Local Resources
a community-based organization of local parents working together to provide social support and parenting resources for families with young children. Since 1998, the MFA has been bringing families and the community together by offering various programs and events.
First Connections is a Massachusetts Family Network funded by the Mass. Department of Education. It is located in Concord and designs and delivers low or no cost programs to 11 area towns including Maynard, primarily to families with children birth through age three.
Other Local Parent Groups
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Minute Man ARC for Human Services
Minute Man ARC offers a variety of programs for families in the area. It administers the local Early Intervention programs.
Pregnancy, Birth, and Newborns
Local Resources
Emerson Hospital Birthing Center
Massachusetts La Leche League Chapters
The MA chapter of a worldwide organization to help mothers breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.
Merrimack Valley La Leche League Chapter
Massachusetts Childcare Resource and Referral Network
A voluntary membership organization of community-based child care resource and referral programs.
Offers free, confidential, ongoing weekly mutual-help support groups where parents can get together and share experiences, skills, resources and support and to help strengthen and guide one another through the challenges of parenting. Free childcare is also available. Local groups include Acton and Marlboro.
Web Resources
At this site, nationally known pediatrician, Dr. William Sears, offers advice on pregnancy, childbirth, child development, childhood illnesses, behavior and many other topics.
Baby Center is a pregnancy and parenting forum with articles, baby shower planners and development updates.
The Baby Name Wizard helps a parent-to-be to find that perfect name. The Find a Name feature allows users to create a list of potential names by length and letter preference, heritage, and popularity. The Namipedia provides the etymologies, suggests popular sibling pairings, and presents reader-generated information and experiences related to particular names.
Includes general information about the mission of the March of Dimes as well as a link to the Health Library where you may access annotated online brochures and fact sheets covering various stages of pregnancy.
Zero to Three is a non-profit organization dedicated to informing professionals and parents about providing adequate support to toddlers between the ages of zero and three.
Child Healthy & Safety
American Academy of Pediatrics
“Dedicated to the health of all children”
Consumer Product Safety Commission
The Consumer Product Safety Commission offers comprehensive monthly product recall announcements, articles for kids and parents and instructions for reporting products.
DrGreene – Caring for the Next Generation
Dr. Alan Greene provides thorough answers on pediatric topics such as bed-wetting, ear infections, eating/nutrition, potty training, and sleeping.
Kids Health
KidsHealth contains a wealth of knowledge in childhood diseases, behavior/discipline issues, and has an abundant list of medications, their uses and warnings.
MEDLINEplus – Child and Teen Health Topics
A service of the National Library of Medicine, over 25 child and teen health topics are listed including ADD, autism, child safety, ear infections, rubella, SIDS, teenage pregnancy, toilet training & bedwetting.
Emergency Readiness Kit for Families
The American Academy of Pediatrics has emergency readiness kits for families in preparation for hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, and more.
Special Needs
Autism Society of America
“Improving the Lives of All Affected by Autism” Whether you are an individual on the autism spectrum or a parent, professional, or advocate, the Autism Society of America provides information on the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments of Autism.
National Down Syndrome Society
“The National Advocate for People with Down Syndrome since 1979”
National Center for Learning Disabilities
This organization provides support for children, teens, and adults with learning disabilities and how to recognize warning signs for learning disabilities.
Bullying
American Psychological Association Topics: Bullying
This APA site offers parents & teachers a variety of information on the issue of bullying.
StopBullying.gov
StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying.
Stomp Out Bullying
Learn how to recognize bullying, what you can do to end it, and how to protect kids and teens from being bullied.
Please note that while our website does contain a small number of outside curated links (primarily to local, governmental, and non-profit sites covering subjects of interest to our patrons), we regret that we are unable to spend the time to fully evaluate unsolicited links that are sent to us for inclusion on our site; therefore we do not act on these recommendations.
Updated 6/1/2023. J.R.