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New FRC program shows parents how to be teachers
By Stephanie Salmons
Whether an individual is a parent with questions about raising their child, a caregiver looking for a break or parents just looking for activities to bring families closer together, the Jackson County Family Resource Center, located in Webster, has a wealth of programs and activities to fit those needs.
The FRC recently started “Parents as Teachers,” a home visiting program aimed at making sure kids are ready for kindergarten.
According to Tina Swayne, Parents as Teachers educator, the program draws its name due to the fact that parents are their children’s first and most influential teachers.
Recent participants in the Jackson County Family Resource Center’s “Adventures in Reading” program included, from left, Nathan Cook, Skyler Donlea, and Hailey Parris. The most recent session featured a series of Dr. Suess stories, and the Cat in the Hat paid a visit to the participating families. The next session, which will begin Thursday, April 10, will have the theme “Around the World.” The FRC offers community members a variety of programs and information to strengthen area families.
The program, which originated in Missouri in 1981, is for parents with children from birth through kindergarten and for parents currently expecting a child, Swayne said.
Swayne visits the homes of the families at least once a month, she said, adding that visits can be biweekly or weekly should there be a need.
“I do parent-child activities, and I’m also a resource and referral network for the families to help them with anything they may need in the community just to make sure they know where to go,” Swayne said.
Swayne also works on kindergarten readiness and helps parents find the resources the family may need to insure that the children are ready to enter school. According to Swayne, the PAT program also provides children’s hearing and vision screenings in order to do early detection of any problems that may be there.
Swayne said that the program is proven to show improvement.
Studies completed show that at the age of 3, children who are enrolled in the PAT program are more advanced in language and social development, problem solving and are more advanced in comparison to other children, she said.
Swayne offered further evidence of the impact the program has on children.
A study of a random sample of 7,710 public school students in Missouri who were tested before entering kindergarten and at the end of the third grade showed that participation with the program, coupled with preschool, showed a positive impact in not only school readiness and school achievement scores, but it also narrows the achievement gap between children in poverty and those in non-poverty, Swayne said.
“At least two years (of the program) combined with one year of preschool, and 82 percent of children below the poverty level were ready for kindergarten entry,” Swayne said. “That’s a level identical to non-poverty level.”
The program also works to reduce the risk factors for child abuse and neglect because parenting skills are improved, Swayne said.
Although the program is just now getting started in Jackson County, it has been in surrounding areas for about seven years, Swayne said, adding that there is a waiting list to enroll in the program in other counties. The program can serve about 20 families per month.
The program currently has about three families and there is no waiting list, Swayne said. The only requirements are “that it’s prenatal to kindergarten” and that the families are Jackson County residents.
Teaching parents about the realistic expectations of raising a child is another priority of the PAT program, Swayne said.
“When parents know what to expect and the reasons why their children are behaving the way that they are, they’re less stressed about it,” she said. “The realize it’s a stage as compared to ‘oh boy, it’s going to be like this forever. What am I going to do?’”
According to Swayne, each home visit is different and tailored to the age of the children. She said she prepares information for the parents on subjects that may be of concern. She also plans a parent-child activity, which she said promotes intellectual, fine or gross motor skills using materials within the home.
“PAT really focuses on neurological development, too,” she said. “We try to incorporate brain development and give out information on that at every visit as well. All of these activities are to promote these brain connections because they’re the foundation of early learning and learning for the rest of their lives.”
FRC director Ginger Hill said the program is funded through the center’s Family Resource grant, which is through the Division of Health and Human Services.
“It’s a program that’s in our grant for two years,” she said, “but with the success that the other counties have had with it, we feel like it will be continued and we will expand and add more (PAT educators).”
Hill said the program is unique because of the time Swayne spends with each family.
“It’s unique and different from our family focus programs, where it’s a group (setting),” Hill said. “She spends so much time with that family and can take that family from birth to 5-years-old. She makes that connection with that family. They’re going through that stressful time in their life, they know that Tina is going to be there and they can talk to her about that and they’re building that relationship.”
Hill said the program fits in well with the other services offered by FRC.
In addition to the PAT program, the resource center offers Family Focus groups, said FRC program coordinator Amber Clayton.
“Family Focus classes go on life skills workshops and focus on different age groups and issues,” Clayton said.
All of the classes, which include ‘Adventures in Reading,” “Love and Logic,” “Nurturing Parent” and “Strengthening Families” are offered several times a year, Clayton said.
The last session of Adventures featured a series of Dr. Suess books and ended earlier this month, Clayton said.
The theme for this session is “Around the World,” Clayton said, adding that each week, children will read a book from or about a different country. The Adventures in Reading Family Focus group also includes a craft for families and a meal Clayton said.
“The goal is to promote reading and family togetherness,” Hill said. “You bring those families together to do an activity then you don’t have the child sitting in front of a video game.”
The “Love and Logic” class helps parents find the answers to normal problems that arise while raising a child, such as getting children out of the house on time and how to get siblings to stop bickering, Clayton said.
“Nurturing Parents” teaches parents nurturing communication strategies, she said, while “Strengthening Families” helps to improve parent-child interaction, she said.
The interesting aspect of the Strengthening class is that there are two separate components to the program – one for adults and one for children, she said.
“Parents will go into one room and the children into another and they’ll do an activity and (have discussions),” Clayton said. “Then at the end of the class, they’ll come together to do an activity to put what they just learned into practice. That’s what I really like about Strengthening Families.”
The next session of Adventures in Reading begins on Thursday, April 10, and continues until June 12.
Nurturing Parents is a three part series. The first component, “Alcohol and Kids don’t mix,” recently ended. The second series, “Alcohol, Anger and Abuse” will be held every Tuesday from April 8-29 while the third component covers child growth and development, alternatives to spanking and establishing a routine and is set to run May 13-27.
A session of Strengthening Families will begin Monday, March 31, and is set to run every Monday and Wednesday through May 14. Although this session will not have the child component, it will focus on families with children in the 3- to 5-year age group.
For more information, call the FRC at 586-2845. Preregistration for the Family Focus classes is required. More information is also available at www.jacksonfrc.org
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