Parents as Teachers

After becoming a single, young mother I found that I was lost, confused and had several reservations. I was alone and didn’t have anyone I knew that was in the same situation as me or had the answers to all the questions that lingered through my head daily. Living in a small town like Atchison, Kansas, I figured there were no programs being offered to young single parents or should I say I didn’t think there were any programs that were being offered to young single parents. Little did I know there was one that was going to change my outlook on development, parenting, and being the best mom and teacher I can be, for my son. I later found a program called Parents as Teachers that offered support, classes, activities, field trips, and monthly home visits at no cost to me. This was incredible! I was finally getting the answers to my questions, the support I desperately needed, reassurance that I was doing a great job, and most importantly I was getting to socialize with other parents who were in the same position as I was. This was great, but how come I had never heard about this before? Why didn’t I see posters or ads around Atchison about this organization for parents? How come there were only 11 parents participating in this group? These were all questions that came to mind after participating in this organization for the very first time. The answers to those questions were easy, it was as simple as marketing! They did a poor job at marketing this organization in Atchison and not many people were aware of this group or aware of what they offered. Something has to be done in my community to get this organizations name out because it could benefit hundreds of more families in my community.
Parents as Teachers was founded and developed in the 1970s because educators in Missouri saw that children were starting Kindergarten with fluctuating levels of school readiness. Then in 1981, Missouri established the concept of “helping parents embrace their important role as