Cabot HIPPY

Cabot HIPPY is a home-based preschool program for families in the Cabot School District area. Once a week, a Home Visitor comes to your home and brings a lesson packet full of activities. The Home Visitor and the adult go over the lesson packet and then throughout the week, the parent or caregiver completes the activities with the child. We also have monthly fun days and group meetings with age-appropriate activities. The program and activities are all FREE, and you get to keep the books and supplies.

We have a program for several ages:

* Our newest program, called "Little Learners" are for those children who will be 2 by December 31st.

* A 3-year-old program

* A 4-year-old program

* A program for those turning 5 after August 1st (However, you must have been in the program the previous year in order to participate in this program).

Each program offers a lesson packet and books with age-appropriate activities and ideas to use if you want to expand on those activities.

There are 30 weekly activity packets and 9-10 storybooks. We also provide basic materials and shapes (scissors, glue, crayons, etc.) for each child. The activities are developmentally appropriate for children and because of the way they are created, parents gain confidence and are comfortable expanding the activities for their child. Our packets focus on language development, logical thinking, science, math, social/emotional and physical skills, letter recognition and much more.

Each activity packet will have at least 5 activities you can do throughout the week. For example - reading a story and completing an activity page about the story (story comprehension); experimenting with sink vs. float (science); playing a kicking game around bottles you have set up (motor control); counting objects and completing a number recognition worksheet (math); a letter of the week page (letter recognition).

Each week will offer new activities and the opportunity to introduce something new to your child as well as reviewing skills they have already learned.

Our Cabot HIPPY Program is totally FREE! We partner with Cabot Public Schools and the Wilbur D. Mills Co-Op to provide the activities, supplies, and events for our families.

We do! If you have concerns about your child's speech, language development, fine motor skills, etc. we can provide a FREE screening from the Wilbur Mills Co-Op to see if you child would qualify for a service such as speech therapy, etc.

If your child does qualify and you decide to use the Wilbur Mills Co-Op, the cost for those services is also free to the families.

Group Meetings are a time for the families in our program to come together and participate in activities with your child. This gives your child plenty of opportunity to work on those socialization skills (meeting new friends, sharing, etc.). Family Fun Days are a "bonus" to these meetings because of so many requests for more activities where we can all come together. Some examples of meetings we have had in the past are a visit to a pumpkin patch, a Dr. Seuss party, Library visits, and more.

We strongly encourage families to participate in all of our activities and there are incentives for attending.

Nearly every activity we do will be 100% free of cost to the families. We do sometimes go on other adventures (such as the pumpkin patch) where families like to bring extra family members (grandparents, friends, etc.) and for those times, we like to remind people that we only have enough supplies/can cover the cost for our currently enrolled HIPPY families. We love it however when the whole family comes, so your Home Visitor will provide you with more information before each event.

We do a pre-registration from spring-early fall. There is a form pinned at the top of our Facebook page that you can fill out and it will put you on our contact list. Once the Home Visitors return in the fall, we contact everyone from the list to make sure you are still interested/the info you provided is still the same/etc. and we will give you a time and date to come in to complete the registration. We are required to obtain a copy of the child's birth certificate, shot record and latest well child check at the registration (in the fall).

Once you are scheduled to come in (in the fall) to complete registration, there will be a couple of forms to fill out and we will need to get a copy of your child's birth certificate, shot record and latest well child check (these are required). You will need to know your child's social security number for the application. Your child will receive a quick screening (basic info, colors, counting, etc.) and at some point, either then or later during the school year, a hearing and vision screening.

ABC (Arkansas Better Chance) who provides some of our funding requires that all children in our program have a well child check in their file. As long as the child has been within 2 years, it is considered up to date. Young children grow and develop at rapid rates and a well-visit is a great time to document physical and emotional changes, discuss common concerns, etc.

You can ask for a specific Home Visitor, however, it will depend on where you live. We aim for each Home Visitor to serve families in their certain areas because of mileage, time, and wear & tear on their vehicles, however the HIPPY Coordinator will make the final assignment.

Cabot HIPPY is a 30 week program. You will be surprised how fast those 30 weeks fly by! We do have breaks, such as fall break, Christmas break, spring break, etc. and follow the school calendar pretty closely. If you are not committed to complete all 30 weeks, please reconsider signing up for the program, as there are many families who are eager to participate in the program.

For children, the benefits include:

- encouraging a love of learning

- maximizing the chances of enjoyment and doing well in school

- promoting language and listening skills

- building self-esteem and confidence in learning

- improving communication

Benefits for families include:

- helping create a learning environment at home

- increasing parent's knowledge of child development

- enabling parents to be actively involved in their child's education

and much more!

HIPPY actually started in 1965 in Jerusalem. HIPPY was brought to the US in 1984. Currently, there are HIPPY program in 119 communities in 19 states and the District of Columbia. We are also in 10 countries worldwide. The future is bright and thanks to increasing research and innovative ideas, as well as growing partnerships, HIPPY continues to brighten the future of our up and coming generations.

HIPPY stands for "Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters".

There is a lot of research out there showcasing how important programs like HIPPY are to our young children. We have been recognized by the firm Mathematica as one of the first 7 evidenced-based home visiting models with significant outcomes. Decades of research has shown the HIPPY program to be effective in improving school readiness, parent involvement, school attendance, behavior and academic performance.

Yes! Each Home Visitor is required when hired to have several trainings such as a Child Development Associate (CDA) or higher degree, Pre-K ELLA (literacy training), Preschool Social Emotional training, Arkansas Frameworks training, Preschool Science and Math training. These add up to over 255 hours of training just to start.

The State of Arkansas also requires the Home Visitors to obtain a minimum of 30 hours of training each year, several of which go above and beyond those 30 hours. Our Cabot Home Visitors are invested in education, the community, and the families they serve.