This January Inspirica launched the Early Childhood and Parenting Program, a new support program for the homeless children aged 0 – 5 and their parents staying at Inspirica’s family shelter. Concurrent parenting and child enrichment sessions are held three nights a week for parents and their children, followed by a family style dinner prepared by various volunteer groups. Weekend sessions are for parents and children together.
The new children's rooms are beautifully designed for maximum sensory stimulation. The programs concentrate on Kindergarten readiness, exposing the children to expanded vocabularies and lots of Read to Me sessions. The kids love books and Barbara McLaughlin, the program director, encourages the parents to take books each night to read to their kids then swap them out the next day.
We dropped off 2 boxes of books today, but they can use many more board books and Read to Me books, as well as ones covering specific topics such as feelings and loss.
Books provided by Greenwich Book Swap and Darien Book Aid