Home Visit Procedure Information for the First Home Visit 1st Home Visit discussion pages 1 & 2 only / 2nd Home Visit discussion pages 3-
Some basic information regarding the first home visit: Remember this is your first REAL contact with the child and family. The purpose of this home visit is to establish a relationship with the family first, then the parent.
Items you need for completing the form:
Prior to your home visit, ask the Family Advocate about any topics that could have been discussed during enrollment that would be helpful for you to followup: o Food Allergies / Possible DECA concerns / Medical information (allergies / specific medication issues) o Family Goals that need to be addressed The Transition book o Head Start first year attendees: The Kissing Hand (construction paper & markers to make a kissing hand); o Head Start 2nd year attendees: The Night Before Preschool; o Early Head Start: (depends on the year entering EHS) Classroom Schedule o HS: Public School Schedule o EHS: EHS Big Five School Day Schedule Classroom / Center Evacuation Plan HS: LAP-D Self-Help EHS: complete: Child Development Parent Report Reading Program information If possible, or if you are comfortable or have time: o HS: Language LAP-D o EHS: E-LAP Cognitive
Completing the “Home Visit Form”
See next page of this handout for Information needed for each section of the form;
The final pages include activities you can give the parents (for this home visit, the final parent/teacher conference, or school readiness activities for home). Now you are ready for your Home Visit!!!
While at the home visit:
Greet parent & child. Ask open-ended questions that can assist in knowing the parent. LISTEN to the parent-remember: “Seek first to understand” Stephen Covey Parent signature is vital! It proves you did your job!
May the Head Start “FORCE” be with you!
Home Visit Procedure Information for the 2nd Home Visit Some basic information: Remember to always be positive! Encourage the parent! Remember the old saying: “you attract more flies with honey…” If you have a concern, first ask the parent how they would handle the situation. Some will not know, you can start to brainstorm with them some solutions. Remember, Head Start philosophy is that the parents are the child’s first teacher. We are here to facilitate their job; as well as prepare the child for public school.
Items you need for completing the form:
Health information from the Family Advocate, Area Supervisor, or the Child’s Filemust be completed; See the Big Five Transition Handbook for a parent handout; Reading Program Information: Overview (verbal or written) of your classroom Literacy Challenge & total books they have read (see sample on page 4); FORMS: (Education Staff-Brenda or Donna will provide) o For HS: Use the PRE LAP-D reports: “Z scores” and “Report to Family…” o For EHS: PRE e-LAP reports: “Developmental Age” & “Report to Family” HS FORMS ONLY: ELQA assessment reports (see web-site form ED-13 for how to print) Additional information, including Home activities are attached: Head Start pages 5 to 10 / EHS: pages 11-15)
Completing the “Home Visit Form”
See page 3 of this handout for Information needed for each section of the form; All boxes must be completed. All information is important-we are assisting the parent to be the BEST they can be!
The final pages include activities you can give the parents (for this home visit, the final parent/teacher conference, or school readiness activities for home). Now you are ready for your Home Visit!!!
While at the home visit:
Review the information on the form-it will take a little time to explain and ensure parents understand the information. It will also take time to LISTEN to the parentyou will be surprised what you learn when you listen!! “Seek first to understand” Quote by Stephen Covey
Parent signature is vital! It proves you did your job!
May the Head Start “FORCE” be with you!
Head Start : Explaining Z-scores to parents The Z-score Report looks like this: The child’s chronological age is listed here (the child’s actual age)
This indicates how far above or below the cild’s chronological age. You can see that the child is above age level in Fine Motor Writing and Gross Motor. The child is lowest in Language Comprehension
Explain the above chart to the parent. There may be questions about the actual skills observed. The Parent Report: There are 2 sections to this report: Skills mastered -skills you observed while completing the assessment.
Emerging Skills-ready to learn -skills NOT observed while completing the assessment.
Two discussion points regarding the Skills ready to learn:
Many parents have observed these “emerging skills” at home. You can mark that as a ‘strength’ on the Home Visit or Parent Conference form. You can then tell the parent that often children will do things at home or school and it is not observed at the other location. We document what we see at school. However, please indicate that we want to know what the child is doing at home-so we are expecting appropriate skills at school. These “skills ready to learn” will be the skills used for o “Home Activities” for the parent to enhance the child’s school readiness skills. o Volunteer hours for the parent enhancing the child’s school readiness skills.
ELQA Home Activities Page 2: Print Concept Page 3: Vocabulary Page 4: Phonological Awareness Page 5: Alphabet Knowledge Page 6: Tips to Parents (Reading)
Home Activities
Actividades en el Hogar
Big Five Head Start
Print Concept • Before you read a book to your child talk about the front cover, the back cover, and the title. • While you read a book, talk with your child about the difference between: words and pictures; sentences and words; words and letters. • After you read a book to your child, have him/her draw her favorite part of the book. Then ask her what she drew while you write down what he/she says. Re-read the sentence to him/her and point out: capital letter at the beginning, period at the end, space between words, etc. • While you read a pattern book (a book that repeats the same line) point to each word as you read it. • While you read a book to your child, ask him/her to turn the pages.
El concepto de impresión • Antes de leer un libro a su hijo a hablar de la portada, la tapa trasera y el título. • Mientras se lee un libro, hable con su hijo sobre la diferencia entre: las palabras y las imágenes; las sentencias y las palabras; las palabras y letras. • Después de leer un libro a su hijo, que él o ella saca su parte favorita del libro. A continuación, le pregunto qué le llamó mientras usted escribe lo que él/ella dice. Volver a leer la sentencia, para él/ella y punto: letra mayúscula al principio, al final, el espacio entre las palabras, etc. • Mientras usted lee un libro (que es un patrón que se repite la misma línea) punto a cada palabra que se lea. • Mientras usted lee un libro a su hijo, pídale a su vez las páginas.
Big Five Head Start
Home Activities to Increase your Child’s Vocabulary • Use time in the car or on the bus to talk. Narrate everything you do (e.g., I’m emptying the dishwasher. The dishes are clean. This is a big, blue bowl!) • Take field trips to the library, zoo, or park. Talk about everything you see and experience while you are there and when you get home.
Actividades en el hogar para aumentar su hijo's vocabulario • Tiempo de uso en el coche o en el autobús para hablar. Narrar todo lo que hace (por ejemplo, estoy vaciando el lavavajillas. Los platos están limpias. Este es un gran recipiente azul!). • Salidas de campo a la biblioteca, zoo, o parque. Hablar de todo lo que ve y experimenta mientras están allí y cuando llegues a tu casa.
• Routinely model oral language by extending your child’s sentences. For example: Child: “School bus!” Parent: “I saw that big, yellow school bus!”
• Lengua oral modelo habitualmente por ampliar las oraciones del niño. Por ejemplo: Niño: "School bus!" -Padre: "He visto que las grandes, amarillo autobús escolar!"
• During mealtime describe your day and ask your child to do the same. Talk about the hardest part of the day and the best part of the day. Each family member gets a turn. Ask questions so your child elaborates on his/her descriptions.
• Durante las comidas describa su día y pídale a su niño a hacer lo mismo. Hablar de la parte más difícil del día y la mejor parte del día. Cada miembro de la familia obtiene una vuelta. Hacer preguntas para que el niño se desarrolla en sus descripciones.
• While you read to your child ask her to point to items in the pictures that you name. Also, you point to items and ask him/her to name each item.
• Mientras usted lee a su niño le pregunte a sus a punto en los elementos de las imágenes que nombre. Además, se apunta a los temas y pídale que nombre a cada tema.
Big Five Head Start Home Activities
Phonological Awareness
Actividades en el Hogar
Conciencia fonológica
• Sing or read nursery rhymes.
• Cante o lea rimas infantiles.
• Say two words (e.g., mad, sad) and ask your child if they rhyme. Remind your child that words rhyme if the end of the words sound the same. Provide words that do not rhyme as well (e.g., sat, moon).
• Decir dos palabras (por ejemplo, enojado, triste) y pregunte a su hijo si riman. Recuérdele a su hijo que las palabras rimen si el final de las palabras el mismo sonido. Proporcionar palabras que no rima, así (p. ej., Sábado, luna).
• Say two words (e.g., cat, hat) and ask your child if they rhyme. Then, ask your child if he/she can think of a word that rhymes with the rhyming words (e.g., mat).
• Decir dos palabras (por ejemplo, cat, hat) y pregunte a su hijo si riman. Entonces, pregunte a su hijo si él/ella puede pensar en una palabra que rime con las palabras que riman (p. ej., mat).
• Read books with rhyme (e.g., Dr. Seuss books).
• Lea libros con rima (p.ej., los libros del Dr. Seuss).
• For older children: Draw a picture (e.g., mouse) and ask your child to name the picture. Then ask him/her if she can say a word that rhymes with the word (e.g., house).
• Para los niños mayors: Elaborar una imagen (p. ej., ratón) y pídale a su hijo que nombre la imagen. A continuación, preguntarle a él o ella si puede decir una palabra que rima con la palabra (p. ej., casa).
Big Five Head Start Home Activities
Actividades en el Hogar
• Help your child recognize his/her name in print.
• Ayudar a los niños a reconocer su nombre en la impresión.
• Sing the alphabet song in the car and in the bathtub.
• Cante la canción del alfabeto en el coche y en la bañera.
• Point out words and letters everywhere: grocery story, signs while driving, cans and boxes while cooking, etc.
• Señalar las palabras y letras en todas partes: supermercado historia, signos mientras se conduce, cajas y latas mientras cocina, etc.
• Put magnetic letters on the fridge or foam letters in the bathtub to explore together.
• Poner letras magnéticas en la nevera o la espuma de la bañera cartas a explorar juntos.
• Ask your child to find specific letters in books or newspapers.
• Pídale a su niño a encontrar letras específicas en libros o periódicos.
Early Head Start Home Activities
EHS: Explaining the E-LAP reports to parents Developmental Age Reports (you might want to The Developmental Age Report looks like this:
GM=Gross Motor / CG=Cognitive SH=Self Help
/ /
FM=Fine Motor LN=Language SE=Social Emotional
The child’s chronological age is listed here (the child’s actual age) This indicates the developmental age of the child during this checkpoint. You can see that the child is on age level in all areas (although slightly below, not significant; except for Self-Help the child is demonstrating above age level skills.
Explain the above to the parent as you look at each of the 6 domains. There may be questions about the skills observed. If child is extremely below (more than 6-10 months), refer to the Brigance Screening. If the Brigance Screening indicates the child passed that screening, then we will wait until the Mid e-LAP to determine if further investigation is needed. If the Brigance Screening indicates the child did not pass, hopefully the parent was made aware of that during the parent-teacher conference. If not, this is the time to discuss that there is a concern.
The Parent Report: There are 2 sections to this report: Skills mastered -skills you observed while completing the assessment.
Skills ready to learn -skills NOT observed while completing the assessment.
Big Five Early Head Start Family Enhancement Activity
Two discussion points regarding the Skills ready to learn:
¡Especialmente losmark padres los niños Many parents have observed these “skills ready to learn” at home. para You can that asde a ‘strength’ on the Especially for parents of toddlers! que recién caminan!
Home Visit or Parent Conference form. You can then tell the parent that often children will do things at home or school and it is not observed at the other location. We document what we see at school. However, please indicate that we want to know what the child is doing at home-so we are expecting appropriate skills at school. These “skills ready to learn” will be the skills used for o “Home Activities” for the parent to enhance the child’s school readiness skills. o Volunteer hours for the parent enhancing the child’s school readiness skills.
Fun and Games with Sounds
Juguemos con los Sonidos
Rhymes and Sound Awareness
Las rimas y la percepción de los sonidos
One skill a child needs to read is an understanding of how sounds go together to form words. This guide includes early word games that help toddlers see how sounds form words. This is an important building block for later reading.
Un niño necesita para poder leer, tener la habilidad de comprender cómo se forman las palabras al juntar los sonidos. Esta guía incluye algunos ejemplos de los juegos de palabras. Los cuales ayudan a los niños pequeños a ver cómo los sonidos forman palabras. Esto es un pilar fundamental para aprender a leer.
Opportunities to learn about sounds in words occur during ordinary activities like changing clothes or taking a bath. ● Think about the things your child likes to say and do. Often young children have a word or sound that they say again and again just because it’s fun. For example, some toddlers love to make animal sounds such as baa, meow, or woof. Other children may like to make up silly names for their pets, dolls, or family members. Catch your toddler’s attention by repeating the sounds he likes to say. Then change the first letter to make a new silly word: Baa-baa becomes la-la. Word play can happen on the spur of the moment as part of your toddler’s everyday routines. ● For example, if while taking a bath or riding in the car your toddler begins to make a sound, you can repeat the sound. ● Encourage him to say it back to you. When it’s your turn, change the sound a little bit. Then ask your toddler if he can say it too. ● Encourage your toddler to repeat the sound you made or say a new one. Show your enjoyment as the game continues.
Las actividades cotidianas como, bañarse o comer, les ofrecen a los niños la oportunidad de aprender sobre los sonidos en las palabras.
● Piensa en las cosas que le gusta decir y/o hacer a tu niño. En general, los niños tienen una palabra o sonido que repiten una y otra vez porque los divierte. Por ejemplo: a algunos pequeños les encantan hacer los sonidos de los animales tales como, mu, miau o guau. A otros niños les gusta inventar nombres divertidos para sus mascotas, muñecas o familiares. Para que tu niño te preste atención, repite el sonido que le gusta decir. A continuación, cambia la primera letra para hacer una palabra nueva y divertida: Ma…ma… se convierte en La…la... Los Juegos con las palabras pueden ocurrir, espontáneamente, durante las actividades cotidianas de tu niño. ● Por ejemplo: Si tu niño balbucea o hace algún sonido mientras se baña o está en el auto, tú puedes repetir ese sonido. ● Incentívalo para que te lo diga nuevamente. Cuando es tu turno, cambia un poquito el sonido. Pregúntale si lo puede repetir. ● Entusiásmalo para que lo repita o diga uno nuevo. Muestra tu entusiasmo mientras continúa el juego.
CELLpractices Is a publication of the Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL), funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (H326B060010). The opinions expressed, however, are those of CELL and not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of Education. Copyright © 2010 by the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, Asheville, North Carolina (www.puckett.org).
Big Five Early Head Start Family Enhancement Activity
Learning About Books and Print
Aprendiendo sobre Libros e Impresos
Your child was born to learn!
¡Su niño nació para aprender!
He sees printed words and symbols all around him: on signs; in books, magazines, and newspapers; and on many items in your home. You can help your child learn that the print tells us something. These skills will help your child learn to read and a write.
Él ve palabras impresas y símbolos en todo su alrededor: en señales, en libros, revistas, y periódicos; y en muchos elementos de su casa. Puede ayudar a su niño a aprender que los impresos nos dicen algo. Estas habilidades pueden ayudar a su niño a aprender a leer y escribir.
Make a short storybook with your child. Have your child draw pictures on pages. Then make up a story to go with your book. Write words on pages to go with the pictures. Or just let it be a picture book.
Realice un cuento corto con su niño. Haga que su niño realice dibujos en las páginas. Luego, invente un cuento que coincida con el libro. Escriba palabras en las páginas que coincidan con las ilustraciones. O sólo deje que sea un libro de ilustraciones.
Big Five Early Head Start Family Enhancement Activity
Help Your Child Learn To Listen! Your child was born to listen! Listening and understanding language are the first steps in learning important language skills, like reading.
YOUR INFANT: Play a game: “Show me your eyes…your nose…” etc. while you help your baby point to the body part. Say the names of clothing and bath toys: “This is your shirt.” “Listen to the rattle.”
¡Ayude a su Niño a Aprender a Escuchar! ¡Su niño nació para escuchar! Escuchar y comprender un idioma son los primeros pasos para aprender habilidades importantes de lenguaje, como la lectura.
SU BEBÉ: Juegue un juego: “Muéstrame tus ojos… tu nariz…,” etc. mientras le ayuda a su bebé a indicar la parte del cuerpo. Diga los nombres de la ropa y los juguetes del baño: “Esta es tu camiseta.” “Oye al sonajero.”
You are your child’s first and best teacher. Usted es el primer y mejor maestro de su niño.
Big Five Early Head Start Family Enhancement Activity What happens when my baby or toddler has difficulty moving on from play time?
¿Qué tal si mi bebé o niño de corta edad tiene dificultades para dejar de jugar?
• Tell your child when a transition is coming: “one more time,” “last time.”
• Advierta a su hijo cuando viene una transición: “Una vez más”, “esta es la última vez”.
• Give your child a visual reminder of the transition. Set a kitchen timer or egg timer for “two more minutes” or “five more minutes.”
• Dé a su hijo un recordatorio visual de la transición. Fije un cronómetro de cocina para “dos minutos más” o “cinco minutos más”.
• Explain what is happening: “I have to stop playing now. I have to make dinner.” • Provide an alternative activity: “I can’t play anymore, but you can sit at the table while I cook and color with crayons.” • Provide a choice: “You can do a puzzle or play with cars.”
• Use words to validate your child’s feelings: “You want to play longer.” “Again? You want to do it again.” “You feel sad that it is time to leave the park.”
• If your child becomes upset, validate his/her feelings and try to provide words of comfort: “I know you are mad because I have to change your diaper now. You want to keep playing. We’ll play again after your diaper change.”
• Explíquele lo que pasa: “Ya tengo que dejar de jugar. Tengo que preparer la cena”. • Ofrezca una actividad alternativa: “Ya no puedo jugar, pero mientras yo cocino, puedes sentarte en la mesa y colorear con crayones.” • Ofrezca opciones: “Puedes hacer un rompecabezas o jugar con tus coches”. • Use palabras para validar los sentimientos de su hijo: “Quieres jugar más”. “¿Otra vez? Quieres hacerlo otra vez.” “Te sientes triste ya que es hora de irnos del parque”. • Si su hijo o hija se perturba, valide sus sentimientos e intente decirle algo para consolarlo: “Sé que estás enojado ya que tengo que cambiarte el pañal ahora. Quieres seguir jugando. Vamos a volver a jugar después que te cambio el pañal”.
The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
Child Care Bureau
Office of Head Start
