HIPPY: Learning at Home

HIPPY strengthens vulnerable families by empowering parents to prepare their 2 to 5-year-old children for success in school. Through home visits, they are provided with a set of weekly activity packages and storybooks, designed to strengthen their children's social, emotional and physical development, early literacy and cognitive skills.

HIPPY programs around the world follow the same model: a developmentally appropriate curriculum, delivered by home visitors from the community, supervised by a professional coordinator, with role play as the method of training, and home visits interspersed with group meetings. These features were developed to allow participation from families who might otherwise not get involved with their children's education, due to lack of education, poverty, social isolation and other issues.

HIPPY Argentina activity packages and storybooks are designed according to the early childhood national curriculum and organized so that families spend 30 minutes per day with their children through play-based learning.

HIPPY Argentina serves vulnerable families from diverse ethnic and geographic groups, particularly those most at risk because of poverty, limited education and social isolation. In 2019 we reached 2,500 families.

The program started in 2009 with families from AMIA’s Social Services. In 2011, it was extended to families living in shanty towns in association with the Buenos Aires City Government. In 2016, it was endorsed by the Social Development Ministry, as part of the Early Childhood National Plan. This endorsement allowed us to reach more than 2,000 families from the Northeast and Northwest regions, which present the higher poverty levels of the country. According to the latest data available, 35.5% of the national population is poor. However, in these regions, poverty reaches more than 40%. Moreover, 1 in 2 children are poor.

Different studies conclude that some of the most important deprivations are food insecurity, access to proper housing and sanitation, access to education and health care, protection against domestic violence and lack of time available to play.

Children from these families face low school performance and delayed socio-cognitive development. Their parents mostly have low education levels, do not participate in their educational process and have little community involvement. 

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is an evidenced-based program that works with vulnerable families with 2 to 5-year-old children to empower them in their critical role as their child's first and most important teacher.

HIPPY strengthens vulnerable families by providing them simple tools and resources to prepare their children for success in school. Through home visits, they receive a set of weekly activity packages and storybooks, designed to strengthen their children's social, emotional and physical development, early literacy and cognitive skills.

HIPPY programs around the world follow the same model: a developmentally appropriate curriculum, delivered by home visitors from the community, supervised by a professional coordinator, with role play as the method of training, and home visits interspersed with group meetings. These features were developed to allow participation from families who might otherwise not get involved with their children's education, due to lack of education, poverty, social isolation and other issues.

HIPPY Argentina activity packages and storybooks are designed according to the early childhood national curriculum and organized so that families spend 30 minutes per day with their children through play-based learning, during a 30 week period per year. 

HIPPY Argentina serves vulnerable families from diverse ethnic and geographic groups, with 2 to 5-year-old children. It targets particularly those most at risk because of poverty, limited education and social isolation.     

In 2019 we reached 2,500 families located in the shanty towns of Buenos Aires and in 8 of the poorest provinces of the country (Chaco, Corrientes, Jujuy, Misiones, Salta, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero y Tucumán).

These families face severe deprivations in their everyday lives, such as food insecurity, lack of proper housing and sanitation, limited access to education and health care, high levels of domestic violence, lack of time and resources to play with their children.

Before taking part in HIPPY, many families do not have storybooks and children are developmentally behind according to the national standards.

In order to tackle these issues, HIPPY convenes local mothers from these communities to train them as home visitors. They participate in a 3-day induction training, after which they gather weekly with a professional coordinator, to review through role play the activity packages that will be home delivered to the families. Their local affiliation is key to the success of HIPPY, contributing to build confidence and rapport with the families.    

HIPPY involves young women in informal learning and training, providing them an opportunity to develop skills and capabilities to help their children to achieve school readiness and educational success.

Moreover, some of these women are offered the opportunity to be formally trained as HIPPY home visitors, which is a first millstone in their work trajectory. Many decide to complete their primary or high school education after participating in the program, and some continue further training and find qualified jobs.

Additionally, girls aged 2 to 5 from disadvantaged households are provided with informal learning and training that prepare them for school.        

HIPPY is unique in Latin America. Its robust and innovative model uses evidence-based research to adapt to each community’s needs and has a tracked record that demonstrates its tremendous benefits by employing certain strategies, such as the use of role play and the recruitment of locals to become home visitors. It has been extremely successful by adapting to the needs of individual communities, allowing local home visitors and parents to take ownership of the program. Its structured and aged appropriate curriculum could be adjusted in form, content and language to diverse regional, national and cultural contexts, preserving its principles and basic methodology.

HIPPY presents an innovative way to involve disadvantaged families with low educational level in early childhood development, providing them with tools that allow them to enter by playing into the process of educating their children. In Argentina, center-based initiatives are the norm, whereas a home-based and cost-effective program such as HIPPY, which promotes the active role of the families in early childhood is exceptional. Furthermore, HIPPY works wonders in combination with other type of interventions or educational opportunities, complementing the actions of formal education.

Since 2018, the project has been replicated in Chile with excellent results and in April 2020 a pilot has started in Paraguay.

HIPPY programs around the world follow the same model: a developmentally appropriate and structured curriculum, delivered by home visitors from the community, supervised by a professional coordinator, with role play as the method of training, and home visits interspersed with group meetings. These features were developed to allow participation from families who might otherwise not get involved with their children's education, due to lack of education, poverty, social isolation and other issues.

HIPPY Argentina serves vulnerable families from diverse ethnic and geographic groups, with 2 to 5-year-old children. It targets particularly those most at risk because of poverty, limited education and social isolation. The activity packages and storybooks are designed according to the early childhood national curriculum and organized so that families spend 30 minutes per day with their children through play-based learning, during a 30 week period per year.

The use of role play with structured curriculum is one of the most important features of program delivery. The materials are tailored to be accessible to low educated and disadvantaged families, and its contents have been adjusted to facilitate greater cultural resonance. Moreover, they are delivered to the families by local home visitors and the activity packages explained through role play, which is a simple but very effective technique to trained both home visitors and parents.

The local affiliation of home visitors is key to the success of HIPPY, contributing to build confidence and rapport with the families. Often home visitors are mothers who previously were participants in the program.

They main goal of HIPPY is to promote school readiness, thereby reducing gaps in education and attainment. In 2017 a meta-analysis collectively measured the effect sizes from 26 studies about HIPPY. It finds that HIPPY is cost-effective and has significant impact, which is still observable as the child advances through school. The effects of the intervention on language and behavior were profound soon after the intervention, whereas the impact on math skills remains consistent years after. Furthermore, HIPPY improves parents’ self-esteem, confidence in parenting and behaviors, such as reading to their child and reducing abuse.

Additionally, HIPPY works in combination with other type interventions or educational opportunities, such as center-based preschools.

HIPPY utilizes evidence-based research to adapt to each community’s needs and is able to demonstrate tremendous benefits by employing certain strategies, such as the use of role play, recruitment of locals to become home visitors and conducting group meetings. It has been extremely successful by adapting to the needs of individual communities, allowing local home visitors and parents to take ownership of the program.

The research conducted in Argentina supports these findings. 95% of the families consider that the participation in HIPPY positively modified the relationship with their children and the creation of new bonding through the proposed activities. Families refer improvements in communication and language, and in the acquisition of new skills and knowledge. They also denote an increasing interest in reading and that HIPPY has contributed to the children’s transition to formal education.

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317660959_Five_Decades_of_HIPPY_Research_A_Preliminary_Global_Meta-Analysis_and_Review_of_Significant_Outcomes_Final_Report_Five_Decades_of_HIPPY_Research_A_Preliminary_Global_Meta-Analysis_and_Review_of_Signif https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326075674_APRENDIENDO_EN_CASA_-_HIPPY_UNA_ESTRATEGIA_DE_FORTALECIMIENTO_DE_LAS_FUNCIONES_PARENTALES

HIPPY is designed as a weekly two to three-year home-visiting intervention for parents from disadvantaged backgrounds with children aged two to five years old. The goal of the intervention is to promote school readiness, thereby reducing gaps in education and attainment. 

The expected outcomes for children are: a) Learn basic school readiness concepts and skills, b) Acquire additional skills, values and attitudes which help them: learn with concentration and confidence, navigate the home to school transition comfortably, be empathetic to others, and gain a new perspective on their relationship with their parents.

The expected outcomes for parents are: a) Acquire knowledge of child development and appropriate expectations for their children with sensitivity to individual pace and temperament, b) Become confident in their teaching abilities, c) Enrich their children’s home literacy environment: communicating with child’s school, attending school events, advocating for child’s education, volunteering in the school, d) Take on proactive roles when their children enter the formal academic environment, e) Take on new challenges: such as becoming HIPPY home visitors, going back to school, finding employment.

The long-term expected outcomes are: a) Increased odds of graduating high school, b) Increased chances of breaking out of poverty-crime-drugs cycle, c) Increased opportunities for education and employment, leading to: a better educated workforce, higher productivity, reduced crime, lower costs for health, welfare, justice systems, etc., d) Greater social equality.

HIPPY Argentina serves vulnerable families from diverse ethnic and geographic groups, particularly those most at risk because of poverty, limited education and social isolation. In 2019, it reached 2,500 families located in the shanty towns of Buenos Aires and in 8 of the poorest provinces of the country (Chaco, Corrientes, Jujuy, Misiones, Salta, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero y Tucumán).

2020 has been a challenging year in terms of government funding due to deepening of the economic crisis already in place due to the quarantine and isolation policy dictated by the national government in order to reduce the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.

However, we expect to be serving at least the same 2,500 families in 2021 and more than 10,000 families in five years.  

Since 2018, HIPPY has been successfully replicated in Chile and in April 2020 a pilot has started in Paraguay. We expect that the program can be expanded and geographically replicated throughout the territory of Argentina and other Latin American countries. It is a cost-effective and evidence-based initiative, with a proven tracked record. Moreover, HIPPY International is developing an app that has the potential to significantly reduce the delivering costs and make the program more accessible.  

2020 has been a challenging year in terms of government funding due to deepening of the economic crisis, which was already affecting Argentina, due to the quarantine and isolation policy dictated by the national government in order to reduce the spread of coronavirus disease 2019. This has been a challenge for the national expansion of HIPPY.

HIPPY International is developing an app that has the potential to significantly reduce the delivering costs and make the program more accessible.

Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has also made apparent the relevance of home-based formal and informal training and the crucial role of the parents in their children education, thus providing a platform to promote HIPPY in the media and other forums. 

In 2019, HIPPY Argentina team had a national coordinator, plus 2 full-time field officers, a full-time administrator, 20 part-time local coordinators, and 175 home visitors.

The central team at AMIA has been involved in HIPPY for over 10 years, expanding from a pilot project with 40 families in 2009 to 2,500 in 2019, training and monitoring 20 local coordinators and 175 home visitors with excellent results. Moreover, it has been instrumental in the replication of the program in Chile. 

Since 2009, AMIA is a full member of the HIPPY International Network.

Since 2011, it has a partnership with the Buenos Aires City Government to deliver HIPPY to families attending Early Childhood Development Centers in shanty towns.  

In 2016, HIPPY was endorsed by the Social Development Ministry, as part of the Early Childhood National Plan.

In 2019, AMIA signed an agreement with the local government of the City of Santa Fe to start a HIPPY pilot project.   

AMIA also has partnerships with local organizations to deliver the program nationally. 

On one hand, HIPPY provides value to disadvantaged families with children aged two to five years old. The goal of the intervention is to promote school readiness, thereby reducing gaps in education and attainment. HIPPY strengthens communities and families by empowering parents to actively prepare their children for success in school. Families are provided with a set of carefully developed curriculum, books and materials designed to improve their children's cognitive skills, early literacy skills, social/emotional and physical development.

On the other hand, the local, regional and national government and well as other NGOs and private companies, as part of their social corporate responsibility strategies, are potential customers of HIPPY, allowing the program to reach new communities and new families, through the provision of both funding and local expertise as well as facilitating the service deliver at territorial level.   

HIPPY Argentina is financed through donations and grants and public funding. 

We are applying to Solve in order to increase and expand HIPPY Project in Argentina to help more vulnerable families from diverse ethnic and geographic groups, particularly those most at risk because of poverty, limited education and social isolation. In this sense, Solve can help us minimize odds of graduating high school, give children chances of breaking out of poverty-crime-drugs cycle, increase opportunities for education and employment, leading to: a better educated workforce, higher productivity, reduced crime, lower costs for health, welfare, justice systems, etc., and to promote greater social equality.

Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has also made apparent the relevance of home-based formal and informal training and the crucial role of the parents in their children education, thus if we are selected we would be able to provide a platform to promote HIPPY in the media and other forums and to the extend the new app to more families. 

The potential partners for our project could be organizations working on early childhood issues, not only from Argentina but from other countries around the world. These organizations have to be able to replicate the project and the theme we are addressing.

HIPPY Argentina serves vulnerable families from diverse ethnic and geographic groups, with 2 to 5-year-old children. It targets particularly those most at risk because of poverty, limited education and social isolation. 

These families face severe deprivations in their everyday lives, such as food insecurity, lack of proper housing and sanitation, limited access to education and health care, high levels of domestic violence, lack of time and resources to play with their children.

In order to tackle these issues, HIPPY convenes local mothers from these communities to train them as home visitors. They participate in a 3-day induction training, after which they gather weekly with a professional coordinator, to review through role play the activity packages that will be home delivered to the families. Their local affiliation is key to the success of HIPPY, contributing to build confidence and rapport with the families.   

HIPPY involves young women in informal learning and training, providing them an opportunity to develop skills and capabilities to help their children to achieve school readiness and educational success.

Moreover, some of these women are offered the opportunity to be formally trained as HIPPY home visitors, which is a first millstone in their work trajectory. Many decide to complete their primary or high school education after participating in the program, and some continue further training and find qualified jobs.

Additionally, girls aged 2 to 5 from disadvantaged households are provided with informal learning and training that prepare them for school.