For more information, contact:

Barbara Brown, Best Beginnings
bbrown@akhf.org (907) 297-3309
Patty Ginsburg for Best Beginnings
marthag@ak.net (907) 3512-2222

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Early Learning Activity Guides Now Available in Yup'ik Fun, culturally relevant activities to help build babies' brains

Guides describing activities that help build babies' and young children's brains are now available in Yup'ik. Copies of Mikelnguut Ayagmek Elluarrluki Anglivkallrat are available free of charge from Best Beginnings, (907) 297-3300 or http://www.BestBeginningsAlaska.org.

The activity guides contain fun, culturally relevant activities to help babies' brains grow in ways that will help them succeed in school and in life. There are three guides: infant (birth to 18 months), toddler (18 months to 3 years), and preschooler (ages 3 to 5).

Activities for the Yup'ik version were reviewed by Yup’ik educators from RuralCAP for cultural relevance, with many new activities added and others modified or exchanged. All translations were done by Marie Meade, a Yup'ik translator originally from Nunapitchuk, who now lives in Anchorage.

The guides were funded by grants from the Alaska Children's Trust and the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, with additional support from BP and ConocoPhillips Alaska.

All activities described in the books are based on the State of Alaska's Early Learning Guidelines, developed by the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Last year, Best Beginnings published activity books in Spanish, and an English version came out earlier this year.

The guides are designed to assist parents, and other adults who work with babies and young children, in understanding child development and offering fun activities that encourage healthy brain development.

Research shows that children’s brains develop at an incredible rate from birth to age 6 and that the type of learning which takes place in the early years has a profound effect on how children fare later in life.

Suggested activities in multiple languages are posted regularly on Best Beginnings' Web site (http://www.BestBeginningsAlaska.org).
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Note to reporters/editors: An interesting feature of the translation work by Ms. Meade was an epiphany she had regarding the correct Yup'ik word to use for "activity." While she had been using a word meaning "making your child well," she realized the best word was actually one about "engaging your child."

She was so thrilled with this realization that she went back and changed all the appropriate references in the previous book. Translation is an art, not a science, and the fact that Ms. Meade found the perfect word to resonate with her readers - one that will capture exactly what we hope these books will inspire - is testament to the skill and care required for high quality translation.