Parents As Teachers Maryland State Office

Parents as Teachers(PAT) is an internationally recognized home visitor program developed by the PAT National Center, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri. Parents as Teachers provides parenting information and support to families with children from birth to five years of age. The purpose of the Parents as Teachers programs is to primary nurturers of their children, parents are their children's first and most influential teachers.

Certified parents educators conduct reguarly scheduled, personal visits to give families information about child development and ways to encourage learning in early years. Content of the visits is structured to correspond to the child's age and stage of development, and focuses on enhancing the development of expressive and receptive language skills, cognitive ability, social skills, gross and fine motor skills.

Parents as Teachers Goals

• Give the child a solid foundation for school success
• Increase parents competence and confidence in giving the child the best possible start in life
• Promote a strong parent-child relationship
• Develop a true partnership between parents and schools
• Provide means for early detection of potential learning problems
• Prevent and reduce child abuse and neglect

Parents as Teachers Evaluation Results

• Children (age 3 and when entering school) tested above national norms in intellectual, social, motor and language development
• Parent-child relationships and communication improved
• Developmental delays resolved for 50% of identified families
• Documented cases of child abuse were reduced
• Parents held a positive view of the school district and were more involved in child's education
• Follow-up studies showed the standardized test results of 4th grade staudents were significantly higher for Parents as Teachers children

The Family Works Role in Maryland PAT Network

PAT 0-3 Institute Training

PAT 3-5 Institute Training

PAT Sixth Day Training

Parents as Teachers Programs in Maryland

Maryland Parents as Teachers State Office

The Role of the Maryland State Office serves as liaison between the Parents as Teachers National Center and affiliated programs in Maryland;Maintains a registry of PAT programs and home visitors in Maryland; Coordinates the distribution of Public Service Announcements for Parents as Teachers in Maryland; Distributes information about Parents as Teachers in Maryland; Certifies that home visitors meet the requirements for annual re-certification.

For more information, send an email to pendergrassd@fs-inc.org or 
call Debra Jarvay-Pendergrass (301)840-3230.