**Baby Word Play was suspended in March 2020 due to COVID-19**
What is Baby Wordplay?
Baby Wordplay is a 40 minute class to promote early childhood literary. The class incorporates reading, singing, rhyming, and playing geared toward children 6 weeks to 4 years old who are accompanied by an adult. The content is relatable, diverse, and culturally sensitive. Baby Wordplay is a grassroots program developed by Pamela, who was a librarian in Philadelphia public library system for over 30 years. It now has 3 locations in Philadelphia. Baby Wordplay has been hugely successful but, to the disappointment of the Baby Wordplay themselves, limited to a more affluent subpopulation in Philadelphia. Baby Wordplay is highly motivated to serve children in Philadelphia who happen to be from a neighborhood with a lower socioeconomic status. Here is their website https://www.babywordplay.com/
Rationale: Literacy is central to health. Research shows low literacy in children lead to poor academic performance in higher grade levels. Academic success is inversely correlated to risky behaviors and poor health status as reported by the CDC. These factors significantly affect our patient population. The National Center of Educational Statistics reports that 22% of adults in Philadelphia lack even basic literacy. We serve a population with lower literacy rates and poorer health outcomes. By encouraging early literacy, language development, social development, and development of fine motor skills in a program like Baby Wordplay, we will be using one more tool to support our patients. In addition, we will be enhancing our brand as a community hub by creating a welcoming environment for the young families we serve.
Location: Spectrum Community Health Center Community Room.
Frequency: One class weekly.
Duration of one session: 40 minutes.
Population: Children <4 years old and their caregivers. The attendees will be our patients and their families, but we will open attendance to any and all families in the neighborhood who may be interested.