Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)

|HIPPY is a unique and proven education system that addresses the root causes of poverty.

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is an evidence-based program that works in the home to support vulnerable and isolated mothers in their critical role as their child’s first and most important teacher. HIPPY strengthens families and communities by empowering mothers to actively participate in Canadian society and prepare their children for success in school and life. As the foundational program of the Mothers Matter Centre, HIPPY Canada has transformed more than 55,000 lives.

Developed in Israel some 60 years ago, today HIPPY is offered in ten countries around the world, with an additional four countries offering HIPPY-inspired programs. At the Mothers Matter Centre, the HIPPY program operates under two distinct branches: Indigenous HIPPY in Canada and Multicultural HIPPY in Canada. While the core of the program remains the same, each branch has modified the curriculum and the delivery strategy to address cultural requirements. Since its debut in Canada, the Multicultural HIPPY program has expanded to 34 sites across Canada. The Indigenous HIPPY program has expanded to four communities in British Columbia.

The Four Components of HIPPY

The HIPPY program is comprised of four interlocking components – HIPPY curriculum, HIPPY Home Visits, HIPPY Groups Meetings, and HIPPY Home Visitors. When implemented together these components consistently yield positive outcomes. We have a commitment to continually enhancing and incorporating best practices into all aspects of the HIPPY program and its delivery.

“I Am So Proud!”

A visit with our HIPPY site at the Working Women Community Centre in Toronto, Ontario. 

The Right to be Ready Initiative

HIPPY Curriculum

 

The HIPPY curriculum is designed for parents and their children, aged three to five years old, and consists of: nine storybooks, weekly activity packages, and basic supplies such as geometric shapes, scissors and crayons for each year in the program.

Activity packages are set out as easy-to-follow lesson plans for parents, providing them with developmentally appropriate activities for their children with the objective of ensuring a successful and enjoyable learning experience. The activities guide parents in a process of engaging with their children using structured lessons that will ensure children’s school readiness skills, including: language development, perceptual and sensory discrimination, logical thinking, and problem-solving.

The skills and concepts are introduced progressively to the parent and child, first using the physical body, then concrete objects and, finally, representation of objects in pictures, followed by opportunities for practice and learning.

The skills are introduced using HIPPY’s wide-ranging, fun, learning activities that include reading, writing, drawing, singing, rhyming, games, puzzles, cooking, baking and more. Parents are encouraged to build on the information in the activity packages in order to infuse the learning in all areas of their children’s lives.

Constant reviewing and updating of the materials ensure that the HIPPY curriculum is relevant for families and reflects current educational research findings. HIPPY facilitates an international exchange of curriculum, additional complementary materials, and extension activities developed in other member countries.

HIPPY Home Visitors

 

This success of the HIPPY program model is based on the capacity of Home Visitors to build trust with the parents or caregivers and gain access to the home to deliver the HIPPY program to the family. This novel Home Visitor approach to social intervention relies on the expertise of the community mothers who are hired and trained as Home Visitors and whose primary credential is having similar experiences as the mothers with whom they work.

HIPPY Home Visitors meet with the parents weekly to spend an hour reviewing the instructional materials using role-play. The Home Visitors, many of whom were once HIPPY moms themselves, are empathetic; they speak the first language of the family and they understand the culture, concerns, and priorities of the families they serve because they have experienced the journey.

While mothers and families benefit from the various services provided by the Home Visitors and the HIPPY program, Home Visitors also gain valuable Canadian work experience, which is vital to take the next step in their career as more settled refugees with useful, documented employment experience in Canada.

HIPPY Group Meetings

 

Parent group meetings or workshops are held once or twice a month and are facilitated by the HIPPY local Coordinator, assisted by the team of Home Visitors. Group meetings bring parents together to share experiences and ideas, reflect on the HIPPY activities, and discuss parenting topics both among themselves and with professional experts. HIPPY parent group meetings and parent-child workshops are stepping-stones for many parents to establish wider-ranging community and school involvement.

HIPPY Home Visits

 

The HIPPY program has gained success based on its ability to reach out and work with many of the most hard-to-reach families through Home Visits led by the HIPPY Home Visitor.

Home Visitors lead weekly, one-hour Home Visits with their HIPPY parents using the role-play method - the same method they use in their own weekly training sessions. During the Home Visit, material from the previous week is reviewed, and questions and challenges are discussed. Then new material for the upcoming week is role-played with the parent until they are confident to teach their child that week’s daily learning activities.

The Right to be Ready Initiative

HIPPY Curriculum

 

The HIPPY curriculum is designed for parents and their children, aged three to five years old, and consists of: nine storybooks, weekly activity packages, and basic supplies such as geometric shapes, scissors and crayons for each year in the program.

Activity packages are set out as easy-to-follow lesson plans for parents, providing them with developmentally appropriate activities for their children with the objective of ensuring a successful and enjoyable learning experience. The activities guide parents in a process of engaging with their children using structured lessons that will ensure children’s school readiness skills, including: language development, perceptual and sensory discrimination, logical thinking, and problem-solving.

The skills and concepts are introduced progressively to the parent and child, first using the physical body, then concrete objects and, finally, representation of objects in pictures, followed by opportunities for practice and learning.

The skills are introduced using HIPPY’s wide-ranging, fun, learning activities that include reading, writing, drawing, singing, rhyming, games, puzzles, cooking, baking and more. Parents are encouraged to build on the information in the activity packages in order to infuse the learning in all areas of their children’s lives.

Constant reviewing and updating of the materials ensure that the HIPPY curriculum is relevant for families and reflects current educational research findings. HIPPY facilitates an international exchange of curriculum, additional complementary materials, and extension activities developed in other member countries.

HIPPY Home Visitors

 

This success of the HIPPY program model is based on the capacity of Home Visitors to build trust with the parents or caregivers and gain access to the home to deliver the HIPPY program to the family. This novel Home Visitor approach to social intervention relies on the expertise of the community mothers who are hired and trained as Home Visitors and whose primary credential is having similar experiences as the mothers with whom they work.

HIPPY Home Visitors meet with the parents weekly to spend an hour reviewing the instructional materials using role-play. The Home Visitors, many of whom were once HIPPY moms themselves, are empathetic; they speak the first language of the family and they understand the culture, concerns, and priorities of the families they serve because they have experienced the journey.

While mothers and families benefit from the various services provided by the Home Visitors and the HIPPY program, Home Visitors also gain valuable Canadian work experience, which is vital to take the next step in their career as more settled refugees with useful, documented employment experience in Canada.

HIPPY Group Meetings

 

Parent group meetings or workshops are held once or twice a month and are facilitated by the HIPPY local Coordinator, assisted by the team of Home Visitors. Group meetings bring parents together to share experiences and ideas, reflect on the HIPPY activities, and discuss parenting topics both among themselves and with professional experts. HIPPY parent group meetings and parent-child workshops are stepping-stones for many parents to establish wider-ranging community and school involvement.

HIPPY Home Visits

 

The HIPPY program has gained success based on its ability to reach out and work with many of the most hard-to-reach families through Home Visits led by the HIPPY Home Visitor.

Home Visitors lead weekly, one-hour Home Visits with their HIPPY parents using the role-play method - the same method they use in their own weekly training sessions. During the Home Visit, material from the previous week is reviewed, and questions and challenges are discussed. Then new material for the upcoming week is role-played with the parent until they are confident to teach their child that week’s daily learning activities.