Parents as Teachers
CHiP’s Family Support Workers are certified as Parents as Teachers (PAT) Parent Educators. PAT is a national, evidence-based model of parent education. The cornerstone of PAT is hands-on, developmentally appropriate activities for parents and children to do together that utilize every-day household items to promote learning and kindergarten readiness. PAT and CHiP recognize that parents are a child’s first and most important teachers and that they need to create opportunities throughout the child’s day to stimulate brain development during the formative early years.
CHiP also works with other Partnership for Children agencies (http://www.ccfinfo.org/partnership/pfc.html) to provide neighborhood based early learning playgroups. These groups have been hosted in the Parks Edge, Southwood, Blue Ridge Commons, and Westhaven communities. This collaborative effort among several agencies helps parents build supportive social networks and provides preschool learning opportunities for very young children. Visit www.cyfs.org for an up-to-date schedule.