There was a healthy mix of singing mothers and smiling babies at Conrad school on Tuesday morning, a sure sign of the success of the free Mother Goose program offered by Success by Six in Prince Rupert.
The program, which is run in the morning on the east side of town and in the afternoon on the west side, aims at helping new parents connect not only with their child but with other new parents in the community. During the 90 minute session facilitators lead parents in songs for their babies, give demonstrations of teaching and care techniques, have the group tell stories and ask parents to share their experiences and what did or didn’t work in terms of child care.
“It’s giving parents the confidence to know that hey are the best teachers to give their babies early learning and literacy education, because that connection they have is so important,” said facilitator Helen Moore.
“Mostly moms come, but we’ve also had dads and grandparents, which is great to see…It’s super flexible and people can show up and leave as they wish. I figure if they can get out of the house with a baby, they’re doing good.”
The session also includes a healthy snack so people don’t need to bring a lunch. According to Moore, one of the keys to the program is singing songs and doing stories frequently throughout the multi-week program.
“It takes a long time for babies to learn stuff and repetition is the key fo babies to learn so we do a lot of the same songs,” she said, adding that new people have been showing up simply from word of mouth.
“We invite new parents and their babies to just show up, there’s no cost.”
Currently the program runs at Conrad school at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and at Roosevelt on Tuesday afternoon, however the locations will change after spring break.
For more information on the program, contact Success by Six.
