Local restaurants serve up early learning tips

The next time you visit a Danbury dining establishment with your young children, there may be more than good food on the menu. Local restaurants are teaming up with Danbury’s Promise for Children Partnership and the United Way of Western Connecticut to help prepare Danbury’s children for kindergarten by distributing “Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten” placemats.

“It’s part of a community-wide effort to educate parents and others about the importance of early learning and the basic skills children need before entering kindergarten,” explained Caroline LaFleur, Danbury’s Promise for Children Coordinator.

On Thursday, January 19, Elmer Palma, owner of Elmer’s Diner, a family friendly restaurant for breakfast, lunch or dinner with plentiful dining options, healthy and nutritious food and reasonable prices, was happy to embrace the placemat project. He will be giving out placemats and crayons to children and parents who visit the restaurant, which is frequented by families from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.“It’s important to convey all that information in a very entertaining way. We are certainly helping parents to open their minds,” said Elmer.

Romina Faccennini, a Parent Outreach Educator at the Family Literacy Center in Danbury, couldn’t agree more. Her charming and bright threeyear old son, Nicolas Ruiz de Gopegui couldn’t take his eyes off the activities on the new “Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten” placemats while enjoying a house-made cheese pizza to celebrate his birthday,

“There is a great need for parents to have access to that kind of information. The placemats feature fun messages about why it’s important to read and talk to young children, eat meals together as a family and exercise together,” she said.

The placemat idea was conceived by Patti Keckeisen, a Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) graduate who is involved in the Partnership. She said the placemats are just one way the Partnership is planning to get messages out to parents and the community. Videos in waiting rooms and public places, social networking and distributing resource sheets and flyers are other ways the Partnership will be informing parents and the public about the importance of early learning and the resources that are available to young families in Danbury.

Printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other, they include simple activities that focus on the skills children need to succeed in kindergarten, such as counting, identifying shapes and writing your name.

There’s also information on how parents can sign up for United Way’s Imagination Library free book program, and how to register children for kindergarten in the Danbury Public School District. “This is a perfect example of how businesses can contribute to our efforts to prepare young children for school,” said Kim Morgan, Chief Operating Officer of the United Way of Western CT. “Parents of children who are not yet in school can sometimes be hard to reach. Providing placemats at area restaurants is a simple and fun way to get messages to those parents about the importance of school readiness and early learning.”

Other restaurants that have signed on for the project are Main Street Diner, Minas Carne and La Mitad del Mundo. All area restaurants are encouraged to join the effort and should contact Caroline LaFleur, Danbury’s Promise for Children Coordinator, at 203-797-8088 if they would like to get involved.

To find out more about the Promise for Children Partnership visit www.danburypromiseforchildren.org.