Starting early and tapping into the teaching potential of parents form the foundations of the HIPPY programme, with 13 Whangarei families graduating from the two-year course last week.
The Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) takes families who might slip through the cracks and shows them how kids can have a good start regardless of household income or parental education.
HIPPY is administered locally by the charity Barnardos. Tutors are HIPPY parents themselves and visit other parents fortnightly to role-play lessons, so they know what is coming up and how their child is likely to react. Parents then spend 15 minutes a day with their child teaching them how to learn, with a focus on problem-solving and pre-writing skills.
HIPPY Whangarei co-ordinator Hayley Browne recruits for the programme through referrals and by door-knocking around Raumanga.
She said she is very proud of the 13 graduates who were given their awards by Whangarei mayor Sheryl Mai.
