Parenting as a Team – Parent Workshop

Registration is now open for our fall 4-week Parent Workshop – Parenting as a Team.     Together We Can: Creating a Healthy Future for our Family is a 4 session co-parenting workshop helping parents build upon their knowledge & skills to promote healthy family and parenting relationships.  This workshop is for all parents:  married, divorced, single, step. etc.

Tuesdays:  September 17, 24 & October 8, 15 (No class October 1)
5:30-7:45pm (Dinner is 5:30-6pm)
FREE Dinner and Child Care
Note:  There is no cost to attend workshop, but child care spots are limited.  

Register on-line:   bit.ly/GSLfall2019

Questions:  Call Kathy at 517.540.6860 or email KathleenVirden@livingstonesa.org 

Week 1 – Taking Care of My Family
*  Learn the importance of taking steps to build a strong family
*  Set goals to grow as a strong family

Week 2 – Taking Care of Myself
*  Coping and stress management skills
*  Developing healthy co-parenting relationships (This relationship may include the child’s other parent, and may also include grandparents, family members, a new partner, or other significant people in their lives.)

Week 3 – Taking Care of My Relationships
*  Skills for building relationships
*  Practice active listening and tuning into non-verbal cues
*  Conflict management skills

Week 4 – Taking Care of My Future for My Children
*  Healthy relationship choices
*  Healthy families

SWIMMING SAFETY TIPS

 

There Is No Substitute for Active Supervision

1. Actively supervise children in and around open bodies of water, giving them your undivided attention.
2. Whenever infants or toddlers are in or around water, an adult should be within arm’s reach to provide active supervision. We know it’s hard to get everything done without a little multitasking, but this is the time to avoid distractions of any kind. If children are near water, then they should be the only thing on your mind. Small children can drown in as little as one inch of water.
3. When there are several adults present and children are swimming, use the Water Watcher card strategy, which designates an adult as the Water Watcher for a certain amount of time (such as 15-minute periods) to prevent lapses in supervision. Download a Water Watcher card here.

Start Slow With Babies

1. You can start introducing your babies to water when they are about 6 months old. Remember to always use waterproof diapers and change them frequently.

Educate Your Kids About Swimming Safely

1. Every child is different, so enroll children in swimming lessons when you feel they are ready. Teach children how to tread water, float and stay by the shore.
2. Make sure kids swim only in areas designated for swimming. Teach children that swimming in open water is not the same as swimming in a pool. They need to be aware of uneven surfaces, river currents, ocean undertow and changing weather.
3. Whether you’re swimming in a backyard pool or in a lake, teach children to swim with an adult. Older, more experienced swimmers should still swim with a partner every time. From the first time your kids swim, teach children to never go near or in water without an adult present.

Don’t Rely on Swimming Aids

1. Remember that swimming aids such as water wings or noodles are fun toys for kids, but they should never be used in place of a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device (PFD).

Take the Time to Learn CPR

1. We know you have a million things to do, but learning CPR should be on the top of the list. It will give you tremendous peace of mind – and the more peace of mind you have as a parent, the better.
2. Local hospitals, fire departments and recreation departments offer CPR training.
3. Have your children learn CPR. It’s a skill that will serve them for a lifetime.

Take Extra Steps Around Pools

1. A swimming pool is a ton of fun for you and your kids. Make sure backyard pools have four-sided fencing that’s at least 4 feet high and a self-closing, self-latching gate to prevent a child from wandering into the pool area unsupervised.
2. When using inflatable or portable pools, remember to empty them immediately after use. Store them upside down and out of children’s reach.
3. Install a door alarm, a window alarm or both to alert you if a child wanders into the pool area unsupervised.

Check the Drains in Your Pool and Spa

1. Educate your children about the dangers of drain entanglement and entrapment and teach them to never play or swim near drains or suction outlets.
2. Pools that pose the greatest risk of entrapment are children’s public wading pools, in-ground hot tubs, or any other pools that have flat drain grates or a single main drain system.
3. For new pools or hot tubs, install multiple drains in all pools, spas, whirlpools and hot tubs. This minimizes the suction of any one drain, reducing risk of death or injury. If you do have drains, protective measures include anti-entrapment drain covers and a safety vacuum release system to automatically release suction and shut down the pump should entrapment occur.
4. Regularly check to make sure drain covers are secure and have no cracks, and replace flat drain covers with dome-shaped ones. If a pool or hot tub has a broken, loose or missing drain cover, don’t use it.
5. If you do have drains, protective measures include anti-entrapment drain covers and a safety vacuum release system to automatically release suction and shut down the pump should entrapment occur. Go to www.PoolSafely.gov for a list of manufacturers of certified covers.
6. Check to make sure your pool or hot tub’s drains are compliant with the Pool and Spa Safety Act.

Download Tips

From: https://www.safekids.org/tip/swimming-safety-tips

ASQ Developmental Screenings

Complete a FREE ASQ (Ages & Stages Questionnaire) developmental screening for your child ages 2 months – 5 years and be entered into a drawing to win a Gift Basket of books!

Rules to Enter:

• Complete an ASQ for your child (ages 2 months – 5 years) by November 30, 2019 and be automatically entered into the drawing.
• Winner will be chosen at random and notified the week of December 2, 2019.
• Actual books may vary based on age of winning child.

For more information on ASQ and why you should screen your child visit ASQLivingston.org

 

 

Winter Play dates

December Parent Coalition Meeting

Parents indicate positive results from Healthy Families Livingston program

Parents indicate positive results from Healthy Families Livingston program 

Healthy Families recently distributed their annual satisfaction survey to parents in the program.  Healthy Families Livingston is one of our Great Start Livingston early childhood community partners.  They provide home visiting services to Livingston County parents with young children.

Twenty-five (25) participants completed the annual satisfaction survey.  Overall, parents are very satisfied with the Healthy Families Livingston program.  They are satisfied with the information shared and received on child development and parenting skills.  Parents confidence in parenting skills increased while being in the program.  Parents also reported they are treated with respect and consideration by their home visitor who is sensitive and respectful of family values, beliefs and traditions.

 

Parents indicated the following as their top areas of life that have improved since beginning Healthy Families Livingston:

·       My understanding of child development and age appropriate behaviors

·       Learning new ways to play with my child

·       More positive ways to manage my child’s behavior

·       Taking care of my children

·       The health care of my children

 

Parents described their home visitor as:

·       Supportive

·       Understanding

·       Helpful

·       Truthful

·       Respectful of our family

 

The Healthy Families Livingston Advisory Council reviewed the results of this survey and will utilize these results for future work and efforts so as to continue to support families with young children.

Healthy Families Livingston provides home visiting services for new parents in Livingston County.  Home visits are provided by family-support workers.  Parents attend ongoing workshops and support groups.  New parents learn information and skills about infant and child development, parent and infant interaction, parenting coping techniques, and how to attain personal parenting goals.

 

If you are interested in finding out more about Healthy Families Livingston, please call 517-548-1350 or email healthyfamilies@lacasacenter.org

Livingston County Community Calendar

HUGS

Every month on the Second Saturday of the Month from 930am- noon:

HUGS at Venture Church/ Howell-

FREE respite care for foster/adoptive families.

Find out more by contacting Lynda Krupansky (517) 420- 2066

Parent Workshop – Registration now OPEN

Livingston County Baby Fair

More Info available here