Yo no hablo Inglés

Hillsboro, Missouri, is hardly an international mecca. The population of this small city in the mid-west hovers around 2,000. Yet over the past few years, Hillsboro schools have seen influx of students whose first language isn’t English. Every grade has at least one ESL student, and first grade has five, Ellynne Wiebe, English-as-a-second-language (ESL) coordinator, told the board of education recently.

Since the district’s Parents as Teachers affiliate feeds area children into the school system, it’s often the first to see trends like this. Indeed, last year Parents as Teachers affiliates across the country served almost 30,000 families who speak Spanish as their primary language and more than 20,000 families with at least one parent who is foreign-born.

Immigrant and refugee cultures have a unique impact on parenting. Parents as Teachers provides resources to help professionals support all families as their children learn, grow and develop to realize their full potential.

What does poor look like?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, poor looks like two adults and three children getting by on less than $ 26,023. Or a single parent and one child living on an annual income under $ 15,030. In fact, 15% of Americans live in poverty. And according to the National Center for Children in Poverty, one in five U.S. children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level.

Raising young children who are healthy and school-ready under these conditions can be challenging. That’s where Parents as Teachers comes in. To better equip parent educators, those who bring support directly to parents through home visits, Parents as Teachers offers a number of professional training opportunities that take a deeper look at issues like poverty and other struggles families face.

We recently offered parent educators the opportunity to experience a month in poverty through a poverty simulation presented at our national conference by Michigan State University Extension. Participants found it deeply impacted them and opened their eyes to new ways they can support families in their communities.

Is 90 the new 85?

The good news is that we’re living longer. A new Census Bureau Report commissioned by the National Institutes of Health predicts that by 2050, 9 million Americans will be 90 years or older. And if you make it to 90, chances are good you’ll see another 4 1/2 more years. Whew!

The not-so-good news?

• Almost 20% of those 90-94 years old live in a nursing home.
• 85% have physical limitations; two-thirds have difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
• Their annual median income is just $14,760.

The average American has about 40 working years to earn enough to support himself and his family, send his children to college, and save enough to to live (possibly in a nursing home) for the 30 years after retirement.

Getting the education tomorrow’s jobs will require is essential. Early childhood programs like Parents as Teachers give kids a leg up by screening for hearing/vision/developmental delays and assessing their social-emotional readiness to learn. 

Don’t your children deserve that?

Creative Commons photo credit top and bottom.

We’re thankful for parent educators.

What are you thankful for this season?
Parents as Teachers is thankful for parent educators like these.

 

 

 

These are the trained professionals who:

• give families the education and support they need to promote their children’s healthy development and prepare them for success in school.
• help parents understand what to expect during each stage of development and how to promote the best development in their children.
• demonstrate respect for the unique needs of families and understand the influence of diverse family systems, culture and socioeconomic status in child dvelpoment and school readiness.
• help parents establish healthy and safe environments and parenting pratices that allow children to learn, grow and develop to realize theri full potential.
• strengthen families by building partnerships, connecting parents to  supports, and foster parent engagement and leadership in schools and community organizations.

These are the professionals who supported more than 350,000 children and their families last year…visiting families wherever they live to ensure children are safe, healthy and ready to learn.

Parents as Teachers is thankful for parent educators willing to visit families on farms and on reservations, in big cities and small towns, in the Arctic Circle and on tropical islands, in child care centers and homeless shelters…everywhere families live.

Thank you, parent educators. All of you. 

Who’s got your back?

It happened again in St. Louis: a young mother overwhelmed by a crying baby lost control, beat and killed her 1-year-old child. In a similar case a quarter century earlier, the judge noted that the mother was “simply ill-equipped to be a mother…she had no parenting skills.”

How does one acquire parenting skills?
Most of us parent the way we were parented. But those without good role models are left to find their own way. The lucky ones find their way to Parents as Teachers.

Parents as Teachers is the trusted resource professionals and the families they serve turn to for parenting skill-building. Through a proven home visiting model, these trained professionals help families build strong protective factors that promote parental resilience, create social connections to provide emotional support, and yes…increase knowledge of parenting and child development.

 Being a parent is hard work.
Parents as Teachers has your back.

www.ParentsAsTeachers.org