Federal Programs - HIPPY
Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters
Welcome to the HIPPY Website of the Elmore County Public School System. My name is Sherry Spigener, and it is my pleasure to serve as your HIPPY coordinator. My job is to help the families of preschoolers in Elmore County prepare their children for kindergarten.
A parent who voluntarily joins the FREE program agrees to work with his or her child for 15 minutes a day in their own home. Families are provided with a curriculum and all needed supplies, along with training on how to effectively teach his or her child. Additionally, group meetings are held throughout the year which provide free childcare, a meal, and useful information on parenting, budgeting, cooking, etc.
As a mother myself, I understand well the challenges facing parents as they try to juggle the many demands placed upon them. Trying to find the time to spend individually with children in an effort to prepare them for school, in addition to spending time offering love and support, is difficult. HIPPY offers parents and children the opportunity to do both.
For more information, contact:
Sherry Spigener
(334) 567-1200 ext. 24009
email address: sherry.spigener@elmoreco.com
Mission and Objectives
MISSION
HIPPY is dedicated to
- Increasing the chances of positive early school experiences among children from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds
- Empowering parents to view themselves as primary educators of their children
- Creating an educational environment in the home that encourages literacy
- Fostering parental involvement in school and community life
- Providing parents with the opportunity of becoming paraprofessionals in their own community
- Helping paraprofessionals develop skills and work experience needed to compete successfully for other jobs in labor markets
- Stimulating the knowledge development of the child
- Improving interaction between parents and their children
- Teaching parents and children the job of learning
- Breaking through the social isolation of parents
Objectives for Parents
- A better understanding of the learning process and development of the child
- Opportunities for learning to look at the child differently
- Time to pay more attention to the child
- Opportunities for talking with the child
- Willingness to assume responsibility for a different area of the child's development
- Raised consciousness of the role of a parent
- Improved parent-child relationships
- Pleasure in participation in enrichment activities
- Increasing involvement in school issues and activities