The Lifestart Foundation is a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in N.Ireland with its Registered Office situated at:
11A Bishop Street, Derry/L’derry, N.Ireland BT48 6PL. Company No: NI41705 -
Lifestart Foundation
Educating parents, developing children
Educating parents, developing children
Parents
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THE PROGRAMME
This is a home visitation, educational programme which was first established simultaneously in the Connemara Gaeltacht and in an urban housing estate in Derry City in 1989. The programme, which is now in operation in a number of towns and localities in Ireland, Europe, and Africa concentrates on the birth to five age-group and their parents in each community.
The programme is facilitated by Family Visitors, who on a monthly visit, bring age-appropriate learning materials to the participating family and spend as much time as is necessary discussing the material and the child’s development with the parent(s). The materials are left with the family as a resource.
The programme is facilitated by Family Visitors, who on a monthly visit, bring age-
The Aim of The Programme is:
“to enable parents to make informed, relevant decisions about the upbringing of their own children, and to empower them to give effect to these decisions” (Lifestart, 1993).
Parents voluntarily participate in the programme, and it is open to all parents with a young child in the project area, regardless of parental income, family structure or level of education.
Family Visitors working on the programme are predominantly local people and many are parents themselves.
Training in the content and presentation of the Lifestart materials, and in the theory of the “Family as a System”, enables Family Visitors to empathise with and understand the parent’s circumstances, so providing support to the family. The materials with which they work are an American text, “Growing Child” , which each project area has carefully adapted to fit the vernacular and culture of its own local area.
Family Visitors also facilitate parent group sessions. These sessions provide a forum for discussions of issues related to child education, and possible community development activities, in addition to providing an opportunity for parents to come together and get to know each other. This can assist in breaking down any barriers of isolation that may exist.
Parents voluntarily participate in the programme, and it is open to all parents with a young child in the project area, regardless of parental income, family structure or level of education.
Family Visitors working on the programme are predominantly local people and many are parents themselves.
Training in the content and presentation of the Lifestart materials, and in the theory of the “Family as a System”, enables Family Visitors to empathise with and understand the parent’s circumstances, so providing support to the family. The materials with which they work are an American text, “Growing Child” , which each project area has carefully adapted to fit the vernacular and culture of its own local area.
Family Visitors also facilitate parent group sessions. These sessions provide a forum for discussions of issues related to child education, and possible community development activities, in addition to providing an opportunity for parents to come together and get to know each other. This can assist in breaking down any barriers of isolation that may exist.
THE LIFESTART PROGRAMME
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