Parents as Teachers to hold open house Friday

    The Parents as Teachers program will show off its new location Friday during an open house. The open house is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second floor of the former library building.

    Karen Arbuckle, one of the six parent educators, said that the new office is much better than where Parents as Teachers used to work.

    ?We moved out of a closet on the fifth floor of Federation Bank,? said Arbuckle. ?We?ve had lots of people ask about where we are, so we thought it was time to let them see where we are.?

    Parents as Teachers began using the second floor of the library last November. Arbuckle said that the current office is three or four times larger than their former office.

    ?We can all get in the same room now, and we couldn?t do that before,? said Arbuckle.

    Parents as Teachers (PAT) began in Washington County in 1999 and is funded through state empowerment dollars. PAT is a family education and support program for children ages 0 to 42 months. The program also offers prenatal services to expectant mothers. The program?s six parent educators visit families in their home to help them learn about and improve their child?s development.

     Ana Rich is a parent who is enrolled in the program along with her 3-year-old son Aaron. She said she moved to Washington County from Illinois in 2007. She said that the periodic developmental screening the PAT program does allowed her to spot a speech delay in her son.

    ?He goes to the elementary school for 30 minutes every week to do speech therapy,? said Rich. ?I have seen tremendous progress in his speech since he began the program.?

    When Aaron was 2 years old, Rich said that she had concerns about how his speech was developing. Rich contacted her parent educator, Barbara Olson, who recommended speech therapy services for Aaron. Rich enrolled Aaron in a speech therapy program through Grant Wood Education Agency. She said she is very thankful to Olson and PAT for giving her timely advice.

    ?Parents as Teachers is a well connected program that has great referral resources,? said Rich. ?It is also comforting to have more than one person in the home to tell you how your child is doing. It?s good to hear someone else say ?your child is normal? or ?your child may need help in this area.??

For the full article, see our Feb. 10 print edition.