Parents as Teachers: Heroes at Home

Military families are increasingly impacted by repeat deployments, frequent moves, demands at home, and the stress of being away from family and friends they can depend upon. Parents as Teachers: Heroes at Home is a program that helps families with the everyday challenges of the military lifestyle.
           
The program, serving more than 1,000 families and 1,500 children across 36 United States military installations, brings professional parenting support and child development information right to the homes of military families. Parents as Teachers is open for enrollment to assist those active duty military families with children from birth to five years of age. The program’s primary functions are:    

• focusing on supporting parents until their child enters kindergarten.
• addressing the need for support of the youngest military families, a group research indicates is most impacted by the stresses of military life and separation.
• enhancing family support services by providing a research-based curriculum and training for parent educators, on-going quality assurance and consistency of services to families if and when they relocate.
• emphasizing home/school partnerships, parent involvement and school readiness, which complement the military’s existing strength in quality prekindergarten through 12th-grade education and childcare.
  

Parents as Teachers Heroes at Home aboard Camp Lejeune has been active since March 1, 2007. The program currently offers two full-time Parent Educators who assist with professional parenting support and child development information. Using the Parents as Teachers “Born to Learn” curriculum, certified parent educators provide child development information, parenting support and encouragement to military parents to help their children grow and develop to realize their full potential.
           
There are four components of the program including (1) personal home visits, (2) play/group meetings, (3) annual screenings which can assist with early detection of potential vision, hearing or developmental delays or areas of concern, and (4) a resource network which provides information about supportive community services available to families in the Onslow County and Camp Lejeune communities. 
           
Parents as Teachers Heroes at Home is designed to meet military families’ needs, which makes the program very flexible. For more information, Parents at Teachers Heroes at Home is located in the CYTP Building, LCH 4012 Butler Drive in Midway Park. Phone 910-449-9884 or visit www.parentsasteachers.org and click on “Heroes at Home.” 
           
For young military families on the move, the Parents as Teachers Heroes at Home program can also be found at the following U.S. military installations including Camp Lejeune: Ft. Bragg, NC; Ft. Benning, GA; Ft. Bliss, TX; Ft. Campbell, KY; Ft. Leonard Wood, MO; Ft. Lewis, WA; Ft. Polk, LA; Ft. Richardson, AK; Ft. Riley, KS; Ft. Carson, CO; Ft. Stewart, GA; Ft. Drum, NY; Ft. Story, VA; Ft. Eustis, VA; Ft. Wainwright, AK; Ft. Hood, TX; Norfolk Naval Station, VA; Ft. Huachuca, AZ; Schofield Barracks, HI; Ft. Leavenworth, KS; Whiteman Air Force Base, MO; Ft. Belvoir, VA; Ft. Meade, MD; Ft. Knox, KY; Ft. Sam Houston, TX; Offutt AFB, NE; MacDill AFB, FL; McConnell AFB, KS; Camp Pendleton, CA; MCAS Miramar, CA; Naval Air Station Jacksonville, FL; Naval Station San Diego, CA; Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.; Minnesota National Guard and Army Reserve, and the Indiana National Guard and Army Reserve.

A special thanks to Priscilla Morrison, Lead Parent Educator, Parents as Teachers Heroes at Home, Camp Lejeune for providing information for this article. Click here for additional information regarding the program.

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