ATCHISON COUNTY COMMUNITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Parents As Teachers

1205 North K-7 Highway

Atchison, KS 66002

913-367-0330

Congratulations! You are beginning a new adventure whether this is your first child or fifth. Because children come to us with their own personality and growth pattern, children are their own unique person from the start. 

The growth your child will experience during the first three years of life is almost impossible to imagine. Just think, at birth your child is this precious, totally dependent bundle but by three he or she is walking, talking, and certainly making his or her own opinions know. 

As research now tells us what happens during the first three years of life is the most critical to the physical, intellectual, AND emotional well being of a person. For example, did you know that from three months BEFORE birth until three months after birth, the human brain grows faster than at any other time in life?! And that at only 6 months the child's brain is one-half of its adult weight even though he or she probably does not weigh 20% of what he or she will weigh as an adult! And by four the child's brain will be three-fourths of it's adult size. 

The brain does not just grow on it's own however. The brain grows or learns from what experiences your baby has with the outside world. In other words, how we treat our children and what activities we do with them now will be one of the most important factors in what kind of adults they will be. Those experiences are up to you!

Being a parent is the most difficult, most important, and most rewarding job that you will ever have. By showing interest in the Parents As Teachers (PAT) program it is clear that you take that responsibility seriously. It is wonderful to be able to turn to an early childhood specialist when you have questions or when you need encouragement. Parents As Teachers offers just that.

THE GOAL OF THE PARENTS AS TEACHERS PROGRAM IS TO HELP PARENTS HELP THEIR CHILDREN RECEIVE THE BEST POSSIBLE START IN LIFE. PARENT EDUCATORS OFFER PARENTS TIMELY, PRACTICAL, RESEARCH-BASED INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT AND ENCOURAGE THEIR PARENTING EFFORTS.