Mums make a difference

An American programme that helps parents to get their children ready for school by becoming their 'first teacher' is showing spectacular results. Now it's over here. Hilary Wilce reports

Pam Holtom doesn't often buy a daily paper, but 12 years ago, she happened to pick up a copy of The Independent. In the education section she read about an American home-school scheme that so inspired her that the next day she rang the programme's Missouri office, and the following summer she flew out to St Louis to join one of its training programmes.

"I'd been a school head for five years at that point. The national curriculum had come in, and I could already see that what it was expecting of children at five was so far above what we could realistically expect of our children even at seven, that I was thinking about how we could get to children earlier to make a difference. To read about this was fantastic."

This was back in the dark ages, when parenting courses were still viewed as a weird American invention, and the idea of spending money on preventing educational problems, rather than on expensive remedial cures, was attracting little interest.

Pam Holtom flew back and started the scheme – Parents as First Teachers (PAFT) – in her own High Wycombe school, where it slowly took root and spread across the Buckinghamshire area. Now, there are a dozen centres in the county, with three more starting shortly, and the programme is beginning to reach out across the nation – to Wales, the West Midlands, and the north-west of England. On Saturday, 120 delegates will travel to its first national conference in London.

The scheme seems deceptively simple. It helps parents give their children a flying educational start by supporting them in their role as "first teacher". Parents hear about it from midwives, health visitors or friends, and those who opt in get a monthly personal visit from a trained project worker, and the chance to join in group meetings with other parents.

However, the results are spectacular. In the US, where it is available in every state, research has shown that at the end of the first year of school, children who have been in the programme do better at maths and reading than their peers, and their teachers feel that their social and language skills are higher. In addition, parents who have been through the programme are far more likely to talk to teachers about their children – something that US educators believe is crucial, because other research shows that involved parents can revolutionise a child's school career.

In this country, there isn't yet the same longitudinal data, but Pam Holtom says: "As a head, I found that parents were much more willing to talk to me, even about difficult issues, if they had been in the PAFT programme. There just wasn't the same defensiveness."

The key to why it works so well is that parents choose to join in, and the focus is so close-up on the child. At every monthly visit, the trained project worker will chat with the mother about her pre-schooler, informally check-off "developmental milestones", and give her ideas about how she can encourage this stage of her child's progress (see box). She also provides an understanding ear for the frustrations and dilemmas of parenthood.

In the US, where there are no health visitors, PAFT workers also do health screenings. Here, it is an entirely educational programme. However, workers will encourage mothers to have their babies checked, if they suspect a problem with something such as hearing.

"We have our own training, and everything is very carefully structured," says Pam Holtom, who retired after 17 years as a head to become PAFT's national development officer. "It's such a high-class programme. There are 36 months of plans for visits, with four plans for each month, in case a worker is visiting more than once a month. They are clearly set out, with guidance on rapport-building, and on observation of the child. And all the neuroscience is now embedded into these plans, too. So we can tell parents what's happening with their children's brains, and why it's important to do the things we talk about."

Group meetings vary from something as simple as going for a walk, to discussing a topic such as sibling rivalry, or how children see themselves. Janice Saunders, a project worker, opening a group discussion on creativity at King's Wood Infant School, in High Wycombe, invites views on why children need to be creative, and how mothers can help them. The 10 or so mothers sitting in the circle volunteer their experiences. They talk about the robots and drawings that their children have made, how they like to ice biscuits or bang saucepans, and – ruefully – about their own shortcomings as creative parents. "I always think, mmm, why don't we wait until it's summer and we can do it outside!" says Dee Snudden.

The discussion is relaxed and full of laughter, but in a short time covers an amazing amount of ground – why creativity matters, the different things children can do at home, and practical ways to make it all bearable, from using old shirts turned backwards as aprons, to the joys of a plastic tablecloth. "I've found that you have to make the time and give yourself to it," says Fiona Grimmett. "When I'm trying to squeeze it in, that's when I get stressed out."

After the meeting, the children come in from the crèche, everyone rolls up their sleeves and decorates pillowcases with fabric paint. The group could not be more mixed. Mothers with postgraduate qualifications rub shoulders with mothers who look like children themselves, and there is an assortment of racial backgrounds. But it is an essential part of PAFT that it is free and available to everyone – project workers point out that just because someone lives in a nice house doesn't mean that they don't struggle over setting boundaries for their children, or need reassurance that their role as a parent is worthwhile. On the other hand, where problems are acute, project workers will offer additional support, and midwives and health visitors will encourage families to join if they feel they could especially benefit.

But the hallmarks of the programme – its low-key approach and openness to all-comers – mean projects can struggle to find funding. For the past seven years, the Turners Court Youth Trust, a small charity that supports innovative ways of meeting the needs of children, has backed its development work, while in deprived areas, PAFT can now find funding under the Government's Sure Start programme. But in other areas, its financial future is fragile. Yet the demand is clearly there, and the project has proved its worth many times over, not only in the States, but also in countries from Canada to New Zealand.

In Missouri, where it all started, the state government took the decision to fund it nearly 20 years ago. Here, in contrast, things are still so far behind the times that only a few weeks ago, this newspaper, which helped start PAFT off in this country, had to run a leader pleading, yet again, for more Government recognition of the fact that the best educational investment it can make is in the pre-school years.

'If a parent has a problem, the visitor is always able to say "well, I just happen to have this..." '

Ros Hill tucks a cardboard box of play things under her arm, crosses the quiet residential street in Aylesbury, and knocks at a small front door. Helen Foley opens it, with 21-month-old Adam clinging to her knees. Ros, a Parent as First Teacher project worker, kicks off her shoes and kneels on the floor of the living room. Adam knows Ros well, but is shy of his other visitors. That's perfectly normal, says Ros. "It's a safety thing to be reticent with strangers. It's showing he knows the difference between family and friends, and others. Remember we had that stranger anxiety at eight months? It's the same thing only with a deeper understanding."

Helen and Ros chat about what's happening with Adam. Helen says that he is asserting his independence. "'No' and 'don't' are his favourite words!" And he sometimes has tantrums. "We try and understand what the problem is, but if it's a mega-tantrum we let him kick and scream." She says he likes pretending to hoover, and doesn't like eggs.

The conversation is very easy. Ros seems like an older, more experienced friend who has popped in for a chat, but there is a clear structure to the visit, covering Adam's motor abilities, his interest in books and writing, and where he reached with potty training. It's all geared to exactly where Adam is now, and there are tips from Ros, about such things as the easiest "proper" cup for Adam to try drinking from, and how to use the inside of cereal boxes for scribbling on.

Ros admires how easily Adam nods off in Helen's arms as they talk. "The brain takes in more as long as a child is secure and has food and sleep and warmth, and he's obviously getting plenty of all that from you."

Helen cleans offices at night so she can be at home with Adam in the day. She's a devoted mother, but says she can't praise Ros's support too highly. "I joined PAFT when I was pregnant, and I've learnt so much. I always look forward to her visits. And it's reassuring, too. Because you do tend to think, 'Is something normal, or is it unusual?'"

Ros says the programme is so carefully researched that if a parent has any sort of problem, the visitor is always able to say "Well, I just happen to have this...

"And you have time to talk. It's not like a health visitor, breezing in and saying have you got any problems? Often things only come out when you're talking about something else entirely."

Checked out on 8 April 2003 at 20:03 hours

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