HIPPY parents take time each day to work with their
children, using packets of materials appropriate to
children's development levels.
Paraprofessionals visit each parent at home every other week,
bringing a storybook and packet of activities for that week.
The activity packets concentrate on:
Role-playing is used to instruct parents in the use of materials.
On alternate weeks, small groups of parents meet together with
their paraprofessional to review HIPPY materials, develop
parent-as-educator skills, and address other appropriate issues. In
the past such issues have included: child development, health
education, home-made children's games, holiday preparation with
children, understanding the local school system, and even community
involvement in state legislation on early childhood.
HIPPY Structure
The weekly home activity packet provides a springboard for
educational enrichment. HIPPY materials are not lesson plans for
professional educators; they are designed to provide parents a
structure for implementing a school-readiness, home instruction
program.
HIPPY is a three year program which consists of 27 storybooks; a
set of 16 plastic shapes; 90 activity packets; and weekly instructions
for paraprofessionals.
The instructions outline parent-child activities step-by-step. This
approach, which includes careful sequencing of activities so as to
guarantee success, offers immediate gratification for teaching efforts
and gives parents the confidence to take on increasing responsibility
in their roles as educators.
The structure is for the parent, not the child. Many activities are
open-ended, leaving room for creativity and joint exploration. All
activities lend themselves to broad generalization in children's play
and everyday family life.
Each activity unit in a given skill/concept series takes five to
ten minutes, and is divided into the required number of activity units
and executed over a period of time. Each day's projects comprise one
activity from each of two different series and generally takes fifteen
to twenty minutes.
The materials are the basic elements of HIPPY. The way in which
they are used is essential to the successful implementation of the
program.
What Research Says
