SHERRY BEAN reads to her daughter, Elizabeth during a home visit by while Starfish parent educator Karon Wolfe. Little Elijah (in Wolfe’s lap) and Elizabeth are benefiting from the parenting skills provided to their mom by the Starfish program.
Everyone remembers their favorite teachers, and in most cases, remembers their first teachers. Yet, when asked who that might be, they hardly ever tell you the obvious choice: their parents.
So much teaching is done before a youngster ever begins attending school. That teaching is done within the home by either mom or dad, or in some cases, other relatives. These children become lovers of learning as they grow into their formal educational experiences.
The Starfish Project is an in-home education program for Bradley County residents who are from pre-natal age to when the child goes into kindergarten. The program is one of 13 to receive a United Way grant through the Bradley Memorial Health Endowment Fund for 2012.
That allows the program to be provided at no charge to parents.
“We started in January 2009 when we received the hospital funds. That’s when we opened our doors and became a fully-staffed, able to serve the people, program,” explained Corinne Freeman, who has served as director of the program since its inception.
The program is based on the Parents as Teachers model, which trains parents of children to be that initial teacher and enhance their child’s early years.
“We want the parent and the child to learn together,” Freeman said. “We have to come back to the frame of mind that the parent is their first teacher. Although we hear a lot of that these days, we want the parent to really believe in themselves as a teacher and have that confidence, that empowerment to say that ‘I do have information about my child’s development, I can be involved in their education, and I can be involved in their school life.’”
This involves special materials that the parents receive, as well as group meetings where parents and children in the program meet and discuss their situations, or participate in skills building exercises.
Maybe the most beneficial part of the program is the actual home visits by Starfish’s parent educators. Presently, there are two parent educators who have full case loads (30 parents), as well as Freeman, who meets with five clients and covers for the other two educators when necessary.
“We were only going to have a case load per parent educator of about 20 and we filled that up by mid-March (2009), which was 40 total, and since then, we have had full case loads,” she said, adding with some creative scheduling, these case loads rose to the 30-parent maximum.
The Starfish project does have a waiting list, Freeman said, which opens when children move into kindergarten, or possibly move from the area or, rarely, leave the program. However, those who are on the waiting list are not forgotten.
“Parents who are on the waiting list do get the Starfish newsletter, a monthly phone call, can come to monthly meetings and receive materials … they just don’t receive the home visit,” she noted.
Starfish has recently instituted something new into its program: working with teen moms at some of the local schools.
“New Hope Pregnancy Center offered a parenting support group for teen moms at the high schools. However, the counselor providing that services had to devote more time to her private practice, which might have ended the program,” she explained.
Freeman said she felt it was such an important program, that Starfish began offering it to these parents.
“New Hope allowed us to use their curriculum to continue the program so that we can continue to go out to the schools. We have had a lot of success,” she stated.
“We go over things like discipline; we go over normal child development, detachment, First Aid and CPR. Co-parenting is a big issue, as are relationships.”
Freeman said these are not just teen moms, but expectant teen moms, and tthe program is presently offered at Bradley Central High School, the Goal Academy and the Teen Learning Center.
This is the fourth year Starfish has received a United Way grant. Freeman said she is honored for the program to have received this important funding for these four years, adding that United Way has provided more than just the money to keep the program running financially.
Not only has the grant been important financially, but the support of United Way in making sure that everything was going well … we found that to be important. It has always been a spirit of cooperation,” she said.
Patrick Long, United Way vice president of Community Impact, noted how important the program is.
“What happens to a child in the first five years of life is critical to his or her future success,” he said. “
Starfish helps entire families by working to make sure that our most vulnerable children have a solid foundation to build from. This program gives parents the tools they need to raise happy, healthy, secure children.
“Starfish is an essential component of the United Way’s effort to create a system of support that walks with children from early childhood to productive adulthood,” Long added.
Freeman said she appreciates the United Way support, and the support from the community.
To learn more about the Starfish project, visit them by going to the Bradley Initiative for Church and Community’s website at www.bicc-inc.org and go to the Starfish link, or visit the Starfish Facebook page. Or, you may contact Freeman at (423) 559-1112.
SHERRY BEAN reads to her daughter, Elizabeth during a home visit by while Starfish parent educator Karon Wolfe. Little Elijah (in Wolfe’s lap) and Elizabeth are benefiting from the parenting skills provided to their mom by the Starfish program.
