This Topeka USD 501 program helps parents become teachers for their infants, and it's free

Blanca Cadogan had still been in the hospital, having just had her first son, when social workers approached her to let her know about a program called Parents as Teachers.

It was a strictly voluntary, but free, program that could help her find out the best ways to guide her child's development and set him up for success in school — before he even reached preschool.

She signed up, and years later, she's still in the program, now with younger siblings.

For the past few decades, Topeka USD 501's affiliate of the national Parents as Teachers program has helped parents like Cadogan navigate the challenges of parenting the right way, coordinator Nichole Fairley told the Topeka Board of Education on Thursday evening.

Just in the past year, the 12-month program has helped 284 children across 210 families at its sites at Avondale East, Pine Ridge Prep, Quinton Heights Education Center and Shaner Early Learning Academy.

Here's who Topeka's Parents as Teachers program is geared toward

While Topeka USD 501's program is geared toward any family with a child under 3 years old living in district boundaries, Parents as Teachers also focuses on high-need families, such as low-income families, families with health issues and families with parents who are still in high school, among other high-need factors.

The program even continues to offer services for some children over 3, in collaboration with the district's Preschool Intervention Program.

Several components make up the program's service model, but Parents as Teachers does focus on visiting families' homes at least once a month to help educate parents one-on-one for best practices on guiding their children's development and growth.

"All it takes from parents is one or two hours a month to learn and play with their child," Fairley said.

On Friday morning, the program hosted one of its weekly play sessions at Quincy Heights Education Center.

Parent educator Shari Bounous first read a book to families and led them through a song as they gathered on the playground before letting the parents and children loose to play on the equipment.

'A child’s first job is to play'

Kimber Wright and her granddaughter Jael Sophie Wright, 3, had been frequent visitors to the playground when they came upon the play session by chance and were invited to join.

Wright said she was impressed by the program's focus on helping children learn through play, especially when program educators helped Jael Sophia learn how to solve a minor conflict by herself.

"It's been great," Wright said. "Everyone has been super friendly, and even though I'm an old grandma, all the other parents have been great."

Research, Fairley said, shows that Parents as Teachers across the nation help families and teachers detect developmental delays or health problems earlier in their lives, letting them get intervention and treatment earlier. Children are better set up for academic success in kindergarten by having a healthier social-emotional foundation to start.

It also helps parents and children cultivate stronger relationships with each other and friends, Fairley said.

And all of that comes by learning to play.

"A child’s first job is to play. Their only job is to play." Fairley said. "They learn so many valuable skills through playing — they learn how to engage, they learn how to talk, they learn how to make different things. It all starts with playing."

For more information on Topeka USD 501's Parents as Teachers program, see the program's website.

Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka USD 501 Parents as Teachers programs taking new families