Bright Beginnings Home Visits

Purpose:
The purpose of conducting home visits is to establish a relationship with parents/guardians and their
children while, simultaneously, providing important information about the pre-kindergarten program. Home
visits are one of the most effective practices for making connections and communicating with parents,
especially ‘hard to reach’ parents. It is the goal of our program to teach both children and parents/guardians
to acquire skills that will lead to success. Visiting families in their homes shows them that you are genuinely
interested in their child and demonstrates your commitment to building a relationship with them in order to
help their child be successful. These visits also allow you the opportunity to get to know the child in his
natural and familiar setting, where he will easily tell you about his special interests likes and dislikes.

Procedures:
 Call parent/guardian to schedule the home visit (see sample script below). It is usually convenient
to schedule appointments in the same area on the same day
 Update calendar with home visit information
 Write child’s name and school/center name on name tag and ask the family to make sure the child
wears it to school for the first week
 Ask the parent for a quiet area for the teacher assistant to use while working with the child
 Present staggered entry letter and explain the process to the family.
 Present the Sample Reading Log and explain the importance of reading daily. Encourage families
to complete the log and remind them of the 100-books- requirement.
 Present large baggie for change of clothes and remind parents to label all clothing with the child’s
name and to send suitable clothing when the weather changes.
 Take one picture of the entire family and one picture of the child alone. Explain to the parent that
the pictures will be used in the classroom.
 Record exact address information and miles traveled
 Submit completed mileage forms online through Employee Self Service using the budget code
provided by your Literacy Facilitator

Initial telephone conversation:

This is a basic guide for the initial telephone conversation between you and the parent/guardian. Please feel
free to adjust the script as necessary.

T: Hi, my name is (your name) and I will be (child’s name)’s pre-kindergarten teacher at (name of school).
As a part of the Bright Beginnings programs, I will be visiting your home with my teacher assistant, (teacher
assistant’s name). The purpose of the visit is to get to know you and your child and discuss some important
information about the program. The visit should only last about 60 minutes. I am available ____, _____ and
____ between __AM and __PM. Do any of these days and times work for you?

If you wish to have someone who speaks Spanish contact the parent to schedule the home visit, please
email prek@cms.k12.nc.us with a list of parents, phone numbers, and the times you have available. The
Bilingual Assistant will ask the parents to have someone who speaks English present at the home visit and
will email you back confirmation that the visit has been scheduled.

What to Bring:
 Name tag for child
 Materials for working with the child: books, a few manipulatives, simple puzzles, paper and
markers/crayons for the child to draw at least two pictures (leave one with the family and take one
that is signed and dated to post in the classroom), photos of the classroom and school
 Staggered entry letter
 Sample Reading Log
 Camera
 Mileage form
Safety Procedures:
Our commitment to home visits is matched by our commitment to safe home visit conditions for all
employees. We recognize that many of these families/guardians live in distressed communities and have
worked with the law enforcement department to create a list of safety guidelines.
 Always conduct home visits in pairs.
 Always carry a cell phone.
 Leave information in the school office with the child’s name, address, date and time of all home
visits.
 Be aware of your surroundings as you approach the residence or location. If your gut tells you to be
concerned, trust your gut.
 If an area doesn't feel safe to you, call the local police department for a police escort. You can call 311 and
explain that you are conducting a home visit and would like a police escort. Just be prepared that they may
not have a car available to assist at that time due to emergency calls that take priority.
 Consider conducting a drive by of the area you plan to visit a head of time to get a feel for the area. This
way you might be able to schedule a home visit with a police escort a head of time.
 If you have an emergency and need the police always call 911.
 The CMS Police Department has a 24 hour dispatcher that can be reached at 980-343-6030. Call 911 first if
it is an emergency. We do have a very limited number of CMS officers that could assist you, but would need
advance notice. They have a very large area to patrol, so we can't guarantee they would be in your area at
the time of the visit.

Notes:
 Remember that the parents/guardians are probably more uncomfortable than you are. They are
opening their homes to you and may fear being judged or ‘evaluated.’ Please try to reassure them
that you are just there to get to know them and share some important information with them.

 During the initial telephone conversation, you may inquire about pets and politely ask the
parent/guardian to put any pets in a separate room or outside.

 If you are unable to contact the parents using the phone numbers (home/work), including
emergency phone numbers, they provided on their application, you may either:

1. Write a letter and mail it to the home address. In the letter you should include the reason you are
trying to get in touch with them (simply that their child is in your Pre-K classroom and you are trying
to schedule a home visit). You should provide your contact information and let them know that you
need to hear from them within 2-3 days from the date you are mailing the letter.

2. Leave a note taped to their front door with the same information as above.

Because Bright Beginnings is a Title I program and children are seated according to educational
need, we must make every effort to reach parents before dropping children from the roster and
assigning new children.

Enjoy this opportunity to get to know your students and their families!