Enjoying H.I.P.P.Y. Home Instruction programme for preschool youngsters...

 I have been a big fan of H.I.P.P.Y. (Home Instruction programme for Parents and Youngsters) when I first heard about it in the 1990s and a teaching colleague of mine left teaching to go to Israel to see the benefits of this programme first hand to bring to South Auckland.

I enrolled my youngest sister in 1999 for the two year programme when she was 4-5 years old with amazing benefits for her which is now evident in my three children with two having completed the programme and my youngest is currently completing her final year.

So if you know of any parents with 3-3.5 year old children, it's a perfect age to enrol them into this literacy programme for kiwi youngsters to get them school ready before taking those first steps into a school on their first day. I know that the programme is also run in Australia and the US.

The programme, in New Zealand, is delivered via the Great Potentials Foundation with co-founder Dame Lesley Max as the driving force behind the establishment of the programme in major centres within New Zealand.

I remember speaking briefly with her in the early 1990s. She was passionate about the programme and what it could do for families with youngsters. I would often see her speak at various education forum discussions in seeking government support for funding the programme which it is now fully funded. She was able to achieve her goal and went on to establish other important programmes.

The programme entails: A HIPPY tutor spending time with the parent/caregiver to go over the weeks lessons over a 30 week period with a weekly 5 day activity booklet. It takes a daily 30 minutes in which a parent/caregiver spends time on different literacy/numeracy activities with their youngster whilst creating a neat learning environment in the home. The child also receives several books throughout the year to keep and the programme is charged at a small fee for each child but definitely worth it.

All my children loved it and have gone from strength to strength in participating. It's also been a special time for me to spend quality time with each child as a youngster to learn important basic principles of being school ready armed with essential knowledge.

At the end of the programme each child is invited to attend a graduation ceremony where they wear special gowns, receive framed certificates and have a celebration and photo session with their families. This programme I would highly recommend to all parents so check it out in a centre near you...