By Adam Swift
The Winthrop Parents Network has had a big impact on the development of the town’s youngest children and their families over the past decade-plus.
At Monday night’s School Committee meeting, Winthrop Parents Network coordinator Anita Preble gave an overview of the early literacy and parent education programs the network provides.
“I’ve been running the program since 2010,” said Preble, who is also the school adjustment counselor at the Arthur T. Cummings School. “Prior to that, it was the CPC grant, Communities for Partnership. Then the grant was changed to the CFCE grant, which is Coordinated Family and Community Engagement, which is when I started doing the grant.”
The CFCE is a grant from the Department of Early Education and Care and is primarily geared for families of children from birth to eight years old.
Through the grant, the Winthrop Parents Network runs the early literacy program through the playgroups at the E.B. Newton Center.
“Currently, we have about 55 families that are enrolled that attend weekly,” said Preble.
There are four playgroups in English and one on Friday that is in Spanish.
“We give priority to immigrant families or families whose children are not enrolled in any other type of preschool program, although we do have some kids that come who also have other programs,” said Preble.
The program runs on the same calendar as the school year, and there is a six-week summer program that is offered, as well, at the Pond Street Park.
“Up to now, we have provided early literacy and parenting education to over 500 families, if you go back the 12 or 13 years that we have been doing this,” said Preble.
In addition to literacy experience, the playgroup programs also offer socialization for the children, and an opportunity for parents to meet one another.
“I’ve had a lot of parents tell me they are new to town and they didn’t know any other adults or parents,” said Preble. “This is an opportunity for them to socialize themselves and meet parents of kids of the same age.”
In addition to the playgroups, the Winthrop Parents Network also offers monthly family events at the Gorman Fort Banks School. Those nights, which include emoji bingo, a family game night, and yoga, also provide a parenting education piece, said Preble.
One of the most popular events, the International Night, is coming up on Jan. 18 and will be held at the Old Middle School gym.
“There is another thing that the program provides, and that is developmental screening for free for any family that is interested,” said Preble. “All of our playgroup families participate in this, which is called the Ages and Stages questionnaire. It’s for babies up to age 5, and it’s a bunch of questions that go through all the different domains to see if a child is on target for their developmental level.”
The questionnaire is not a diagnostic test, but if a parent has concerns as a result of the screening, the parents group can provide resources or send them in the direction of early intervention or the school department, depending on the age of the child.
“It is a great way for a parent to see how their child is doing, and for us to notice if there is anything that a child needs help with at an early age,” said Preble.
Other initiatives by the group include welcome to Winthrop resource booklets, working with Casa as part of the Youth Mental Health Work Group, and kindergarten transition activities.
“I applaud Anita’s push, she is relentless, but the collaboration with everyone else too, and the networking her and her folks do to make sure that this is happening for our kids is just awesome,” said Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard.