KINGMAN – Grandparents play a variety of roles in their grandchildren’s lives. For many, a grandfather or grandmother is an additional loving adult who provides positive, nurturing support early in life. For other young children, grandparents have taken their grandchild into their home and have taken on the responsibility of raising them.
First Things First (FTF), Arizona’s early childhood agency, knows that families can look different, but they can all help babies, toddlers and preschoolers feel safe and secure. As National Grandparents Day was celebrated recently, FTF reminds families about resources that can help grandparents build positive relationships with their grandchildren, which promotes healthy development and learning for young kids.
FTF provides funding for programs that are having positive impacts on grandparents and Arizona’s children, including a statewide resource that can provide advice and support to grandparents raising their grandkids.
The Birth to 5 Helpline (1-877-705-KIDS) is available to all Arizona families with infants, toddlers and preschoolers. This free program fields questions from families looking for advice and the latest child development information from early childhood experts.
First Things First partners with the La Paz/Mohave Early Literacy Project/Arizona PBS to provide free family-friendly resources to have fun with your child, and learn more about child development, positive parenting, health and literacy. For more information, contact Misty at (480) 869-0183 or Misty.Haas@asu.edu.
The La Paz/Mohave region also funds Parents as Teachers, a home visitation program open to grandparents raising their grandchildren. Caregivers work one-on-one with a trained and caring parent educator to build caregiving skills and nurture a child’s health, development and learning. For more information, contact Shelley Fischer at (928) 230-2305 sfischer@arizonaschildren.org.
For a comprehensive list of what programs are available at no cost for children birth to age 5 in your area, visit: www.firstthingsfirst.org/resources/find-programs/.
Resources for ways grandparents can help engage a young child and create quality early experiences can also be found on the First Things First website.
The relationship between a child and a grandparent is a special bond and supporting grandparents in their special role will help young kids learn, grow and succeed.