About the HIPPY Program

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)  

HIPPY is an evidence-based, home visiting program that partners with parents of children ages two through five to help prepare parents and children for school success.

Each week, HIPPY delivers curriculum, books, and materials to families and, through peer-to-peer mentoring, provides parents and guardians with the confidence, tools, and strategies for engaging their child in the HIPPY activities for that week. Parents who enroll in HIPPY all four years will engage in 105 hours of home visits and can choose to attend more than 240 parent group meetings. The children of those parents will engage in at least 120 weeks (600 days) of high-quality, language-building, self-regulating developing, and fun-filled school preparation!

HIPPY does not replace preschool but is meant to work in collaboration with children’s early childhood educational experiences, bridging the school and home. The HIPPY curriculum is meant to provide important opportunities for parent and child to interact around educationally enriching activities. These 15 – 30 minutes spent together on 5 days-per-week across 30 weeks each year develop the adult caregiver’s confidence to act as their child’s first advocate while also building the child’s love for learning, language, and social emotional skills required for school success.

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HIPPY's 4 Essential Features 

4-Year Evidence Based Curriculum

• 30 packets are delivered weekly; 15 packets delivered bi-weekly for 5-year-olds. 
• Each weekly packet contains 5 activities and a book that aligns with that week’s lesson. 
• Each daily activity is intended to last 15 minutes and parents are encouraged to read to their children daily.

Coordinator and Community- Based Home Visitors

• Each site as a professional coordinator who role plays the curriculum with home visitors each week.
• Community-based home visitors go into the home and work with parents for one-hour each week. 
• Nationally, 51% of home visitors are former or current parents in the program.

HIPPY Role Play Instructional Technique

• The Role-Play Instructional Cycle includes:
• Coordinator with Home Visitors
• Home Visitor with Parent
• Parent with Child
• Parents are provided with strategies for ensuring each day involves a positive, enriching activity and book reading at a regularly scheduled place and time

Home Visits and Group Meetings

• Parents learn how to support their children’s education.
• Parents learn the “language of schools.”
• Parents who work with HIPPY Home Visitors are more likely to partner with teachers, attend school events, and participate in the PTSA.