About Us
Our Program
5 Steps to Five
5 Steps to Five is a local, early child development parenting program. It addresses two realities: a baby's brain development begins at or even before birth and children who enter school behind others in their development often never catch up and therefore do not do well in life.
In parent-child group sessions, our program builds awareness, confidence, and community. Our trained instructors model ways for parents to develop their baby's cognitive, verbal, emotional, physical, and social skills using five simple steps: nurture, talk, play, read, and explore.
When: Every Saturday morning, except holidays.
Where: All Souls Presbyterian Church in Port Chester, 55 Parkway Drive, Port Chester
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Staff: Teachers and family workers work in early childhood education M-F; minimum of two staff per room with parents and infants together. Directors oversee total program.
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Participants: Port Chester residents who qualify for Head Start from before birth to infants between 0 and 36 months.
Sections: pre-birth and 0 to 12 months – “Foundation”; 13-36 months – “Exploration”
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Curriculum: 90-minute sessions including discussion of baby’s brain and the five steps, parents’ role in development, review of previous week at home, reading, singing, dancing, special creative projects that parents can replicate at home, snacks and cleanup.
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Books: New, age-appropriate books (mostly bilingual) are bought by the program for free distribution to participating families once a month. The average cost is less than 50% of retail.
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Budget: Through the generous support of many family foundations, individuals and local churches, we were able to raise funding in advance to cover the first three years, which was a requirement for partnership with WestCOP. The budget is 100% privately funded. Almost all funds go to program due to very low administrative overhead.
Our Mission
A parent is a child’s first and most important teacher. Our mission is to be a trusted resource for parents seeking to give their child
the best possible start to school and to life.
Our Program
5 Steps to Five is a parenting program, coaching parents and their infants in groups with trained facilitators, who model ways of interacting with the babies to build cognitive, verbal, emotional and social skills.
Our Goal
To prepare these children for school, using the five steps– Nurture, Talk, Play, Read, Explore. Parents learn the importance of being the child’s first and most important teachers – beginning at birth.
Our Curriculum
