For Jared Hall, giving his two sons the best start in life is a priority.
The Collinsville School District’s Starting Points program has made all the difference, he said.
“My kids couldn’t even talk when I first got them,” Hall said. “From what they were at when I first got them, it’s a night-and-day difference.”
Hall, a single father who lives with sons Jonah, 4, and Ryder, 2, and his mother in Collinsville, receives home visits from the program’s parent educators and therapists who work with both boys to bring them up to speed developmentally.
Starting Points uses the Parents as Teachers model to give parents the tools to help their young children develop and be ready for school, said Zach Allen, the program’s director.
That help, Allen explained, includes in-home visits from two parent educators, work with the program’s part-time translator, lessons for parents to work with their kids one-on-one, a monthly activities group for parents and kids at Webster Elementary School, and basic health screenings.
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