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Parents as teachers
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| Angela Phillips watches her 2-year-old son, Matthew, play at her home in Keokuk. Phillips participates in the Parents as Teachers program based at the Marie Tallarico Center in Keokuk and Eichacker Center in Fort Madison. It is funded through Children First, Lee and Van Buren County Empowerment. |
By Cindy Iutzi/Gate City Staff Writer
Lee County soon-to-be or parents of children from birth through 5-years-old can improve, update and learn new parenting skills through the Parents as Teachers program.
Southeast Iowa Community Action workers in Keokuk and Fort Madison implement the Parents as Teachers program from the Marie Tallarico Center in Keokuk and Eichacker Center in Fort Madison.
The program is funded through Children First, Lee and Van Buren County Empowerment. It is offered free of charge.
In addition to providing parents with knowledge of child development and catching developmental delays early on, the Parents as Teachers program works to increase children's readiness for and success at school and to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Janice Best is the parent educator in South Lee County, and Nancy Clark serves the North Lee County Area. Both work in the Donnellson and Montrose areas.
The program is open to Lee County parents of all socio-economic levels, from those whose children qualify for Head Start to educators and other professionals. The grant and its goals encompass 40 children for each of the two workers to mentor.
“Parents are the most influential teachers,” Best said. “Our main focus is their children's growth and development.”
Best meets with parents and children at families' homes anywhere from weekly to once a month, depending upon parents' request. Participation in the program is voluntary for the most part, but occasionally parents are referred by the Department of Human Services or Promise Jobs, a program that helps people on public assistance go to school or and work.
Part of Best's job is to conduct periodical screenings to see if the children's growth and development are on target for their age.
“If they're delayed, I talk to the parents and suggest sources of help,” Best said. “I let them know about resources like Early Access and Stork's Nest and give them a (Lee County) Directory of Community Services.”
The directory is a compilation of local resources from help with addiction to zip codes.
Best also keeps parents apprised of events and activities in the area, like the recent Fourth of July activities and Carson & Barnes Circus.
As Best helps parents monitor their children's progress, she gives them age-related handouts in four areas of development: language, intellectual, social-emotional and motor.
For example, the 24- to 36-month handouts suggest parents look for their child to: listen closely to conversations; use longer sentences; talk more clearly; stay with an activity for a longer period of time; solve problems logically; remember events and places; match, sort and classify objects; understand differences in size, shape and color; whine, be aggressive and insist on doing things his or her way; use the word “mine” often; enjoy playing with other children; begin to take care of his or her personal needs, catch a ball, jump and balance on one foot; and draw designs, use scissors and string beads.
In a typical home visit, Best gives parents handouts, reads a children's book or rhyme and conducts a parent-child activity.
“Most of the time I get on the floor with the parent and child,” Best said. “And I tell them the rationale behind each activity.”
Recently, she conducted a visit with Angela Phillips and her son, Matthew Phillips, 2, of Keokuk. She has been seeing them since Matthew was one month old.
“I really enjoy it,” Angela said. “She (Best) gives me a lot of pointers and keeps me up-to-date.”
Matthew is Angela's second child. Her eldest, Marissa, is 15.
“I'm not as nervous now,” she said. “He's my second child. With my first child I was really nervous. If she got a fever, I took her to the emergency room.”
Now when Angela has a question, she calls Best.
She really likes the program and has recommended it to a friend.
“I think its good for everyone,” she said, “especially young mothers who don't have experience. I'm probably her oldest parent. But now I know what to watch for and where he should be for his age. Matthew really enjoys it - all the activities and crafts that we do.”
The fishing game is one of Matthew's favorites. Cardboard is placed on the floor like stepping-stones and laminated fish with attached magnets are scattered around the stones. Matthew uses a pole and line with a magnet to catch the fish while standing on the stepping-stones.
Another activity involves a balloon on a string attached to a ceiling fan. As the fan circulates, Matthew swings at the balloon with a racket, he develops, among other things, his shoulder muscles and eye-hand coordination.
“He loved it,” Angela said.
When Best screens Matthew she checks to see if he knows colors, shapes and associated skills.
“She checks his hearing and things like that every four to five months,” Angela. “It's just a wonderful program. I wish everyone knew about it.”
Angela, a graduate of the Keokuk public school system, is employed by Southeastern Community College as a S.T.E.P. tutor. She is assigned to students and tutors them through all their courses.
Call Best at 524-6383 or Clark at 319-372-4471 for more information about the Parents as Teachers program.
Southeast Iowa Community Action workers in Keokuk and Fort Madison implement the Parents as Teachers program from the Marie Tallarico Center in Keokuk and Eichacker Center in Fort Madison.
The program is funded through Children First, Lee and Van Buren County Empowerment. It is offered free of charge.
In addition to providing parents with knowledge of child development and catching developmental delays early on, the Parents as Teachers program works to increase children's readiness for and success at school and to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Janice Best is the parent educator in South Lee County, and Nancy Clark serves the North Lee County Area. Both work in the Donnellson and Montrose areas.
The program is open to Lee County parents of all socio-economic levels, from those whose children qualify for Head Start to educators and other professionals. The grant and its goals encompass 40 children for each of the two workers to mentor.
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Best meets with parents and children at families' homes anywhere from weekly to once a month, depending upon parents' request. Participation in the program is voluntary for the most part, but occasionally parents are referred by the Department of Human Services or Promise Jobs, a program that helps people on public assistance go to school or and work.
Part of Best's job is to conduct periodical screenings to see if the children's growth and development are on target for their age.
“If they're delayed, I talk to the parents and suggest sources of help,” Best said. “I let them know about resources like Early Access and Stork's Nest and give them a (Lee County) Directory of Community Services.”
The directory is a compilation of local resources from help with addiction to zip codes.
Best also keeps parents apprised of events and activities in the area, like the recent Fourth of July activities and Carson & Barnes Circus.
As Best helps parents monitor their children's progress, she gives them age-related handouts in four areas of development: language, intellectual, social-emotional and motor.
For example, the 24- to 36-month handouts suggest parents look for their child to: listen closely to conversations; use longer sentences; talk more clearly; stay with an activity for a longer period of time; solve problems logically; remember events and places; match, sort and classify objects; understand differences in size, shape and color; whine, be aggressive and insist on doing things his or her way; use the word “mine” often; enjoy playing with other children; begin to take care of his or her personal needs, catch a ball, jump and balance on one foot; and draw designs, use scissors and string beads.
In a typical home visit, Best gives parents handouts, reads a children's book or rhyme and conducts a parent-child activity.
“Most of the time I get on the floor with the parent and child,” Best said. “And I tell them the rationale behind each activity.”
Recently, she conducted a visit with Angela Phillips and her son, Matthew Phillips, 2, of Keokuk. She has been seeing them since Matthew was one month old.
“I really enjoy it,” Angela said. “She (Best) gives me a lot of pointers and keeps me up-to-date.”
Matthew is Angela's second child. Her eldest, Marissa, is 15.
“I'm not as nervous now,” she said. “He's my second child. With my first child I was really nervous. If she got a fever, I took her to the emergency room.”
Now when Angela has a question, she calls Best.
She really likes the program and has recommended it to a friend.
“I think its good for everyone,” she said, “especially young mothers who don't have experience. I'm probably her oldest parent. But now I know what to watch for and where he should be for his age. Matthew really enjoys it - all the activities and crafts that we do.”
The fishing game is one of Matthew's favorites. Cardboard is placed on the floor like stepping-stones and laminated fish with attached magnets are scattered around the stones. Matthew uses a pole and line with a magnet to catch the fish while standing on the stepping-stones.
Another activity involves a balloon on a string attached to a ceiling fan. As the fan circulates, Matthew swings at the balloon with a racket, he develops, among other things, his shoulder muscles and eye-hand coordination.
“He loved it,” Angela said.
When Best screens Matthew she checks to see if he knows colors, shapes and associated skills.
“She checks his hearing and things like that every four to five months,” Angela. “It's just a wonderful program. I wish everyone knew about it.”
Angela, a graduate of the Keokuk public school system, is employed by Southeastern Community College as a S.T.E.P. tutor. She is assigned to students and tutors them through all their courses.
Call Best at 524-6383 or Clark at 319-372-4471 for more information about the Parents as Teachers program.
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| Regional planning to administer grant funds for county |
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