Babies and
Families
PAGE 18 — Babies
& Families • Addison Independent, Monday, July 30, 2018
FOSTER GRANDPARENT TOM Frankovic shows off the Vermont Governor’s Award for Outstanding Community Service that he received in 2010 for his role volunteering.
Independent photo/James Finn
Frankovic embraces work with local youth through foster grandparent program By JAMES FINN MIDDLEBURY — A commitment to helping others through public service has long been much more than a hobby for Tom Frankovic of Addison. Before moving to Vermont, the New Jersey native channeled a desire to help those around him into a 30-year career that included a stint as a medic in the U.S. Marines and 25 years on his local police force. When he eventually retired to Middlebury a decade and a half ago, an opportunity to help students navigate the ups and downs of college life as the head of public safety at Middlebury College convinced him to stretch his professional life in community service another six years. Frankovic, 74, is now retired for good, but that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to throw his benevolent energy into helping
On the cover REESE HUGHES, 10 months, of Brandon stands up while playing outside at the Addison County Parent/ Child Center in Middlebury last Thursday morning.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
others. As a volunteer for the Addison County Foster Grandparent program, Frankovic has for the past 11 years spent between 15 and 40 hours per week working with kids at the Otter Creek Child Center on Weybridge Street. “I bounce around, I go from room to room, hang out with the kids, read to them, play with them ... and every day when I leave, I can’t wait to go back,” he said. The Green Mountain Foster Grandparent Program, a federally funded program that serves Addison, Rutland and Bennington counties, sends older adult volunteers to childcare centers and other organizations that serve children. They are required to spend a minimum of 15 hours per week at their assigned center. The volunteers provide “mentorship and role modeling” for kids at the (See Foster grandparents, Page 19)
Babies & Families • Addison Independent, Monday, July 30, 2018 — PAGE 19
HUNTER SELBY, EIGHT months, frames his happy face with a colorful hula hoop outside at the Addison County Parent/Child Center in Middlebury last week.
Begin your family United
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Foster grandparents (Continued from Page 18) centers, according to the program’s website. Frankovic says he found out about the program through a posting in the Addison Independent in 2007. He thought the job might offer a nice distraction from some of the boredom of retirement: although he has long enjoyed fishing and coin collecting, Frankovic felt that something was missing, and the chance to be around young people again (his favorite thing about working at the college) was intriguing. “I’m glad I saw it in the paper that one time, I really am, because I was just hanging around doing nothing,” he said. “I live right on Lake Champlain, right on the water, and it’s nice but I got tired of just looking out the window all the time until this came along.” When he began with the program he was hooked right away. “I go home every day happy,” he said. “That’s probably what I take away the most is just being happy being there.” Frankovic develops personal relationships with many of the kids at the Otter Creek center through activities such as reading, playtime and general “hanging out.” More than anything, he says, it’s about being in the moment with kids who sometimes come from single-parent
households and lack elderly role models that he and the other volunteers provide. Frankovic acknowledged that while working with young people is something he loves, it can be exhausting and isn’t for everyone. “I’m not saying you have to be a special person, but it’s not really for everyone,” he said. “Building up tolerance with a bunch of little kids, some people have a hard time doing that. (That said), I have yet to meet one of those volunteers who’s not happy to be doing what they’re doing.” In 2010, Frankovic was recognized by then-Gov. Jim Douglas for his work with the program via a Governor’s Award for Outstanding Community Service. Thinking back on his 11 years with the program, he recalls that award as one of his proudest moments. Overall, Frankovic is just grateful to have the chance to spend time with the kids every day, and in doing so to “just help out” — an outlook that he says he has tried to apply to his life since he himself was young. “The 11 years I’ve been there, it’s been absolutely priceless,” he said. “One of the things I’ve enjoyed most in life. It’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”
United Way of Addison County proudly supports more than a dozen local youth and family organizations, working to help build a healthy, productive and thriving community.
United Way of Addison County PO Box 555, 48 Court Street Middlebury, VT 05753 Ph: 802.388.7189
To support UWAC and many vital local programs GIVE at UnitedWayAddisonCounty.org or TEXT Educ to 41444
PAGE 20 — Babies
& Families • Addison Independent, Monday, July 30, 2018
Babies & Families • Addison Independent, Monday, July 30, 2018 — PAGE 21
Four skills your child needs to know before entering kindergarten
Tips to help fathers bond with baby (MS) — The birth of a child is a momentous to develop bonds with their children. Time occasion in the lives of parents. First-time spent changing diapers can prove to be a great parents may be especially moved upon seeing time for fathers to bond with their newborns. the birth of their child, having never before Make eye contact with babies while changing witnessed something so profound. their diapers, as Psych Central, an independent When the time comes for parents to leave the mental health social network run by mental hospital and take their newborns home, new health professionals, notes that babies have a moms and dads take on different preference for eye contact. roles. Moms who are nursing • Spend alone time with your or handling the bulk of the • Hold your baby as newborn. Fathers of newborns bottle-feeding while spending often as possible who are being nursed may feel a few months on maternity like there is no ideal time to leave may appear to have more • Find ways spend alone with their children. opportunities than fathers to to spend time But mothers, especially those bond with their new babies. But together who work and intend to keep there are many ways for new breastfeeding after their dads to bond with newborns as • Spend alone time maternity leave ends, can learn well. with your newborn to use a breast milk pump so • Hold your baby as often as dads can bottle-feed. Learning to possible. Pediatrician David Hill, • Help your baby eat from a bottle will help babies author of the book “Between Us in the long run, and dads can get fall back asleep Dads: A Father’s Guide to Child some quality alone time with Health,” says bonding between their newborns while bottlefather and newborn has as much to do with feeding. Fathers of babies who are bottle-fed contact as involvement. Many first-time parents can spend more time alone with their children, are understandably nervous about holding their and give moms a much-needed break, without newborns, who seem so fragile. But newborns the fear of having nothing to feed them should benefit from being held, and Hill notes that a they get hungry while mom is away. bond will develop between father and baby if • Help your baby fall back asleep. Nursing there is physical contact. mothers may feel inclined to wake up with • Find ways to spend time together. Fathers their newborns in the middle of the night might not be able to pitch in at feeding time if and let dad keep sleeping. But babies are not mothers are nursing. Because newborns spend necessarily waking up in the middle of the night so much time being nursed and sleeping, fathers due to hunger. Some might simply need to be may feel as though they don’t have much time to comforted, and dads can comfort their children spend with their babies each day. But any time just like moms can, all the while strengthening spent with a newborn can be a time for fathers their developing bond.
Stay healthy and strong through your pregnancy with regular exercise! • Group exercise classes • Two pools Feel great, • Knowledgeable & friendly fitness stay positive, instructors and personal trainers • Award-winning Vermont Sun deliver Children’s Center, caring for children results! ages 1-5.
Kindergarten is supposed to be fun and the letters of their name. In kindergarten, they educational, and allow children an opportunity will learn their uppercase letters and begin to blossom because it is usually the first time lowercase letters. They will also begin to learn the tykes are away from their parents for any how to write freehand without tracing. significant amount of time. NUMBERS 1 TO 10 And while most kindergartens don’t exactly Although some children will be able to have GPA requirements, for count to 100 by the time they a child to succeed there are reach kindergarten, all should a few milestones that should “New parents be able to at least be able to be reached before they toddle especially can count to 10. Numbers will be through the door, says Alise have a hard time used starting on the first day McGregor, founder of Little understanding that of kindergarten so the children Newton’s, an early education need to at least understand and center with locations in there are actually recognize numbers. things their child Minnesota and Illinois. SOCIAL SKILLS “New parents especially can should know prior The child should be able to have a hard time understanding to kindergarten. follow directions, be able to be that there are actually things But if they take time separated from the caregiver and their child should know prior to use the restroom independently. to make sure their kindergarten,” McGregor says. Children who scream and cry “But if they take time to make child knows some when they are separated from sure their child knows some basics, it will make caregivers disrupt the rest of basics, it will make kindergarten kindergarten a the class. Teachers simply do a better experience.” better experience.” not have the time to supervise McGregor says the typical individual students who cannot — Alise McGregor things a child should know prior independently use the restroom. to entering kindergarten are: McGregor says that it is BASIC SHAPES important for children to get off on the right The child should have learned basic shapes foot early in school. By teaching children like the square, circle, rectangle and triangle in these skills prior to attending kindergarten it preschool. If not, parents should teach them. In should make it easier for them to succeed. kindergarten, they will probably be introduced to the hexagon, star, heart and octagon. Alise McGregor is the author of the THE LETTERS OF upcoming book “Creating Brilliance,” a nurse THE CHILD’S NAME and has a B.S. in Exercise Physiology with a They should at least be able to recognize cardiac rehabilitation emphasis.
Caring for Those You Love… Our team of skilled pediatric nurses, speech and physical therapists will bring care to you and your child in your home. • Pediatric Nursing • Physical & Speech Therapy • High Tech Nursing • Child Development • Childbirth & Parenting Education • Prenatal & Post partum Support • Breast Feeding Support • Community Resource Support
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PAGE 22 — Babies
& Families • Addison Independent, Monday, July 30, 2018
middleburypediatricdentistry.com (802) 388-0909
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Babies & Families • Addison Independent, Monday, July 30, 2018 — PAGE 23
Eco-friendly suggestions for expecting parents
ALANA SIRDHUGHES, TWO and a half months, of Middlebury plays with her mom, Autumn, on the floor at the Addison County Parent/Child Center last week. Independent photo/Trent Campbell
“Celebrating 30 years of helping children discover their love for learning”
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Please call (802) 388-9688 for more information Middlebury, VT • www.ottercreekcc.org
(MS) — Expecting parents want their babies to be born healthy and stay healthy throughout their lives. The environment into which children are born can go a long way toward determining the health of newborns. Before the news that a child is on the way arrives, men and women may give little thought to the products they use around their homes. But the moment expecting parents learn their families are about to get bigger is a great time to begin reexamining certain practices around their homes and instituting some changes where necessary. • Reconsider lawn care practices. While past studies examining a link between pesticide exposure and birth defects were less than definitive, researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara examined birth certificate records of more than half a million single births in the agricultural region of the San Joaquin Valley between 1997 and 2001. They found that babies born to mothers with high pesticide exposure levels suffered a host of birth defects, including low birth weight. While such defects were only identifiable in cases where women were exposed to extraordinarily high levels of pesticides, parents can still exercise caution and avoid using pesticides when caring for their lawns. • Purchase solid wood furniture. Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are chemicals that enter the air as gases from some solid or liquids. The New York State Department of Health notes that short-term exposure to high levels of certain VOCs can cause headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, and nausea, among other symptoms. Long-term exposure to VOC has been found to adversely affect the nervous systems of laboratory animals. When purchasing furniture for their children’s nurseries, expecting parents should avoid buying pressed wood products, which may contain the VOC formaldehyde. Instead, look for solid wood furniture made with a low-emitting finish. • Make children’s food as they begin eating solids. Children begin eating solid foods such as fruit and vegetables even before they have teeth. Rather than buying baby food from the store, parents can purchase organic fruits and vegetables that were grown without the use of pesticides. Residue from pesticides may stick to foods such as apples, peaches and pears. Parents who buy and then prepare organic foods are doing all they can to ensure their babies are not exposed to pesticides through their diets. Expecting parents can take several steps to make their homes as eco-friendly as possible before the births of their children.
PAGE 24 — Babies
& Families • Addison Independent, Monday, July 30, 2018
Did you say...
MILK? A Partnership Approach to Care Consider us your partners in care, working together for you and your child’s physical and emotional well-being.
Providers & staff l-r Pictured above:
• We are friendly to complementary approaches to treatment • Specializing in asthma care, school problems, behavioral and developemental concerns, breastfeeding and adolescent care. • Meet Doctors Mayer, Kiernen, McIntosh for a free prenatal lisa ryan: Practice Manager visit. Meet our staff and see our offices at Porter Hospital Jessica craM: recePtion Collins Building. lauren young: fnP, bc • Walk-ins welcome Monday – Friday from 8:00 – 8:45am for our patients. tawnya Kiernan: Md • Evening hours available Kate Mcintosh: Md • We accept new patients & most insurances
stacy brown: rn Monica benJaMin: fnP, bc Molly dora: rn Judith walKer: recePtion in tree: taMMy baKer: rn JacK Mayer: Md
Patient-Centered Medical Home Rainbow Pediatrics is a Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home; this is the highest level that can be achieved. We realize that no one knows your child better than you – the parents. Our goal is to partner with you to develop a plan to care for your child both in wellness and illness. Let us work with you in every phase of your child’s health care to bring out the best in every parent and child.
Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 44 Collins Drive, Suite 202, Middlebury Weybridge, Vermont 545-2119
(next to Porter Hospital)
388.1338 www.rainbowvt.com
388-5698.