A parent is her child's first teacher.

CIC LIFE is a program which builds upon the strengths of families by providing parents with the tools to prepare their young children for school success. There are several parts to this effort.

• Low-income parents of pre-school children are trained as para-professional Parent Educators.
  
  
• Parent Educators visit other low-income parents of pre-school children and support these parents by engaging them in HIPPY - Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-school Youngsters. The parents thus become their children's first teacher.
     * Each week Parent Educators work on HIPPY activities with parents in their homes.
     * Parents then do the activities with their children.
  
  
•  Families are enrolled in Reading is Fundamental.
     * They attend three book distribution events during the course of the year 
     * Families accept a challenge to talk about and read books twice a day
     * All children are given a free book at each event
  
  
•  Families are able to borrow books through The Library On Wheels Program.
     * Parent Educators bring books from the CIC library which can be borrowed
     * Parent Educators provide a weekly "story time" as part of their visits
     * Parents and other family members read to the children for two 15 minute sessions daily
  
  
•  Through Child Connections, families may be linked to other early childhood support services 
     * Parent Educators are trained connect families to agencies that provide services 
     * Examples of services include mmunizations, early childhood screenings and school registration
  
  
• Summer Transition to Elementary Programs (STEP) assists families to prepare for school
     * Children who are scheduled to enter school in the fall are given a pre-test in the spring
     * Children are given one-on-one tutoring by volunteers using Hooked on Phonics
     * Children are re-tested in August to assess readiness in a variety of skill areas