Toddlers bustled in and out of trucks with smiles at the recent Parents as Teachers (PAT) celebratory end of the year picnic.

Parents as Teachers is a national program with a chapter here in Warwick affiliated with Warwick Public Schools out of the Title 1 program. PAT is a home visiting program that uses certified parent educators to help families with parenting, child development, and school preparation. They work with children from birth until they enroll in kindergarten.

Michelle Armour, a mother with two children in the program, Andre, 3, and Abby, 8 months, said, “they are like your security blanket, someone to bounce things off of and have reassurance. It is a support system. They really help acclimate kids to get ready for kindergarten; they get the parents ready, too.”

“School readiness is a main priority for us,” said Amy Griffin. Griffin is the Title 1 parent program facilitator and PAT supervisor. She said many of their meetings with families happen at Oakland Beach Elementary so that parents and kids alike can be used to the school atmosphere before entering kindergarten. Especially for those kids who are not enrolled in preschool, PAT allows them to have an education-based socialization with other children. One of the vehicles there was a school bus and Griffin explained they like to have that every year at the picnic because it is just one more way to help prepare the kids. They get to explore the bus, so it appears less frightening once they enter the school system and have to ride it for themselves.

Jacqueline Sjorgen, one of the parent educators for PAT, had her own children, now in their teens, in the program. After falling in love with PAT, she joined the program as an educator herself.

Sjorgen said, “Early education starts at birth. The first teacher a child has is always their parents. We just try to help those parents be the best teachers they can be in the years before formal education.”

At the picnic, other than the school bus, there were two fire trucks, an ambulance, a street sweeper, a recycling pickup truck, and a dump truck.

Griffin said, “We do a lot of collaboration with the community and they are always happy to help us out, especially for this end of the year picnic. Touch-A-Truck is a great way for our kids to learn about their community. They get to explore the trucks and sometimes meet a fireman or EMT. They are so young and so small they are still fascinated by trucks. Sometimes we take for granted how special this is for a kid. They might remember this moment for the rest of their lives. It might help inspire them later in life.”

Currently, PAT has about 30 families enrolled in their program. They hope by the end of next year they can reach 40 families. The program is available for free to families that reside in Warwick with children that have not yet begun kindergarten. For more information on the program, to enroll in the program or to refer another family, you can call the Title 1 Family center at 734-3426.