About Our Program:
Baby TALK at New Life Centers was founded in response to the need of a high quality and affordable early development enhancement program in our local area. Many available programs are state funded and have either received drastic budget cuts, reducing the services they offer or have closed their doors altogether. These programs are limited as to who they can serve, making them available to only those children found to be “at-risk” for academic failure (through a screening process) or living within specific school district boundaries. What makes Baby TALK at New Life Centers unique, is that it is open to all children and families, regardless of their developmental status or place of residency. Participation in our programs enhances the parent-child bond, as well as giving opportunity to network with other families in the community.
Our program targets children from birth through their third year, a critical time of a child’s development. Research has shown that eighty percent of brain development occurs in the first year three years of life. Early experiences have a tremendous impact on a child’s development.
Our Baby TALK Playgroups provide these children with rich experiences, enhancing their physical as well as cognitive development. Informal parent education occurs during this time, teaching parents about child development and age appropriate play. Discovery and exploration are encouraged through child directed play. There are weekly opportunities for sensory play, including a water table, sand, rice and other sensory materials. Various fine motor and gross motor enhancement activities, as well as those that promote language development and early literacy are offered weekly. Periodic developmental screenings are performed. If a delay is detected, a referral to a collaborative agency is made for more intensive services.
How You Can Help:
Our program’s success depends on your generous support. Secure on-line donations can be made at nlcenters.org. Choose Baby TALK under the general giving tab or you can choose the “Scholarship Fund for Mamas” or “Baby TALK Seed Money” under the support current projects tab. Checks should be made payable to New Life Centers of Chicagoland; please write Baby TALK on the memo line. They can be mailed to: New Life Centers, Oak Forest Site, c/o New Life Community Church at 5333 W. 151st St.
Oak Forest, IL 60452.
Financial support can also be provided through using GoodSearch, a yahoo powered search engine. Each time you use GoodSearch (www.goodsearch.com), a donation is made to our program. Choose New Life Centers of Chicagoland as your charity of choice and we will receive $.01 for each search made. This sounds insignificant at first, but money accumulates exponentially if it is used on a regular basis and you ask your friends to do the same. A GoodSearch toolbar can be easily downloaded to your computer, making it even easier to do. In these hard economic times, this is an easy way of giving without actually giving.
Also offered on this site is the GoodShop, an online mall featuring over 1000 stores such as Target, Barnes and Noble, E-Bay, Staples, and Best Buy to name a few. Each time an online purchase is made by going through www.goodsearch.com, a contribution is made to our program, based on a percentage of your purchase dollar amount. Please consider using the GoodShop if you are making online purchases anyway.
In-kind donations are greatly appreciated to help lower our program expenses. Items needed on a regular basis include:
-
- Baby wipe refills
- Paper towels
- Clorox wipes
- Construction paper
- Tempera paints
- Colored tissue paper
- Washable markers
- Unscented shaving cream
- Rice
- Cornstarch
- White flour
- Salt
- Cream of Tartar
Volunteers are needed to help our program in a variety of ways. Our playgroups are housed in a multi-purpose space. There are tables and chairs that have to be moved each week to clear space for our classroom and then put back afterward. Help is needed cleaning toys and prepping projects. Volunteers are also needed to clean the space after classes on Tuesday; we have much fun doing very messy activities! Sand needs to be swept and the floor needs to be mopped. As always, we have found that many hands make light work.
Baby TALK Family Fun Program is offered monthly to provide good old fashioned fun for the entire family. Participation promotes family bonding, as well as creates lasting family memories. A free digital family photo is taken at each event as a keepsake. Past events have included a “Block Party”, a day filled with construction themed activities and a “Lullaby Concert”, where families enjoyed an evening of singing and dancing. Everyone attended the program in their pajamas; the evening ended with a bed-time story and snack.
Baby TALK at New Life Centers Staff
are certified Baby TALK practitioners, passionate about working with the birth to three population and caring deeply about each family that they serve. Their background and experiences bring a rich blend of knowledge and know-how to our program.
Baby TALK at New Life Centers Staff are certified Baby TALK practitioners, passionate about working with the birth to three population and caring deeply about each family that they serve. Their background and experiences bring a rich blend of knowledge and know-how to our program.
Baby TALK’s mission is to positively impact child development and nurture health parent-child relationships during the critical early years. Detailed information on Baby TALK, a community outreach model, can be found at www.babytalk.org. Visit www.nlcenters.org for information and vision statement of New Life Centers of Chicagoland, a not-for-profit organization .
Playgroup Details:
One hour playgroups meet weekly at New Life Community Church, 5333 W. 151st St., Oak Forest, IL. Currently, class times are Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m and Monday evenings at 5:30, to better serve children of working parents.
Tuition is $40.00 for a six week series of classes or $78.00 for 12 weeks. A drop-in rate of $7.00 per class is available to those families who cannot commit to attending on a regular basis, subject to space availability. Classes are limited to a maximum of twelve participants. Pre-registration is required. Please contact Debbie Jackson at
with questions or for further information.
About Our Director:
Debbie Jackson, Baby TALK at New Life Centers founder and director, is a certified Baby TALK practitioner/ parent educator with many years experience working with the birth to three population. She was trained at Baby TALK headquarters in Decatur, IL in 2003 and saw first-hand what can be accomplished when a number of agencies within a community work collaboratively to provide services to the families they serve in common. It was at that point that she developed the vision to replicate this in her community and has been quoted in saying that she was “bitten by the Baby TALK bug”!
Debbie draws from her experience spanning many years working with parents and their children, both as a Maternal/Child registered nurse, as well as seven years experience working as a Baby TALK program facilitator at a local school district. She is very passionate about Baby TALK and considers it her “life’s work”. Debbie has also been trained in the “Touchpoints” model, through the Brazelton Institute at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and Harvard, and certified as an infant massage instructor through the International Association of Infant Massage Instructors. She is an active member of the Baby TALK Professional Association.
Contact Us:
For further information, please contact: