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HIPPY Arkansas

What Does HIPPY Do?

HIPPY closes the achievement gap, one family, at a time by helping parents provide educational enrichment to their preschool children. HIPPY promotes preschool readiness and supports parents as their children’s first teacher by giving them the tools, skills, and confidence they need to work with their children in the home. Families participating in HIPPY receive all books and learning materials free of charge from their local program.

How It Works:

Over the course of about 30 weeks, trained home visitors — friends, neighbors, former program participants, and peers — work with parents to guide them through a weekly curriculum. Lessons and curricula activities are geared to the child’s age and development level, and the home visitors instruct the parents with easy-to-follow exercises and materials. Parents then spend time each day reading to their children, teaching them numbers, colors, letters, and many more school readiness skills using the tools, techniques, and materials provided by the home visitor.

HIPPY Home-based Educators visit parents of 2, 3, 4, and 5-year-old children, in the home, once a week for at least 45 minutes and role-play lessons. Each set of lessons includes activities focusing on literacy, math, science, motor skills, and language development.

Parents also meet with other parents in the program, at least once a month, for group meetings designed to further enhance parenting skills. These two delivery methods, role play and group meetings empower parents as their child’s first and most important teacher.

All lessons and storybooks are available in English and Spanish.

HIPPY for Little Learners includes:
The HIPPY for Little Learners curriculum is specifically for two-year-olds. HIPPY for Little Learners joins our existing curricula for families of three to five-year-olds and now makes the HIPPY program a four-year continuum.  

  • 30 weeks of curriculum for parents that include developmentally appropriate activities and experiences for parents to engage in with their children.
  • Home visits that use role-play and guided discussions to support parents with the skills and techniques they need to interact effectively with their young children.
  • 10 board books and a set of blocks for each family.
  • Expanded sections in each week called Spotlight on Development that introduces developmental ideas to families and encourages dialogue
  • Family Feedback sections each week to encourage families to reflect on their children’s interests, development, and growth.

 

Year 1 and Year 2 HIPPY Curriculum includes:

  • 9 Storybooks
  • 30 weeks of age and developmentally appropriate curriculum
  • 1 Set of colored shapes
  • Crayons, scissors, pencils, glue, and other learning materials

 

The 5-year-old HIPPY Curriculum Includes:

  • 8 Storybooks
  • 15 weeks of age and developmentally appropriate curriculum
  • Crayons, scissors, pencils, glue, and other learning materials

 

All of this is at no cost to the parent!

Who Does HIPPY Work With?

HIPPY works with families of 2, 3, 4, and 5-year-olds. The program serves families from diverse ethnic and geographic groups. Although HIPPY is for any parent who wants educational enrichment for his or her child, the HIPPY model was designed to remove barriers to participation due to poverty, social isolation, and other issues.

 

How To Get Started:
Simone

Simone Diggins 
HIPPY State Manager
Email: digginsS@archildrens.org
Phone: (501) 364-5460

Donna Johnson
HIPPY Educational Coordinator/Site Monitor
Email: johnsondonnam@archildrens.org
Phone: (501) 364-3473