Early childhood clinicians from JCFS Chicago’s Integrated Pediatric Therapies (IPT) and the Virginia Frank Child Development Center (VFCDC) are teaming up this spring to offer a class for new parents and caregivers who want to better understand and support their baby’s early developmental journey. This warm, supportive class is designed to nurture babies’ early development while strengthening parents’ confidence as caregivers.

Parents of infants 0 to 12 months old are encouraged to attend.

The class will be co-led by Jody Miller, an IPT speech-language pathologist, and Maria Turner, a VFCDC early childhood therapist. While the two programs have collaborated on presentations in the past, this marks the first time they are coming together to provide an ongoing course at JCFS.

“It is a great opportunity to share our knowledge,” Jody said.

The class is geared toward parents, but much of what will be discussed will also apply to their babies.

The course will be especially beneficial to new parents, helping them to strengthen interactions with their children and make connections with other parents of infants. Each session will focus on a different topic and will include discussion, demonstration, and practical resources.

The topics to be explored in the class include attachment and bonding, parent/infant mental health, neurodevelopmental milestones, feeding, co-regulation and attunement to cues, encouraging language and motor development, and infant massage.

“If you’re a new parent, you don’t always know what you’re looking for,” said Jody Miller. “The sooner we can help families identify and make connections, the better.”

Maria noted that while many parents turn to the internet for answers, there is no substitute for in-person connection and trusted professional guidance.

“This is a class, but at the same time we really want parents to come and feel like they can learn from this, not just have somebody talking at them for an hour,” Jody said. “We want to be interactive and have a discussion.”

Learn more about the class and register here. Email Megan Kowalski with any questions.