Grain Valley News
  • Home
  • About
    • Submit Your News
    • Contact
  • News
    • Voter Resources
    • Online Puzzles
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • Kindness Awards
    • 2023 Garage Sale Directory
    • Parade
  • Job Board
  • Best of Grain Valley
  • Support
    • Advertise
    • Become A Sustaining Member
  • Business Directory Submission Form
  • Home
  • About
    • Submit Your News
    • Contact
  • News
    • Voter Resources
    • Online Puzzles
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • Kindness Awards
    • 2023 Garage Sale Directory
    • Parade
  • Job Board
  • Best of Grain Valley
  • Support
    • Advertise
    • Become A Sustaining Member
  • Business Directory Submission Form








​news

Parents As Teachers Serves Entire Family Through Resources, Play

12/5/2019

 
​     What looks like just a fun sing-a-long  of parents and toddlers on a sunny Tuesday morning is much more than just playtime. A monthly playgroup hosted by Grain Valley Parents as Teachers and Faith United Methodist Church seeks to serve both parents and children. But, Parents and Teachers is about more than just play.
     Parents as Teachers (PAT) is a free early childhood family education program that assists and supports families in preparing their children for success in school and in life.
     One of the cornerstone programs of the Parents as Teachers program are personal home visits by certified parent educators. In these monthly visits, parent educators visit families by appointment and focus on child development and parent interaction.
     Parent Educators Pam Schmitt and Shannon Leap serve more than 60 families in the Grain Valley program.
     “We answer questions that the parents may have, and bring a developmentally appropriate activity and handouts. It gives them a glimpse of what most kids are going through at that time. We also do development screenings,” Leap said.
     While developmental screenings and activities are focused on the child, Parents as Teachers works to serve the entire family.
     “That’s exactly what Parents as Teachers does. It’s not just focusing on the child. It’s focusing on the family,” Schmitt said.
     Schmitt has been with Parents as Teachers for eleven years and has seen many changes in both the program and in the families she serves.
     “The Parents as Teachers program used to be much more child-oriented, and now it is more family-oriented, which is good,” Schmitt said.
     In addition to personal home visits, Parents as Teachers hosts a number of activities throughout the year for young children and their families, including a popular  “Wiggle, Giggle, and Jiggle” event and the monthly playgroup held on the first Tuesday of each month at Faith United Methodist Church in Grain Valley.
     While playgroups are often seen as a place to help wear a busy toddler out, Schmitt and Leap stress it is much more than that.
     “It’s for both. It’s for the kiddos to comes out and interact with other children. It’s also for parents to be able to get out and connect with other parents. Here they get to talk, perhaps make friends, and have someone to go out with or talk to,” Schmitt said.
     “I think this is a great place to model behavior with their peers, especially if they are not in school and have trouble with that. It’s a good place to learn important skills like taking turns and sharing,” Leap said.
Parent Alison Cook of Blue Springs  and daughter Audrey, 3, attended the December 4th playgroup.
     “It’s good to get out and do an activity and get out of the house. It helps the rest of the day go well,” Cook said.
     Anna Grover of Grain Valley attended the playgroup with 3-year old son Everett.
     “The interaction with other kids his age is important,” Grover said.
     “Before I discovered playgroups, I went insane,” Grover joked.  “It’s good for parents as well, to have interaction with other parents. It’s very beneficial.”
     There is currently a wait list of approximately 30 families for the Grain Valley Parents as Teachers program.
     For more information on Parents as Teachers, call 816-847-5011 or email Parent Educators Pam Schmitt, pschmitt@gvr5.net, or Shannon Leap, sryan-leap@gvr5.net.
 
Picture
Picture

Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Burton Kelso
    Business
    Cathy Allie
    Celebrations & Transitions
    Census
    City Of Grain Valley
    Columnists
    Community Profile
    Covid19
    Covid-19
    Economic-development
    Education
    Elections
    Financial-health
    Fitness
    Food Inspections
    Good News
    Good-news
    Grain-valley-assistance-council
    Grain Valley Fair
    Grain Valley Historical Society
    Grain-valley-partnership
    Grain Valley Schools
    Health And Fitness
    Health-and-fitness
    Home And Garden
    Jackson County
    Kindness Awards
    Ld
    Letters
    Local News
    Looking Back
    Lorne-meinershagen
    Missouri House Of Representatives
    Missouri Senate
    Musings From The Middle
    Neighborhood View
    On-the-job
    Pets
    Police Blotter
    Quick-news
    Rdn
    Recreation
    Sally-whitaker
    Seniors
    Senior-send-off
    Sports
    State Of Missouri
    Technology
    Tracey-shaffer
    Transportation
    University Of Missouri Extension
    Waynes-world

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018

Grain Valley News

Grain Valley News is a free community news source published weekly online. 
(c) 2023 Grain Valley News

Contact Us

PO Box 2972
​Grain Valley MO 64029

Privacy Policy
Picture