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Program helps local parents

BUCKHANNON — A national program is bringing assistance to families in local counties by providing information to parents to help their child’s development.

Barbara Tucker, the Lewis-Upshur Parents As Teachers program director, said PAT was designed to provide parents with various strategies that positively impact their children.

“The focus is on parents — prenatal through school age — (and) it’s all about school readiness,” Tucker said. “It isn’t just about reading and literacy but also social-emotional readiness and giving the parents a voice and resources that we can give them to help them be the best parents they can be.”

The goal is to give parents options, not to tell someone how to parent, she said.

“For instance, if it’s discipline, we’ll bring in information about different ways to have positive discipline within the household and some suggestions,” Tucker said.

Once a month, PAT organizes a peer support group that was originally formed for parents to make connections with others and share information about child development and parenting issues.

“Every month we have a group connection and we invite parents to get together, and we have something that we will be focusing on, maybe it will be sensory development or emotional development,” Tucker said. “We help connect families with the resources that they need for the family’s well-being.”

The nationwide program offers in-home visits from a certified parent educator who may provide information about fun activities to help children prepare for school, prenatal care for health fetal grown and development, and things to expect as your child grows and develops.

In addition, during these in-home visits, the educator may suggest how to encourage intellectual and language development or curiosity as well as hold confidential discussions about parenting concerns.

“Our number one push is really that play is learning for children, so we encourage parents to play — we use examples of how play can help them with developmental skills,” Tucker said.

The program is free to all participants thanks to a federal grant, Mother and Infant Early Childhood Visitation.

“It’s federally funded because data has proven that the earlier that parents can learn strategies for family wellbeing, literacy, cognitive skills and behavior — the earlier they get those strategies, the better off the children are in school,” Tucker said.

According to information provided by the Lewis County Family Resource Network, by the age of three, children have learned 75 percent of all of the language skills they will possess as an adult. In addition, by age three, a child’s brain is 80 percent of the size of the adult brain.

“All of our advice we give parents or strategies are all research-based, so they’re all evidence-based strategies,” Tucker said.

National findings for PAT concluded that children in the program score higher on kindergarten readiness tests and on standardized measure of achievement in early grades. PAT was also found to help reduce placement in special education and lower incidences of abuse or neglect.

Tucker added that the program has seen success with a number of families since beginning working with families during September 2016.

“We’ve had several families who have become stronger family units because we were able to relay resources and strategies to them,” Tucker said.

The director said PAT does not serve as a substitute for other programs such as West Virginia Birth to Three or Right From The Start. People who participate in these programs can also be part of PAT, she said. Any Upshur or Lewis County resident who is pregnant or has a child up to5 years of age is eligible to participate. Interested applicants can contact Tucker at 304-269-4000.

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