GMCAA Help Me Grow Newsletter

Monday Oct.1, 2012 Volume 8, Issue 2

GMCAA Executive Dir ector, Tom Reed GMCAA Planner/Hel p Me Grow Director, Teresa Varian parentsmartsblog.blogspot.com gallimeigscaa.webs.com

What Does Help Me Grow Do?

Upcoming Events
Please check for cancellations and changes Please call 992-5266 or 1-866-219-0110 to register if you will be attending any of the activities! Thanks.
Help Me Grow Home Visiting is a voluntary program for first time pregnant women and families with infants under six months of age. Help Me Grow Early Intervention is for infant and toddlers between the ages of birth and three years old that have or are suspected of having a diagnosed medical condition or are at risk for a developmental delay. The goal of the program is to assure that newborns, infants, and toddlers have the best possible start in life. Help Me Grow provides services that promote children's growth and development and support families during their children's early years. You, as a parent, are the primary source of nurturing and helping your child grow and learn during the first three years of life. A Help Me Grow Home Visitor or Service Coordinator can be a useful resource to help you find information about parenting and help you locate resources for all Meigs and some of Gallia County Families. Your child will also be screened for health and overall development to make sure they are meeting important milestones. HMG offers a curriculum called Parents as Teachers that is utilized to guide you in helping your child learn. give them the very best. We are here to help you do that. Help Me Grow Home Visiting component is in both Gallia and Meigs Counties. Any first time pregnant family or a first time family with an infant under six months old is eligible for this program. To sign up for services in Meigs County Call 740-992-5266 or 1866-219-0110. In Gallia County call Lora Jenkins @ 740-446-3022.

October

Wednesday October 31st @ Overbrook Rehabilitation Center 2:00 PM 333 Page Street Middleport, Ohio

November

Slate Painting Class Friday November 16th Help Me Grow 1369 Powell Street Middleport, Ohio 10:30 AM

The Early Intervention Program is served by Gallia Meigs Community Action Agency Help Me Grow program. The Early Intervention program in Gallia County is served by Gallia Vinton Educational Center and can be accessed by calling 740-446-3022. Gallia Meigs Community Action Agency is happy to present another program for pregnant mothers who are under 20 weeks that do not fit into the above categories. It is called Pathways to Care Coordination and you can reach this program by calling 740-992-5266 and let us know that you are interested in this program.

December

Breakfast with Santa Friday December 14th Meigs County District Public Library 10:00 AM

The purpose of Help Me Grow is to aid parents in helping their children reach their fullest potential. The first three years of life are so important to a child's overall Please give us a call if you would like any more information. We look educational, social, and emotional development and we know you want to forward to serving your family.

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GMCAA Help Me Grow Quarterly Newsletter

HEAP, WCP (Emergency HEAP), PIPP Explained

The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) is designed to help eligible Ohioans meet the high costs of home heating. If a client is eligible for assistance, the amount of their one-time HEAP benefit depends on federal funding levels, how many people live in the household, total household income, and the primary fuel you use to heat your home. In most cases, the one-time benefit will be a credit applied to your energy bill by your utility company (or fuel vendor). A special component of HEAP is the Winter Crisis Program (WCP). The Winter Crisis Program is administered by Gallia Meigs Community Action Agency. The Program provides assistance once per heating season to eligible households that are disconnected, threatened with disconnection, or have less than a 10-day supply or less than 25 percent supply of bulk fuel in their tank. Those households, serviced by a PUCO-regulated utility, must sign up for the Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus (PIPP Plus) or another payment plan in order to receive emergency benefits. Under PIPP Plus, if you heat with gas, you will pay 6 percent of your monthly household income to your gas company and 6 percent to your electric company. If the you heat with electricity, you pay 10 percent of your monthly household income. GMCAA or the utility company will inform you of your PIPP Plus installment. Once a you are enrolled in the program, You must pay the amount of the installment every month in full and on time. To be eligible for the PIPP Plus program, you must receive your heat source from a company regulated by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), must have a total household income which is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, and must apply for all energy assistance programs for which you are eligible. To make an appointment to sign up for any of these programs call Gallia Meigs Community Action Agency at 740-992-6620. GMCAA will start taking calls to make th appointments starting Friday October 26 . You can also go to GMCAA in person to make an appointment. HEAP will be available in all three of the GMCAA offices located in Cheshire, Middleport, and Gallipolis, however all appointments need to be made at the Cheshire office. The Number is 740-992-6620.

You Give A Mom A Muffin by Kathy Fictorie If you give a mom a muffin, Shell want a cup of coffee to go with it. Shell pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. Shell wipe it up. Wiping the floor, shell find dirty socks. Shell remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, Shell trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. Shell look for her cookbook (101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger). The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. Shell smell something funny. Shell change the two year olds diaper. While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. Shell remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. And chances are If she has a cup of coffee, Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

October Activities
GMCAA Help Me Grow will be having our annual Fall Festival at Overbrook Rehabilitation located at 333 Page Street in Middleport. It will be held on Wednesday, October 31st at 2:00. The residents will be handing out treats so bring your little ones in costume. There will be snacks, stories and pictures will be taken in the cafeteria afterwards. The residents of Overbrook really enjoy seeing the children in costume and being able to hand out the treats so come on and join the fun. Please call us to register so we can have enough treats for everyone. Call us at 740-992-5266 or 1-866-219-0110 to register. You can tell whomever answers the phone that you will be attending. Dont forget to call.

November Activities
We will have a painting on slate class November 16th at the Help Me Grow office at 1369 Powell Street in Middleport (the old bread store). Teresa Varian will be demonstrating how to paint a holiday welcome sign on slate. GMCAA will provide the paint, slate and brushes. Come and have some fun painting with us. While you are here we will be discussing fire safety and ways you can get your home ready for winter. Remember as always to call us to register so we know how many supplies to purchase. Please call us at 740-992-5266 or 1-866-219-0110 to register. You can tell whomever answers the phone that you will be attending. Please remember to call and register.

GMCAA Help Me Grow Quarterly Newsletter

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December Activities
GMCAA Help Me Grow is sponsoring Breakfast with Santa again. It will be held at The Meigs County Library in Pomeroy on Friday, December 14 at 10:00. Children can have their picture taken with Santa and they will be available for pick up on Wednesday, December 19th at the Help Me Grow Office. Breakfast will be served and will consist of breakfast pizza, juice, milk and other treats. Children will receive a small present from Santa. The drawing for the Count Down to Christmas Sweepstakes will be winner will be drawn and the prize will be awarded at that time. Come celebrate the Holiday Season with Santa and the Help Me Grow Staff.

Feeding Your Baby

Remember: Meals are about more than food. This is a prime time to connect with your child and support her overall development. Talk with your child during meals and dont let her eat alone. This helps build strong family relationships. Create routines around mealtime. Routines make children feel loved and secure. They also help children look forward to each meal. You might say a blessing if thats part of your familys tradition. Or, share something about your day before each meal. Offer 3 to 4 healthy food choices at each meal. Research shows that children will choose a healthy diet when they are offered a selection of healthy foods. Dont force your baby or toddler to eat. This often results in children refusing food and eating less. 6

Fun Learning Songs and Finger Plays

Finger Plays and Nursery Rhymes are valuable activities that help children acquire skills that are essential to their development and learning. They help improve and advance memory and language skills, while also aiding in the development of eye-hand coordination and enhancing their gross and fine motor skills. Finger Plays also help in the development of the young childs mind by stimulating the brain to aid in the connection of brain cells before the age of 3. Here are a few to try.

Babys Eyes Blue-eyed babies.(Point to your eye.) Brown-eyed, too. (Point to your other eye.) Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake. (Clap your hands.) I see you. (Cover your eyes and uncover or cover babies eyes with a receiving blanket then uncover.)

Beehive Here is the beehive, where are the bees? (Clench your fist.) Hidden away where nobody sees. (Pretend to look inside your fist.) Open it up and out they fly. (Open fist and bring out fingers quickly one by one.) One, two, three, four, five, buzzzz. (Tickle your childs neck while saying buzz) How do you know your baby is enjoying this? Does your child look and listen closely? Does she get excited during the finger play or song? Does your child try to move their mouth and coo at you? If so you are on your way to helping your child learning new skills. If not try a different time of the day when baby is more receptive. Keep on trying, baby will soon be eager to have play time with you!

Babys Fingers These are Babys fingers. (Touch the babys fingers.) These are Babys toes. (Touch the babys toes.) This is Babys tummy button. (Touch the babys stomach.) Round and round it goes! (Gently circle belly button.)

Strategie s for Babies

GMCAA Help Me Grow 1369 Powell Street P.O. Box 129 Middleport, Ohio 45760 Phone: (740) 992-5266 1-800-219-0110 Fax: (740) 992-6553

Free Car Seat Safety Class

Car seat safety class will be held at the Help Me Grow offices. Please call to register and we will call you after the shipment comes in to our offices and we will tell you the date and time. We have convertible safety seats that are rated for children 5 to 50 lbs. and whose height is between 19 and 47 inches tall. This seat is designed to be rear facing until one year of age according to Ohio law or until the child reached 35 lbs. the safety seat can then be turned around to be front facing until the child reaches 50 lbs. and is no more that 47 inches tall. We do have a very limit amount of high backed booster seats with a harness, and a few without. You must call and register before the class. Please call the HMG office at 992-5266 or 1-866-219-0110 to register for the free car seat safety class.

Good Books to Read to Your Baby

Give your child a helping hand right from the start! Were on the Web!
parentsmartsblog. blogspot.com

Do you read to your infant? Want to raise children that love to read? Have you tried it and think baby doesnt understand the words? She just bats at the book and or falls asleep? Read to her anyway. She is learning different sounds can be put together to form words. She loves the sound of your voice and your attention. She is watching your mouth and making the connection that when you move your mouth in certain ways you form the

sounds she loves to hear. With that in mind here are a few good books to start with. You might be able to find them at your local Library. The Everything Book by Denise Fleming Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth Global Babies by Global Fund for Children Black & White by Tana Hoban Zoom City by Thatcher Hurd Peek-a-Baby by Karen Katz Have fun and read to your baby today!

GMCAA Help Me Grow 1369 Powell Street P.O. Box 129 Middleport, Ohio 45760 galliameigscaa.webs.com