Research has shown that children from low-income families hear 30 million fewer words by the time they are four-years-old than kids from middle-class families.

This directly impacts brain development and can put low-income children at a great disadvantage when they begin kindergarten. These children do not have the tools they need to succeed, so they begin school a critical step behind their higher income peers. Consequently, they are at high risk of having significant difficulty in school - not just in kindergarten but throughout their academic careers.

Parent-Child Home Program

Overview
More than 40 years ago, the Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) was created to address this significant learning gap among low-income children. PCHP is a research-based and research-validated early literacy and school readiness program that serves families with young children. Atlantic Street Center is proud to be one of just a few organizations in Washington State to offer the Parent-Child Home Program.

About the Program
PCHP is a home-based program for parents and their two- and three-year-old children that promotes learning and language development. Home visitors visit families twice a week for two years and help children gain the literacy skills necessary to enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Concurrently, the home visitor works with parents to help them discover their role as their child's most important teacher and prepare them to actively participate in their child's education. Initially, the home visitor models behavior designed to help the child gain language and literacy skills and later supports the parent in taking over this role.

PCHP History in Seattle
In partnership with the New School and with funding from the Washington Women's Foundation, in 2004 Atlantic Street Center brought the first Parent Child Home Program to Western Washington. The program was so successful that in mid-2005, the Business Partnership for Early Learning (BPEL) agreed to fund the program for five years. Atlantic Street Center worked in collaboration with Neighborhood House (also funded by BPEL) and Southwest Youth and Family Services (funded by the City of Seattle) to support over 200 children annually. Outcomes were so solid that when BPEL’s funding wrapped up, United Way of King County stepped in to fund these three programs into the foreseeable future and has even expanded the program.

Contact us to learn more about our Early Learning Program.
Please contact us at (206) 329-2050 or Email us.