As a retired educator who served 30 years and worked with second-graders, CSLC Education Coordinator Lula Friar knows firsthand the importance of building a solid foundation in early literacy. She attested to how essential it is for parents to be equipped with the tools and instructions to serve their children’s children effectively. Through HIPPY, she and her staff meet those needs.
CSLC’s HIPPY program is unique in its approach. It uses a research-based model that works with families in the home, empowering parents in their crucial role as their child’s first and most influential teachers.
The CSLC early literacy model uses a unique and developmentally appropriate curriculum, utilizing role play to teach parents the skills needed to implement the curriculum with their child.
Parents and children spend 15-to-20 minutes a day together completing the activities.
The program curriculum helps parents introduce their children to the skills, concepts, and experience with books that together constitute school readiness for young children.
Skills and concepts are developed and built sequentially through completion of the weekly activities, moving progressively from concrete objects to more abstract representations.
Each child receives eight to nine books per year, depending on the age group. During his/her three years in the program, each child will have accumulated 26 books for his/her personal library.