Learn MoreAbout
Our Program
We're here to help you become your child's first and best teacher.
The United Way Parents as Teachers (PAT) affiliate program has been serving El Paso families since 2014. The program is part of United Way's goals to ensure all children enter school ready to learn. PAT promotes the optimal early development, learning, and health of children by supporting and engaging their parents and caregivers.
Eligibility
Those interested in participating in the program must:
01
Live in El Paso
02
Have a child 0-5 years old; including expectant families
03
Participating adults must include parents, grandparents guardians or caregivers
Our Model
At its core, Parents as Teachers is relationship-based and parenting-focused. PAT is brought to parents in their homes by trained parent educators whose goal is to help them build on their own strengths -- using the most up-to-date research. In this way, parents become teachers in the normal course of interacting, playing with, and enjoying their children, and their children stand a better chance of beginning school fully ready to learn and succeed.
Personal Home Visits
Individualized, strength-based visits where parent educators focus on child development and parent-child interaction. Through these monthly visits, families will improve their parenting while children will engage in educational and exciting activities that develop their skills.
Child Screenings
Tools to help parents understand their child's development, recognize strengths, and identify areas of concern that might suggest the need for follow-up services. These include overall health, vision and hearing screenings.
Resource Network
The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program actively fosters connections with a variety of community organizations—both as referral sources and resources for the families they serve. Collectively, these connections are called a resource network. This helps close gaps in services, linking families to needed supports.
Group Connections
An opportunity for parents to share experiences, discuss concerns, learn from other parents, support one another, observe their child with other children and practice parenting skills. In addition, child development information is shared and social connections between parents are fostered.
What to Expect During a Home Visit
As a participant in the Parents as Teachers program, each family receives a personalized visit catered to your family's needs. In each visit, your parent educator will focus on the following three areas of emphasis.
1
2
Parent-Child Interaction
Your parent educator will provide fun educational activities that support the growth of your relationship with your child and the growth of your child's educational development
Development-Centered Parenting
Your parent educator will help you connect your observations on your child to what is happening in their development.
3
Family Well-Being
Your parent educator will help you build or maintain a healthy, nurturing environment for your child and family.