New Haven Independent

The help came from volunteers like the New Haven Symphony’s Steve Collins and leaders from more than a dozen other arts groups which host events run by Parents and Communities for Kids (PACK).

The volunteers got to unwrap and plate some 3,500 children’s picture books. They will be using the books in their programs — whether at the libraries, museums, or musical and artistic organizations.

The extravaganza took place at the Connecticut Children’s Museum, where, for example, Kate Paranteau, program director at the Creative Arts Workshop (CAW), packed up these books. The books will be given away to the kids and their parents at the end of programs throughout the spring and summer. The idea is to stimulate learning together at home and as a regular part of parent-child interaction.

Doesn’t that come naturally? Not always. Many of the PACK families participating need the extra motivation.

Paranteau said that after one fabric/sewing PACK event at CAW, the dad who had been sewing with his daughter took the activity, and a related book home.

“We learned later,” Paranteau said, “that the father enjoyed it so much, he took the activity into his church. And it gets better. He said his wife, who had sewn all her life, but had strangely stopped, started sewing again with their child, all as a result.”

Bill Brown, who directs the Eli Whitney Museum, is a great believer in the PACK credo, namely that the parent is the child’s first teacher. He ordered up dozens of copies of Bread, Bread, Bread by Ken Heyman for, you guessed it, bread making events for his PACK families.

“Most American kids take bread for granted,” he said. “And sometimes I like to give our kids issues to work with. Bread is such a kind of cultural staple with Afghan families, and now so many don’t even have the fuel to bake it, they’ll need to think about solar ovens.”

Brown said that in his working with PACK parents he advises them, “Yes, these books are good, very good as teachers. But you also have much to teach your kids. Teach them how to bake bread, for example.”

One of the challenges is to get parents in the PACK groups — all parents, for that matter — to accept may be a different vision for their kids, Brown said. “I mean all parents like to see kids being happy, but many parents, for example, don’t like to hear their kids may be happier building ships or becoming a woodworker than going to law school. These activities also help the parents adjust their vision.”

Click here and here for previous stories on PACK programs, which are funded by the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven.

The 3,500 books, provided at a discount by publishers, still cost $43,000. Most of that, said Sandy Malmquist, director of the Connecticut Children’s Museum, came through a grant to the museum’s family learning projects through the federal Institute of Museums and Library Service.