Parenting: ‘Children Do Come with Directions’ given to all new parents at Mercy Medical Center
Posted: Saturday, July 14, 2007 3:04 AM MDT
By Adam Ross
NAMPA — People aren’t born with good parenting skills, but United Way and Mercy Medical Center have teamed up to give all their new parents a book that can act as a road map toward raising a healthy and productive child. On July 10, Mercy Medical Center took delivery of 1,000 copies of “Children Do Come with Directions,” with another 1,000 on the way printed in Spanish.
“We are excited to be able to provide these books to our new parents in hopes to encourage better parenting skills, health and safety,” Executive Director of Foundation for Mercy Medical Center Alisha Havens said.
The books are care of United Way’s Born Learning Initiative, which started over a year ago with the intent of showing parents how they can better their child’s learning in everyday activities. United Way Canyon County Director LeAnn Simmons sees the book as a powerful resource to all new parents, especially to low-income families and those unfamiliar with infant care. “There are many parents who bring home newborns and do not know that in order to help prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), children should be put to sleep on their backs,” Simmons said. “That information has been out there for a long time and you think everybody knows ‘Back to Sleep,’ but we find parents who don’t have any idea.”
The 72-page “Children Do Come with Directions” will cover health and safety basics such as SIDS prevention and also key information on raising toddlers and preschoolers. Organized like a reference book, Simmons said it’s easy for parents to find answers for questions such as what children should eat once they’re off the bottle.
Through research with pediatricians, nurses, nutritionists and child development experts, United Way was able to craft a definitive guide for new parents. “Children Do Come With Directions” is the latest result from United Way’s Born Learning Initiative, which focuses on enhancing a child’s learning ability. “The idea is that parents, grandparents and child caregivers can take ordinary moments, and make them extraordinary,” Simmons said. “Depending on the age, you can do a lot of things just in what you do every day to help make kids ready for school.”
Simmons put this ideal into three steps:
1. Talk to kids. (“Have conversations, not directives; talk to them about what they think.”)
2. Read to them for a minimum of 30 minutes each day.
3. Limit “screen time.” (No more than two hours a day of television and computers for young children, and no screen time at all for children younger than 2.)
Simmons described these steps as children “learning to learn,” activities that challenge their young minds in ways television and toys cannot. “Particularly for preschoolers, they don’t learn as well watching a video as they do interacting with a human who cares — that’s how they learn best,” Simmons said. “And you build on it as a child grows. You’re not adding anything additional, just do what you do but include the children.”