Office of Educational Services & Support

Parents as Teachers

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Parents as Teachers is a unique parent education and readiness program based on the philosophy that parents are their children's first and most important teachers. Parent educators work with parents of infants and toddlers to assist them in anticipating their child's developmental milestones and help them to support and encourage optimal learning. Services include home visits, group meetings, developmental screening and referral to additional resources if needed. The Department of Education is an affiliate to the Parents as Teachers National Center, the training and technical assistance provider to PAT programs. In Missouri, where PAT originated, each school district sponsors PAT services.

The Black Hills Parent Resource Network, which incorporates PAT, is a Parental Assistance Program directly funded for four years by USDOE with Title IV, Goals 2000 money . The Parental Information and Resource Center's purpose is threefold: to increase parents' knowledge of and confidence in child rearing activities, such as teaching and nurturing their young children; to strengthen partnerships between parents and professionals in meeting the educational needs of children aged birth through five and the working relationship between home and school; and to enhance the developmental progress of the children assisted under the program.