The first five years of life will be the focus of a free Saturday morning workshop for Aurora parents, sponsored by SPARK, an education initiative of Fox Valley United Way.
Based on the last census, about 20,000 children under the age of 5 live in Aurora, according to Kassia Eide, a SPARK family engagement coordinator.
“A high percentage of that number is considered to be at risk, due to being isolated by language or low income,” she added.
Aurora also has a high number of refugee families and homeless families, she said.
The mission of SPARK — which stands for Strong, Prepared and Ready for Kindergarten — is to connect underserved families in Aurora with early education and childcare opportunities.
The group wants “to make sure that the youth in Aurora are prepared for school and life,” Alyse Plattos, a family engagement consultant with SPARK, said.
For the last five years, SPARK has helped about 3,300 families through free developmental screenings, monthly resource events and its annual Week of the Young Child event, group officials said.
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For the first time, the organization is offering the “Focus on the First Five Years: Family Learning Workshop” from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday at Aurora’s North Island Center, 8 E Galena Blvd., in downtown Aurora. SPARK leaders hope it will become an annual event.
About 20 families have registered so far for the event, which will be capped at 100, according to Plattos. Breakout sessions will be held in English and Spanish.
Among the topics will be the appropriate use of technology with young children. Plattos said the session will discuss the appropriate use of technology as an educational tool rather than “just a babysitter.”
Other sessions will highlight different family activities that focus on math to help prepare young children for kindergarten, she added.
“We want parents to come away from this conference with ideas for how they can implement these activities in their home,” she said.
Another breakout session will discuss the importance of routines for potty training, sleep training and how to best implement them in the family setting.
“We want this event to be a resource for parents who may be a little overwhelmed and guide them on how they can begin to implement better routines or build on the routines they already have in place,” Plattos said.
The event will conclude with a family activity that will be broken out by topic.
Light refreshments and free child care will be offered at the meeting.
Cathy Janek is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.