BOND PRAISES `PARENTS AS TEACHERS' PROGRAMS

MARBLE HILL -- U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond visited Marble Hill Thursday to laud Woodland School District's Parents As Teachers program, a program the senator wants implemented nationwide.

Bond spoke with about 35 children, parents and teachers who participate in the program, which encourages parents to take an active role in their preschool children's education and development.

Bond this year offered legislation in Congress that would expand the acclaimed Missouri program nationwide.

"Thirty-four different states have started pilot programs modeled on the Missouri program," the senator said. "One thing that we've learned in this program, it's a whole new field, a brand new area of education."

Bond said many young parents aren't equipped to deal with the responsibility and stress of child rearing. He said Parents As Teachers has had dramatic results in helping parents as well as their children.

"The expectations of the program, that it would give kids a better start, have been realized," he said.

"I've often said that when you buy a new car, they give you a manual, an instruction booklet. But when you go home with a new baby, they give you a few diapers and you're on your own."

Bond said parental involvement in children's education is the key to the youngsters' preparation for and success throughout school.

"What parents do to help their children learn is more important to academic success than anything else," he said.

Bond's new Parents as Teachers bill would set up a $100 million competitive grant program over five years for states that want to begin or expand Parents as Teachers programs similar to Missouri's.

Average operating costs for the program are about $20,000 annually. Thus, the federal program could fund about 1,000 school districts nationwide, Bond said.

Bond said that under his proposed legislation, federal funding for the program would decline during the five-year authorization of the bill as states picked up the costs.

The Missouri Parents as Teachers Program was crafted during Bond's second term as Missouri governor, from 1981 to 1984.

The program provides for home visits by parent educators to create education and development programs for individual children and their families.

The program also provides information and guidance at each stage of a child's development, including prenatal services; periodic health screening of children to check educational and sensory development; and group visits to help parents gain insight into their child's behavior and development.

"The real secret of the program is, by getting parents involved early on, we get them hooked on their kids' whole education," said Bond. "It does establish a life-long habit.

"Most educators say that by getting the parents involved early and keeping them involved, it helps ensure the success of the child's education."

Bond said students who were in the program in the past tend to do better in school than children who didn't participate in the program. He praised the teachers who directed the program in Bollinger County.

But Carrie Holland, who oversees the Woodland and Zalma Parents As Teachers programs, said the real credit for the programs' success rests with the parents who participate.

"All we can do is guide them and give them some support," Holland said. "They choose whether they want to do it or not."

Holland said children, who have gone through the program with their parents, score higher on academic tests, language development and social development.

Holland said she serves 70 to 80 families in the Woodland and Zalma area. Mary Lou Conrad administers the Meadow Heights and Leopold Parents As Teachers programs, which serve a total of about 85 families.

Holland and Conrad said the program benefits the parents by giving them a better understanding of their children and by providing a social outlet.

"My parents have really enjoyed the group meetings," said Conrad. "Because it is in a rural area and many of the parents don't have a big social life, they can get together with other parents and find out what their kids are doing.

"The parents really enjoy the programs and activities where they can have an interest with their children," said Conrad.