a parent's guide … · prepared for the head start bureau, under contract #105-98-2055, by...

A Parent’s GuideTo the Head Start Home-Based Program OptionA Parent’s GuideTo the Head Start Home-Based Program Option

A Parent’s Guide to the Head Start Home-Based Program Option

U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesAdministration for Children and FamiliesAdministration on Children, Youth, and FamiliesHead Start Bureau

CONTENTS

PA R T O N EThe Head Start Home-Based Program Option

2 Introducing the Head StartHome-Based Program Option

3 Getting Started: Home Visits andSocializations

4 The Head Start FamilyPartnership Process

6 What You Can Expect During aHome Visit

6 What You Can Expect DuringSocializations

PA R T T WOYou and Your Head Start Home Visitor

8 Learning from One Another andBecoming a Team

9 Who Does What 9 Planning Together

10 Closing Thoughts

PA R T T H R E EThings You Can Do

11 Turning Everyday Moments Into Learning Moments

15 You Are Your Child’s First Teacher17 There’s No Place Like Your Home

for Learning21 Make Every Moment Count!

Prepared for the Head Start Bureau, under contract #105-98-2055,by the Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE

You may be the mother or father of a babyor a toddler in Early Head Start, or you maybe the parent of a Head Start preschooler.Whatever the age of your child, helping himor her learn and grow is a big job. It is anexciting job. It is a hard job. Every motherand father, every family, can use some sup-port. You can get this support from yourHead Start home-based program and yourhome visitor.

If your family is enrolled in our home-based program, this guide is for you. Itincludes three parts:

We hope you find this information helpful.We look forward to working with you.

A Parent’s GuideTo the Head Start Home-Based Program Option

Welcome to our Head Start home-based program!

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Part One: The Head Start Home-BasedOption describes what a home-basedprogram is and what you can expect.

Part Two: You and Your Head Start HomeVisitor explores how you and your HeadStart home visitor can work together tobest support your child’s development.

Part Three: Things You Can Do: TurningEveryday Moments into Learning Momentsoffers ideas for how you can help yourchild learn day-by-day using objects andmaterials in your home regardlesswhether you are new to a program or along-time participant.

_“As a parent, you get a say-so aboutwhat’s going on in the program.Parents make the choices.”—Mother of a preschooler

“What you learn helps you in yourcommunity, with your family, defi-nitely with your child—and itmakes you feel good about yourself.—Father of a toddler

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Introducing the Head StartHome-Based Option

Imagine your child two years from now, fiveyears, ten years, as an adult. What do youwant for your child? What do you wantyour child to learn? What kind of person doyou want your child to be?

The Head Start home-based programoption was created to help you help yourchild reach these goals—and others youmay not have dreamed of yet. We believe inyou! We are here to support you.

Once a week, a home visitor will come toyour home. Your home visit will last 90minutes. You, your spouse or partner, yourchild’s brothers and sisters, and any otherhousehold members can all take part.

You will talk together about your child andhow things are going for your family.Together, you will plan activities for you todo with your child during home visits andduring the week between visits. Over time,as you get to know one another, you willbecome partners in helping your child growand learn.

Twice a month, you and your child willmeet with other children and parents. You

will have time to get to know one anotherand share interesting experiences. Yourhome visitor will be there too. We call thesemeetings “socializations.”

You can also take part in the program inother ways. One of the special things aboutHead Start is that mothers and fathers aretruly involved. Your program, like everyHead Start program, is designed to meetthe needs of its children, families, and com-munity. Your program will look to you andother parents for ideas to help shape pro-gram policies and experiences for childrenand families. To support you in taking anactive part, your program will offer youtraining about how programs run and howgroup decisions are made.

As a parent of an enrolled child, you areautomatically a member of your program’sParent Committee. Through the ParentCommittee, you can help develop curricu-lum activities that address your child’sinterests and needs and that support your

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PART ONE:

The Head Start Home-BasedProgram Option

child’s education and healthy development.You can also advise the staff about programpolicies, elect representatives to the PolicyCouncil (see below), and participate in hir-ing new staff members.

You will be invited to attend parent meet-ings where you will have a chance to shareyour experiences. You can also learn abouttopics such as feeding an infant or dealingwith the challenging behaviors of a toddleror preschooler.

You may want to run for a seat on your pro-gram’s Policy Council or Policy Committee.As a member of this group, you will workwith the agency’s governing body and man-agement staff as well as with other com-munity representatives to make policy deci-sions and plans about content areas suchas education, health, parent involvement,and the building of partnerships with fami-lies and the community.

Getting Started: Home Visits and Socializations

During the first home visit, you, your fami-ly, and your home visitor will begin to getto know one another. You and other familymembers will introduce your child. Yourhome visitor will introduce him- or herselfand tell you about the program.

Together, you will decide on a regular dayand time for home visits that works for you.If the time you select is a time when yourspouse or partner or other family membersare not available, then you and your homevisitor will need to think about ways to

share what goes on during home visits withthem. And you will have to remember to askfor their ideas and questions.

Your home visitor will let you know whenand where socializations will take place.Some programs may offer transportation. Ifnot, your home visitor will help you figureout a way to get to socializations if you donot have a car or easy access to publictransportation.

If you need to change an appointment ormiss a socialization, for example, because ofillness or a family emergency, please con-tact your home visitor. You can expect thathe or she will do the same. You can recordimportant contact information below:

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Part IIntroducing the Head Start Home-Based Program Option

Day and time for home visits:

Day, time, and place for socializations:

Contact number for my home visitor:

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The Head Start FamilyPartnership Process

The family partnership process in EarlyHead Start and Head Start takes time. Youand your home visitor will develop thispartnership in a comfortable way thatrespects your needs and privacy.

In the first few weeks, your home visitorwill ask you questions as a way of gettingto know you. He or she will ask about yourchild’s daily routine, medical history, andabout what foods your child eats. He or shewill ask about your dreams for your childand family—and about the challenges youface. He or she will also ask about whatgoals you have for your child and family.

Together, you will begin talking about thesupport you need to reach your goals. Thistalking is the start of a conversation thatwill last as long as you are in the program.If a spouse or partner or other family mem-bers cannot be present during home visits,you can include them in the conversationby sharing news of home visits with themand by sharing their thoughts with yourhome visitor.

Your goals are the basis of your worktogether. Over time, as they may change, sowill the focus of your work.

It is up to you to decide what personalinformation you want to share and when.Many of us find it easier to share dreamsand concerns with someone we know well.As you get to know your home visitor bet-ter, you will likely have more to talk about.You can rest assured your home visitor willrespect your privacy.

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Parent’s GuideHead Start Home-Based Program Option

(I think one of the things you have to dois to accept people for who they are,accept their values…. Let them knowwhatever happens, that you’ll be there tohelp them.

—A home visitor

Examples of Goals

Every family and child is unique.Each has different goals. Here are a fewexamples of goals:

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Find an apartment with more spacebecause a new baby is on the way.

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Find a good doctor.u

Get a driver’s license.u

Calm a baby who is always fussy.u

Learn how to handle a toddler whogets into everything.

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Teach a 4-year-old to dress himself.

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(Thanks to my program, I am able to see agood future for myself completing myeducation, to seek a good job, my childrengetting a good education and to maketrue my husband’s and my dream to getour own house and be a happy family.

—Mother of three children

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Some Things to Think About

Here are some things to think about with family members. Your thoughts may give youideas of things you want to share with your home visitor:

We feel good about our family because

Over the next 3 months, we would like our family to

Our family is having trouble with

The best thing about being a parent is

The hardest thing about being a parent is

Our baby/toddler/preschooler loves to

I want my baby/toddler/preschooler to

I want to learn more about

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What You Can Expect During a Home Visit

The main focus of home visits is yourchild’s development. During each visit, anactivity or experience will be presented foryou and your child to enjoy together. Togive you a picture of what to expect, here isa list of things that usually occur:

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Talking about what happened during theweek;

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Reviewing plans for this week’s activityor experience;

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Carrying out the activity or experience;u

Talking about how things went;u

Making a plan for next time; andu

Sharing information about program orcommunity activities.

What You Can Expect During Socializations

Socializations are a time when you, yourchild, and other parents and their childrencome together. In some programs, theseevents are also known as “group experi-ences” or “group time.” These are opportu-nities to build on the goals you set duringhome visits.

During socializations, you will be focusedon different things, depending on your situ-ation:

u

If you are the parent of a new baby,socializations may be a time for you tohold your baby in your arms and watchhow he or she responds to what is goingon or a time for you to talk with anothernew parent. As your child grows, activi-ties you do together such as fingerplays,singing a song, or playing “roll the ball”are a chance to get to know your childbetter and to have fun together.

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If you are the parent of an infant or tod-dler, the focus of these group experi-ences is your relationship with yourchild. From birth, babies are aware ofother people and are eager to build rela-tionships. They interact with you bymaking eye contact, by smiling, by coo-ing, by reaching out, and over time, bytalking. As you and your baby participatein a group, you can learn about howyour baby responds to you and others.This information will help you makedecisions about how best to respond toyour baby.

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(“Our home visitor helps us thinkabout how our baby is doing andgives us good ideas of things to dowith him. She is like a friend whocomes to our home to support us.”

—Mother and father of an infant

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If you are the parent of a preschooler, thefocus of these group experiences islearning about how your child interactswith other people. What you learn willhelp you figure out ways to support yourchild’s social development.

What happens at socializations may vary.Your home visitor will be there doing groupactivities with children. These activities willgive you the chance to learn more abouthow your child gets to know and plays withother children. You will also be able to seehow the staff person guides children’sbehavior (for example, by giving themchoices), and you will get ideas that youcan try at home. Sometimes you and otherparents will be invited to lead activities. At

other times, you and other parents mayhave a group discussion with one staff per-son while another staff person is with thechildren.

No matter what your child’s age, groupsocializations will give you the chance to

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be out of the house and meet other par-ents;

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assist in organizing activities, gatheringmaterials, and preparing snacks;

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share what you know and learn withother parents and Early Head Start orHead Start staff members;

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attend presentations about safety, nutri-tion, discipline, or other topics of inter-est;

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learn that you are not alone in the chal-lenges and joys of raising a young child;

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share activity ideas and things you learnwith family members; and most impor-tant of all,

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strengthen your relationship with yourchild.


(It’s fun. You get to talk with otherparents.

—Mother of an infant

I see him do things that he doesn’tdo at home and it gets me reallyexcited.

—Mother of a preschooler

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Learning From One Anotherand Becoming A Team

You, your family, and your home visitorhave much to learn from one another. Youeach bring important but different informa-tion to your work together.

You know what is special about your family.You know your family’s culture. You knowwhere your family is and where you wantto go. You know your successes. You knowthe challenges you face.

You see your child every day in many differ-ent situations. Some of the things you havelearned about your child might include

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what your child likes to see, touch, and hear;u

how your child responds when thingsget too noisy or confusing;

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your child’s favorite foods, songs, andactivities;

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what makes your child happy, sad,angry, or excited;

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how best to comfort your child when heor she is upset; and you also know

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what you want for your child.

Home visitors know how families and chil-dren grow and change. They know how tooffer support. They know fun and interest-ing learning activities that you can do withyour child in your home. They know agen-cies in your community and how to accessservices such as housing, nutrition, andhealth.

As you share what you know with yourhome visitor, you will both have a clearerpicture of how best to support your familyand child. Sometimes, your work togetherwill focus on a family need or interest. Mostof the time, it will focus on you and yourchild. The purpose of your work is to helpyour family reach its goals and help yourchild grow to his or her full potential.

As the months go by, you will continuelearning from one another. Sometimes, youwill have questions—so will your home

Do you have other things to add?


PART TWO:

You and Your Head Start Home Visitor

(“It helps to know we have supportand somebody cares. Our futurelooks brighter here.”

—A father new to this country

“One of the things I love about my jobis that I am always learning fromfamilies. I only hope they learn asmuch from me as I do from them.”

—A home visitor

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visitor. Ask them. Learn together. Over time,you will become a team. And through team-work, you can make a positive difference inyour child’s life today—and in the future.

Who Does What

As members of any team, each of you hasdifferent responsibilities. During home vis-its—and, of course, in between—one of yourjobs as a parent is to introduce and shareinteresting and fun activities with yourchild. You are important to your child, so asyou sing to your baby, build a block towerwith your toddler, or create an obstaclecourse for your preschooler, you can helpyour child feel good about him- or herselfand excited about learning, and you canmake your relationship even stronger. (Seethe section titled You Are Your Child’s FirstTeacher on page 13 for more information.)

While you focus on your child, your homevisitor will focus on you. He or she mayfocus on you in a variety of ways such asshowing you how you might do an activitylike reading with your infant and toddler, orbringing a needed ingredient for a recipeyou want to try out with your preschooler.

As you feel ready, your home visitor willstep back, and you will take over.Sometimes, the home visitor may sit andwatch what you are doing. At other times,he or she may join in the fun. And he orshe will always be available to listen, askquestions, learn from you, offer sugges-tions, provide information, and share theups and downs that are part of parenting ayoung child.

Planning Together

Planning will be an ongoing part of yourwork together. You bring your in-depthknowledge of your child to the process.Your home visitor brings his or her experi-ence of planning for many children of asimilar age.

Together, you will share ideas and chooseactivities and experiences for you to dowith your child—during home visits and inbetween. Don’t be surprised if you find thatyour child responds in one way when youdo an activity and in another way with adifferent family member. Each relationshipbetween a child and adult is a special oneand that relationship shapes what happensbetween them. You and family memberscan learn about doing activities fromwatching one another and sharing ideas.

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Part IIYou and Your Head Start Home Visitor

(“Basically now when our home visi-tor comes, I take over.

—Mother of three children

“When a parent is doing an activity,I step back. I want them to be incharge. If they need encouragementor help, I’ll be there to help them.

—A home visitor

The activities you choose will depend on

u

your child’s age;u

your child’s interests;u

your child’s abilities;u

your child’s personality;u

your goals for your child;u

the program’s curriculum; andu

what you and your child will enjoy doingtogether.

For example, to help your baby learn andgrow, you might plan to

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sing them a song;u

take a walk outdoors;u

make a mobile to hang over their crib;u

offer your baby a rattle and watch to seehow he or she responds; or

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offer your baby a new finger food; or

For your toddler, you might plan to

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read a story;u

tape some shelf paper to the table andoffer crayons for scribbling;

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do fingerplays together;u

make a snack together; u

make play dough; oru

make a set of blocks from empty milkcartons and then build somethingtogether.

For your preschooler, you might plan to

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sort the laundry by color;u

play a matching game;u

make applesauce;u

do a puzzle;u

go outdoors and take a walk, talkingabout things you see and hear; or

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cut pictures from a magazine and makeup a story about them together.

Whatever activities you decide on, remem-ber three things:

1. Your home is filled with wonderfullearning materials that will invite yourchild’s creativity and discovery.

2. Your home visitor is there to supportyou.

3. Have fun!

At the end of each home visit, you and yourhome visitor will talk about and record howthe day’s visit went. You may ask your-selves the following questions:

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What went well today?u

What didn’t work so well? For yourchild? For you?

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What could you do differently nexttime?

You will use this information along withwhat you both know about your child andyour program’s curriculum to plan for thenext visit. And the process begins again.

Closing Thoughts

Your home-based program and home visi-tor are here for you and your family. As youshare questions and information as well asface challenges and laugh together, youbecome a team. While you support yourchild, your home visitor supports you. Byworking together, you give your child agood start on the path to success in schooland in life.

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Turning Everyday Moments intoLearning MomentsThe following three resources can be usedon your own or with your home visitor toexplore the many ways that you help yourchildren learn during your every day rou-tines.

Children are born eager to learn. They wantto know everything. They constantlyexplore to find the answers to their manyquestions. What happens when I’m hungryand I cry? Shake this rattle? Kick at themobile hanging over the changing table?Hold my arms out to you? Drop my spoon?Poke this play dough with my finger? Flushthe toilet? Take another child’s cracker?Stack this block on top of another one? Mixred paint with blue? Drop a plastic spoon ina pan of water, then a metal spoon?

On your home visit, and during the week inbetween visits, you have many opportuni-ties to support your child’s learning duringordinary experiences that happen each day,such as preparing a meal, walking to thestore, or taking a bath. Use these ideas tothink about the things that you can doevery day to help your children wonder andlearn about their world.

PART THREE:

Things You Can Do

(“Your home is a natural learningenvironment. You can use what youalready have. You don’t have tospend lots of money for children toenjoy themselves and learn.”

—A home visitor

“I like to make puzzles out of card-board. I really can’t afford to buythem so I make puzzles that showbody parts, different fruits, numbers… anything that will help her learn.

—Parent of a preschooler

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Whether you are new to parenting andhome-based programs or are the parent ofseveral children who have been in a pro-gram for years, you are your child’s firstteacher. Because you are so important toyour child, they pay attention to what yousay and do. They learn by watching and lis-tening to you and other family membersday after day.

But how do you help your child learn? Todiscover the answer, look to your own expe-rience.

Think about someone who helped youlearn something new. It could be someoneyou knew as a child or met as an adult. Thisperson should be someone who helped youfeel good to be a learner.

What did you learn? You may have learnedcolors and shapes, a song, the alphabet. Youmay have learned how to write your name,ride your bike, tie your shoe. Or perhapsyou learned how to take the subway, drive acar, bake a cake, program your VCR, or use acomputer.

Think for a few minutes about what thisperson did to help you learn. For example,he or she may have

u

planned interesting things for you to seeand do;

u

been there when you needed help;u

asked you open-ended questions—ques-tions that have many answers;

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listened to you;u

discovered your interests and figured outways to help you learn more aboutthem;

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kept you safe;u

given you enough time to explore;u

been patient if you spilled something ormade a mistake; or

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been happy and excited with you whenyou discovered something new.

You can help your child learn by doingthese same things. Some you may alreadydo. Others may be new ideas that you wantto try. Your home visitor can help you dis-cover what works best for you and yourchild.

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A Parent’s Guide to the Head Start Home-Based Program OptionParent Resource #1

(“The parent is the primary educatorof his child. There is nobody thathas a better connection with yourchild.”

—Father of a preschooler

You Are Your Child’s First Teacher: How You Help Your Children Learn

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You may want to do this exercise with any other family members in your home. How were yourexperiences the same or different fromeach other?

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Add any other thoughts about ways to help someone learn: |

Your child learns about him- or herself,other people, and the surrounding worldevery day. For your child, everydaymoments—getting dressed, preparing ameal, setting the table, taking a walk, tak-ing a bath, reading a book—are learningmoments. They are filled with interestingthings to see, touch, smell, hear, taste,explore, and do. For example, let’s look atwhat your child might learn from gettingdressed (see box below).

Your home is filled with interesting thingsto see and do for your infant, toddler, orpreschooler. Things that are fun and can

help them learn are right there in your ownkitchen, living room, closet, and even thegarage.

Some of these (as you will see in the charton the next page) can be turned into finetoys and materials to explore and learnfrom. But be aware; others can be danger-ous. These dangerous items include glassbottles, toys or other objects such as bal-loons and marbles that can cause choking,plastic bags that can cause suffocation, andcleaning solutions or medicines that canturn into poisons in a child’s hands.Remember, young children are curious and


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When you:

Hold your baby securely but gently as youchange a wet shirt

Talk with your baby about what you are doing;pause and listen when he or she coos andbabbles back

Play peek-a-boo as you pull your toddler’sshirt over his or her head

Let your toddler decide between wearing redpants and the green pants with flowers

Hang a hook at child level so your preschoolercan hang up his or her coat

Start the zipper on your preschooler’s jacketbut let him or her finish pulling it up

Your child might be learning:

I can trust you to keep me comfortable. I cantrust you to keep me safe.

People take turns listening and talking whenthey talk with each other.

People still exist even though I can’t see them.

You respect me. What I want matters. I candecide.

I am a helper. I can hang up my coat all bymyself.

I can do it! When I need a little help, I cancount on you.

Getting Dressed

There’s No Place Like Your Home for Learning: How Children Learn From Everyday Moments

tend to get into everything. To make yourhome “child safe,” you and your home visi-tor should do an inspection tour, identifyhazards, and eliminate or correct them.Making your home safe is an importantway to help your child learn.

Look at how many things children of differ-ent ages can do and learn with three sim-ple, safe, everyday objects: old magazines, apot and wooden spoon, and a large card-board box.

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Household Object

Old magazines

A pot and woodenspoon

A large cardboard box

Your infant might:

Learn the world is aninteresting place whenyou cover a pretty pic-ture with contactpaper and hang it byhis or her changingtable.

Feel confidence andthink, “I can do it!”when he or she makesa loud sound by bang-ing the spoon on thepot.

Begin to learn that youwill still be there whenthey crawl in and outof the box and findyou are still therewatching.

Your toddler might:

Learn new words asyou talk togetherabout what you see.

Feel proud to be likeyou when he or shepretends to stir andmake dinner.

Learn about readingand writing when youwork together to turnthe box into a houseand then you write hisor her name on thefront door.

Your preschoolermight:

Learn about colors ashe or she cuts outpictures of thingsthat are blue, thenthings that are red.

Learn language skillswhen he or she usesthe pictures to illus-trate stories that heor she makes up.

Learn about measur-ing and mixing whenhe or she helps youmake play dough.

Develop imaginationand learn about newplaces when you helphim or her turn thebox into a car andtake a pretend trip.

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Write down some of the ideas you have about things in your home that your children like to play with and what you think they may be learning during their play:

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u

Make your home child-safe. Young chil-dren learn by touching, tasting anddoing. They depend on you to keep themsafe. Always keep your eyes open forpossible dangers and eliminate them.For example, cover electrical outlets,install safety gates on stairways, securewindows, store harmful household prod-ucts and medicines out of reach, lockentrance doors, be sure smoke detectorsare installed and working, keep emer-gency numbers by the telephone, andhave a backup plan if your phone isn’tavailable.

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Make a list of some of thethings you can do to make your home safer for your children:

Make a plan with your home visitor toaccomplish these tasks.

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Make Every Moment Count! Four tips to help you turn everyday moments and objects at home into rich learning opportunities for your child

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Look at everyday things and eventsthrough the eyes of your child. Whatmight your child see, touch, taste, hear,smell, and do? What might your childlearn? Everyday experiences can giveyour child a wonderful chance to exploreand learn.

u

Take time to enjoy everyday routinesand happenings. Take time to pop thesoap bubbles in the bathtub, watch abird in a tree, and listen to the soundsoutside your window.

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Think about something you did with your child today and what he or she might have learned fromthe experience and describe it here:

Would you do anything different next time?

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How does your routine change when you slow down and follow your child’s pace?

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Talk with your child about what you areseeing and doing. Use interesting andfun words. Play with language. When yousay things like, “Your shirt is as green asthe grass,” and “This pineapple has aprickly skin,” you invite your child toenjoy and use language with you.

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Write down some of the new words your child is using,or some of the interesting or funny things he or she has said:

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Use this space for additional notes. |

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a parent's guide … · prepared for the head start bureau, under contract #105-98-2055, by...

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