CLEARLAKE — The second annual School Readiness Health Fair was held Wednesday at the Elks Lodge in Clearlake. The event provided parents with informational resources and health education in early child development.
Individual activity stations provided lessons in a variety of areas such as dental care, vision and hearing, fitness, transportation safety, lice prevention/ remedy and more.
The three-hour event, held in partnership with the Lake County Office of Education and Healthy Start, welcomed families with children enrolled in the School Readiness program, open to children ages 3 to 5 years old who are not attending preschool.
The School Readiness program, funded through a First 5 grant, brings preschool into the home using the Parents as Teachers (PAT) curriculum. Services are available through every elementary school site in the Konocti Unified School District. Case loads are currently full, however, a waiting list is available.
Using the PAT curriculum, two home visitors provide services to 25 families apiece. The home visitors bring books and learning materials to the home, which the families keep and use to teach and prepare their children for kindergarten. The curriculum covers lessons in all areas of child development and education such as math, science and literacy.
“We also distribute transitional backpacks at school sites with state preschools,” said Early Childhood Educator Gina Griffin, who coordinates the School Readiness program in the Konocti district. The backpacks, she said, are filled with educational activities for children to complete over the summer before they enter kindergarten.
The School Readiness Health Fair highlighted services available to Konocti students through the Healthy Start program. Stations provided a variety of information from how to properly install a child safety seat, to keeping your child”s head free of lice to the dangers of lead poisoning and the benefits of fitness fun. Screenings were provided in vision, hearing and dental care.
The dental care station was a big hit with the little ones. Marta Fuller, R.N., Children”s dental disease prevention program coordinator, entertained the children with a wide-mouthed puppet full of teeth while teaching them how to properly care for their teeth. Through the program, which is coordinated through the Lake County Health Services Department, Konocti students receive dental services in partnership with Adventist Health Redbud Community Hospital”s Family Health Clinic.
“Redbud blocks off one hour for all Konocti schools on Tuesday and Thursday mornings,” said Doreen Gilmore, Healthy Start site supervisor for Pomo Elementary School. “It”s a nice little program especially for working parents or parents who don”t have transportation.”
Included in the information at the child safety seat booth, was a fact sheet regarding a new law that went into effect on Jan. 1 prohibiting adults from smoking in a vehicle when a child is present. “The harmful chemicals in secondhand smoke can remain in the air and on surfaces in a car or truck for many hours, and even days, after a cigarette has been smoked. These chemicals stick to surfaces, such as a child”s car seat, making it a potential hidden source of danger for children,” the fact sheet states.
The offense is a secondary violation, which means that law enforcement officials may not stop a vehicle for a smoking violation alone. Smokers can be fined up to $100 for smoking in a vehicle where children are present. This and other valuable information will be made available to the public again this weekend during a Child Passenger Safety Check event to be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Kathy Fowler Chevrolet-Pontiac in Lakeport.
All the information provided during the School Readiness Health Fair will be highlighted again on May 17 during the annual Konocti Kids” Day event at Austin Park.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com.
