

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF SERVICE!

March News from Connections For Children

Connections Program Spotlight: Where The Story Begins
Columnist Joey Lamberti on Fussy Eaters
Celebrating 40 Years of Service! Meet Judy Laureano, CFC Resource & Referral Manager
Need Child Care Assistance and Help to Cover Costs?

CFC Program Spotlight:

Where The Story Begins

Connections For Children is pleased to announce our early literacy initiative Where The Story Begins. We launched this reading readiness program because early literacy skills are among the greatest predictors for children's learning success.

Growing evidence shows that what happens in the first five years of a child’s life influences their health, educational success and behaviors well into the future.

The learning gap starts in infancy, and over 32% of children lack the language skills they need when they enter kindergarten.

The effects are long-term: more than a third of children struggle with language arts by third grade, not reaching proficiency in reading by that time.

Poor readers in the early years of school are more likely to drop out of school and are also 70% more likely to get in trouble.

Young children, especially infants and toddlers, whose parents read, sing, and talk to them every day end up with larger vocabularies and are more likely to become successful readers.

Where The Story Begins brings concrete resources to vulnerable families, helping to build children’s early literacy skills.

If you'd like to make a difference for young children, CFC invites you to join Where The Story Begins:

Become a program sponsor with your contribution of $1,000 or more.
Donate new books from our list of staff favorites for young children.
Participate as a storytime volunteer with a commitment to four sessions a year - training for volunteers is offered every two months.

Click below to learn more

Where The Story Begins

Fussy Eaters

by Joey Lamberti

Fussy eaters can be a handful. Amidst the rigors of their early development, parents have the added task of getting them to eat what is put in front of them. They’ll completely enjoy a certain food or meal one day, and the next they’ll show every disgusted emotion in their growing catalog. Mix that with funny sounds, a few tears of defiance, banging utensils, and more food on the table than on the plate (or in their stomach), and mealtime becomes a challenging experience. But, with a little extra effort—and a lot more patience and understanding—it doesn’t have to be.

Know this, parents: It’s normal for children to be food-selective. In "Are picky eaters born or made?" Boston Globe contributor Alyssa Giacobbe (referencing Anne K. Fishel of Harvard Medical School) notes that “kids are most physiologically amendable to liking new foods before the age of 2” with the disgust emotion subsequently emerging “at around age 2 to help protect the newly mobile from ingesting toxic substances and peaks between the ages of 4 and 8.” When a child prefers one food to another, parents tend to stick to this food in their meal regimen because they are happy their child is eating. While this is appeasing to both parties, sticking to the same foods has caused more and more kids to become fussy eaters far beyond age 8. It never hurts to branch out, and serve new foods that will slowly (and hopefully surely) ignite their taste buds.

While most children are fussy eaters, recent studies have found that a child’s unwillingness to eat could be directly related to their mother’s emotional state during pregnancy. As noted in Parents' anxiety, depression may lead to kids being fussy eaters" by Reuters.com columnist, Andrew M. Seaman, a recent study of 5,000 participants found that if a mother suffered from anxiety and depression during and after their pregnancy, there was an “increased risk of their children being fussy eaters” by age three. The researchers also found that “fathers’ anxiety during their kids’ early childhood was also associated with fussy eating.” As parents, how do we digest this information (no pun intended)?

Click to Read More

Judy Laureano - Resource & Referral Manager

Celebrating 40 Years
of Service!

For 40 years, our staff, consisting of some of the most passionate and knowledgeable child care professionals in the field, has aided in the long-term sustainability of Connections For Children, and helped us become the go-to child care experts in the Westside and South Bay communities of Los Angeles County.

As part of our 40th anniversary, we’d like to share a few staffer histories, including the significant roles they play in the day-to-day operations of Connections For Children—behind the scenes and directly with children.

Allow us to introduce you to our Resource & Referral Manager, Judy Laureano.

Read the Full Interview

Seeking Financial Assistance for Child Care?

If you are in need of child care assistance (and the care will be provided in selected Westside and South Bay areas), you may qualify for our Parent Choice Program!

This program provides child care subsidy to cover costs at a:

Licensed child care center or preschool
Licensed Family Child Care Home, or
With a relative, friend, or neighbor

Click Here for More Information

Your gift today will help ensure that all children enter school healthy, happy and ready to learn and thrive!

Click to Make a Gift

For questions about how you can make a difference today,

please contact Patti Oblath by e-mail or phone at (310) 452-3325 Ext. 212.

Where The Story Begins

Fussy Eaters

Celebrating 40 Years of Service!

Seeking Financial Assistance for Child Care?

Celebrating 40 Years
of Service!