For many individuals, the holiday season represents a time to cherish family connections, providing an ideal opportunity to fulfill a portion of the County Extension System’s mission.
In northwest Alabama, the Franklin County Extension First Teacher Program offers a valuable opportunity for numerous families. Our program’s primary goal is to educate, empower, and support parents in their essential role as their children’s first educators. Through hour-long home visits, we engage in conversations about child development, participate in parent-child activities, and address the overall well-being of the family.
These interactions are led by certified parent educators who ensure that each child receives the necessary support during their early developmental stages.
Core of Our Program
The Evidence-Based Home Visiting Model is the foundation of our parent education efforts, utilized by Parents as Teachers affiliates. This model provides a wide range of services for families with children from prenatal stages through kindergarten, offering valuable insights into early childhood development. Since its establishment in 1984, our model has undergone rigorous testing in peer-reviewed studies, consistently showing positive outcomes for participating families.
Professional Guidance for Families
The Parents as Teachers model consists of four key components: personalized visits, group connections, resource networking, and child-caregiver screening. Together, these components create a comprehensive service framework with seven primary objectives:
- Enhancing parental comprehension of early childhood development and promoting positive parenting practices.
- Early identification of developmental delays and facilitating access to required services.
- Fostering the health and well-being of parents, children, and families.
- Preventing instances of child abuse and neglect.
- Cultivating children’s readiness and success in school.
- Improving the economic stability of families.
- Strengthening community bonds and capacities.
Nurturing a Positive Environment
At Parents as Teachers, we uphold a shared set of values and beliefs that not only define our organizational culture but also guide our actions and achievements. Central to our philosophy is the unwavering belief that every child has the potential to develop, learn, and thrive to their fullest. Our primary mission revolves around promoting the optimal early development, learning, and well-being of children by actively involving and supporting their parents and caregivers.
Boost your child’s developmental abilities during the holiday season with these engaging activities!
Activities to Enhance Skills
- Stimulate math skills by engaging your child in counting the ingredients while preparing holiday meals—for example, five apples, three tomatoes, two cups of flour.
- Assign table-setting tasks to your child, helping them match the required items to the number of family members: four plates or six? How many utensils, napkins, and glasses are needed?
- Encourage reading and vocabulary development by reading recipes together, enhancing understanding of instructions.
- Involve young children in holding items like spoons to strengthen their grip and refine fine motor skills essential for writing.
- Teaching children the importance of taking turns not only builds patience but also enhances their social skills.
Creative Crafting Suggestions
Crystal Candy Canes
MATERIALS:
- Borax (found in the laundry detergent aisle)
- Water
- Mason jars (wide-mouthed preferred)
- Pan
- Spoon
- Measuring cup
- Tablespoon
- Pipe cleaners (red, green, white)
- Popsicle sticks
- Ribbon
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Create pipe cleaner candy canes by cutting pipe cleaners in half and twisting various combinations of green, white, and red pipe cleaners.
- Prepare the borax solution by boiling water, adding borax, and stirring the mixture. Pour the solution into jars securely.
- Use Popsicle sticks to suspend the pipe cleaner candy canes in the jars without touching the sides or bottom.
- Crystals will start forming on the candy canes within hours, with full crystallization in 18-24 hours—a captivating lesson in suspension science.
- Let the crystals dry on paper towels before adding a ribbon for decoration. Hang them on windows or Christmas trees for a festive touch.
Leaf Painting with Salt
MATERIALS:
- White PVA school glue or craft glue
- Salt
- Watercolor paint palette
- Water
- White cardstock or watercolor paper
- Paintbrush
- Leaf Template
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Trace a leaf template onto cardstock and outline it with glue.
- Sprinkle salt over the glue and shake off any excess.
- Dampen the paintbrush and blend watercolor to saturate it.
- Apply the watercolor to the salt, observing how the color spreads.
- Allow the artwork to dry completely before displaying or gifting it to showcase the unique effect.