Strong, healthy families give their children the best chance at success in school and in life. The Family Goal-Setting Guide explores how strong partnerships can positively influence the goals families set in the Family Partnership Process. (Author abstract)
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This webinar guides early child care professionals in considering what fathers experience when they walk into an early childhood program. What do they see, hear, and feel? It also reviews relationship-based strategies and effective ways to engage fathers, and helps practitioners to find starting points in making improvements to program environments. (Author abstract modified)
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The Parenting Curricula Review Databases explore parenting curricula options for families in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. There are separate databases for center-based and home-based curricula. Curricula are categorized by age of children, key topics, number/frequency of sessions, parenting domains addressed, languages available, cost, and other features. (Author abstract modified)
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Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) aims to promote preschoolers' school readiness by supporting parents in providing instruction in the home. The program model is designed for parents who lack confidence in their ability to prepare their children for school, including parents with past negative school experiences or limited financial resources. The HIPPY program model offers weekly activities for 30 weeks of the year, alternating between home visits and group meetings (two one-on-one home visits per month and two group meetings per month). HIPPY sites are encouraged…
This guidebook describes the steps and best practices for successfully selecting and implementing a parenting intervention. The purpose is to provide program, state, and child care network leaders an easy-to-use tool for implementing a parenting intervention. The guidebook may be used as a companion to the Compendium of Parenting Interventions recently developed by the Health and Human Services Interagency Parenting Group and the Head Start National Center on Family and Community Engagement for use across various community-based settings. The guidebook is organized according to four stages of…
This methodological report focuses on the development of qualitative instruments designed to better understand family engagement in Head Start and Early Head Start. The report draws on pilot data collected during the 2012-2013 program year and provides information about the performance of the piloted interview protocols, revisions made to instruments based on their performance, and the best methods for gathering qualitative information about family engagement experiences from families and staff in future studies. The report also includes an instrument package with the revised set of interview…
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The "Head Start and Early Head Start Relationship-Based Competencies for Staff and Supervisors who Work with Families" (RBCs) is a technical assistance resource that outlines the knowledge, skills, and actions for staff working with families in Head Start and Early Head Start (HS/EHS) programs. This document is a tool to assist programs with implementing the Head Start Program Performance Standards and the Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework. (Author abstract)
This report presents a review and analysis of Region V's Fatherhood Special Initiative (FSI) and Early Head Start Fatherhood Demonstration grants. The grant awards were designed to promote father involvement and children's early literacy and language development (In this document, the terms "father involvement" and "male involvement" are used interchangeably). The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) spoke with Head Start and Early Head Start staff members over a four-month period to identify unique and innovative practices utilized by these grantees. (Author abstract)
Young children are not physically fit just because they are young. Head Start programs can make a major contribution to promoting good health and strong bodies for children by intentionally integrating appropriate physical activity and wise nutrition choices into their daily routines. A deliberate and "active start" in Head Start can improve children's physical, mental and social development - all of which are critical to school readiness. Through greater intentionality, we can increase children's protective factors against chronic disease and obesity across their entire lifespan, and build a…
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This website contains information about the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project, a large-scale, random-assignment evaluation of Early Head Start. The project was designed to carry out the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers for a strong research and evaluation component to support continuous improvement within the Early Head Start program and to meet the 1994 reauthorization requirement for a national evaluation of the new infant-toddler program. The project was funded in two waves. The Congressionally-mandated Birth to…
