Part of the fun and inspiration of expanding the Parent-Child Home Program http://www.uwkc.org/our-focus/children/pchp/ throughout King County is hearing stories about the interactions Home Visitors have with the 2- and 3-year-olds and parents. They never fail to remind us of the power of this program– giving parents the tools they need to help their young children be ready to succeed in school from Day 1.

What inspires me is seeing the faces of the children that are really happy when I go visit them. The enthusiasm in their faces when we read, play and sing with them, sometimes
I cannot even describe the joy I feel. One of the biggest issues that keeps me up at night are the poverty levels that most of the families I work with are in.

I have one boy in Year 2 who just learned to write the first letter of his name. He was so excited about it, but wouldn’t show his Dad until he had showed me. He actually made his Dad wait until he could show “Miss Cella” first!

We have one parent who’s been so excited by having books in the house that she wants more. She has no money to buy books, but she’s so thrilled about her son learning that she found some cardboard, colored and cut out all of the letters in the alphabet, covered them with plastic wrap, and hung them up in the house. It was wonderful to see her excited enough to do this really spontaneous thing.

I have a single father raising his daughter alone who was in the program a few years ago but still comes by to visit and texts me to let me know how she’s doing in school. He’s become a huge advocate for her education and it’s important to him to stay in touch with us because we really helped him.

I had one girl who had a 16-year-old mom who really struggled when she was in the program. The girl is 6 now, and I swear she’s a genius! She and her mom just stuck with the attitude and outlook we modeled, and she just loves to read.

It’s the small changes I notice. Even one small thing like a parent going from giving absolutely no praise to offering just one or two gentle taps on the shoulder—it can be life changing.