The Preschool Parent Partnership Program (PPPP)
This research project involves as many as 50 Manchester families in an experimental design where approximately one half of the families receive the home visiting service, while the other half form the control group. The experimental group receives home visits twice monthly to enhance learning at home, specifically pre- literacy and literacy development. Strategies that parents can use to support pre-reading, pre-writing and language skills are the focal point of each home visit. Parent education regarding child development, safety, nutrition and appropriate family resources are also provided.
The home visits are designed to guide and coach parents in being their child’s teacher at home. Parents are coached as to how they can support the Curiosity Corner curriculum used in their child’s Early Reading First preschool classroom at one of the following Manchester NH preschool centers: Selma Deitch Early learning Program, YMCA Preschool Center, Head Start Preschool and VNA Child Care& Family Resource Center preschool program. In addition to time their child attends Preschool, all parents were also given the option to extend the home visits into onto the summer months, consequently providing support to most families March-August, 2008).
During home-visits one on one support to parents is provided. Parents receive suggestions each week from their child’s preschool classroom on a sheet titled Homelink to aid in building a partnership between school and home. Parents work closely with the the PIRC Early Literacy Specialist/Adult Educator to tailor each Homelink to their child’s individual needs and interests. The program serves both English and non-Enlgish Spanish-speaking families.
Parent progress has been measured using the Parent Education Profile (PEP) in addition to their child’s subsequent PALS assessment provided by the preschool to assess each child’s skill sets in a variety of academic areas, including pre-literacy.
Parenting Makes the Difference in Preschool Academic Performance!
by Heather ThalhEImer, Executive Director, Parent Information Center
In mid-summer I received an email from our evaluators at RMC Research Corporation telling us that the Preschool Parent Partnership Program research study shows that when parents are informed about what their child is learning in preschool and are shown how to reinforce that learning at home their children do better in school. Needless to say I was ecstatic! We all know intuitively that parent involvement makes a difference but to be able to prove it was affirming and exciting.
Let me tell you a little bit about the study. NH State PIRC (a project at PIC) collaborated with the Manchester School District’s Early Reading First (ERF) program and provided the services of a parent educator for one-to two-hour parent-child home visits twice monthly to 15 families. The home visits focused on sharing the Home-Links part of the preschool Curiosity Corner curriculum, helping parents understand the curricular themes that occur in the preschool classroom and providing one or more home learning suggestions.
Parents and family members received information, materials and support from the home visitor to help them make literacy part of everyday activities. The impact of this support on student learning was assessed through preschool academic measures. While both groups of preschoolers in the study made progress, results show significantly greater growth in achievement by the four year olds in the intervention group, whose parents received the support of the parent educator. (As measured on the PALS-PreK.)
At the end of the school year students whose parents received home visits significantly outperformed comparison students on Name Writing, Beginning Sounds, and Upper Case Alphabet. While not statistically significant, these students also performed better than comparison students on Rhyme Awareness and Nursery Rhymes.
These findings encourage me to find out more about what my child will be learning in school this year. I want to know more about the curriculum and what I can do at home to support his learning. In fact I already have a parent/teacher conference scheduled!
I hope your family has an exciting school year!
