Programs

Expectant families meet weekly to get to know other families in their neighborhood, participate in workshops and prenatal education opportunities, and to learn about services in their community. Each participating family is given a baby shower and layette items for their baby. Our prenatal education program is curriculum-based and often co-facilitated in partnership with health centers or the federal Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program.

Home visits are offered to families with newborns and each family receives a Smart Start basket. During the visit, the core principles of raising a learner are introduced. Families are enrolled in Smart and those in need of crucial services are connected with community providers.

Curriculum-based socialization groups take the place of traditional child care. We want every moment we have with the children to provide fun opportunities to learn and grow, and, therefore, these groups are designed to promote school readiness by providing fun learning activities.

Structured play groups are offered for caregivers with infants and toddlers, especially for those children not already in structured child-care settings. During play groups, early learning and parenting skills are promoted in the context of play. Families are also connected to necessary services. Our curriculum has been customized to engage the multicultural, urban population of families we serve.

This comprehensive, curriculum-based program helps parents understand how children think and how they function at different ages. It helps them to provide effective discipline by teaching children what to do, rather than only what not to do, and coaches them to avoid using manipulation and violence.

This cross-site program is facilitated by trained male family leaders from Smart communities. Programming includes open discussions, family trips, guest speakers, parenting skills, and workshops, as well as education, employment, and support and referral services. Smart’s LEAP (Leadership, Empowerment, and Advocacy Program) for Woodland Terrace, in Washington, D.C., is a curriculum-based program specifically designed to provide urban youth and families with support for setting and achieving their own goals for self-sufficiency and healthier lifestyles.

Cohorts of families are engaged in activities that explore attitudes and values related to money, develop skills for saving and budgeting, and identify goals for self-sufficiency. This eight-week intensive course includes individual coaching and encourages sharing of goals with the group. We also offer one-time workshops on specific topics of interest. Smart program staff members have been trained to provide basic financial literacy to all families.

These loosely structured group meetings engage families in early learning, provide parenting support, and help to prevent the social isolation that often comes with raising small children in challenging circumstances.

This cross-site program has a specially designed curriculum to support and empower caregivers from underserved communities. Leaders attend workshops and trainings on a variety of topics to learn more about issues that families and children in their community face, and to build their skills as advocates, trainers, and leaders.

This program addresses families’ anxiety about navigating the Boston Public School system. It guides them through the registration process and the first day of school, including school visits, workshops, special guest speakers, and more. Smart 2 School is a curriculum-based program, providing families with the guidance and support they need as they make the transition to school. Smart 2 School prepares children, but it also prepares families to confidently continue in the roles they have as their children’s first teachers and advocates.

Smart facilitates community stakeholders working together to define some key activities and approaches to reinforcing school readiness everywhere children and families go. The larger community is engaged in understanding their role in promoting early learning.