• A comprehensive manual prepared by experienced Canadian experts in early childhood education, early intervention, child development, home visiting and family support.
• A customization process that allows local communities the opportunity to ensure the manual and training reflect local philosophies, programs, and systems supporting families with young children.
• 20 ready to deliver modules with training plans, activities, and handouts already prepared.
• References to additional information and resources.
• Diverse learning formats including small and large group work, expert presentation, video analysis, and case studies.
• A participatory approach to training trainers and family home visitors.

• To enhance and develop the skills of those training family home visitors.
• To build local capacity to train family home visitors on an ongoing basis.
• To affirm the importance of training for family home visitors.
• To raise the level of knowledge and skills of professionals that work with at-risk families with young children and the role of a home visitor.
• Affirm the valuable role family home visitors have in the lives of families.

A CURRICULUM FOR TRAINING FAMILY HOME VISITORS

1. An Introduction to Family Home Visiting
   Focus:
   • Vision, goals and guidelines for the home visiting program
   • Services and resources of the host agency
   • The beginnings of team building
   • Concepts of health promotion, prevention and early intervention



2. Conducting Home Visits
   Focus:
   • The role of the Family Home Visitor
   • Cultural sensitivity and understanding of the cultural barriers people face in Canada; strategies to address the issue
   • The importance of confidentiality
   • Safety issues during home visits
   • Strategies for increased personal safety



3. Components of the Helping Relationship
   Focus:
   • The important elements in relationship building, i.e. trust, respect, support, communication
   • Steps to communicating effectively and problem solving
   • How verbal and non-verbal communication affects relationship building
   • Establishment of boundaries and strategies to maintain boundaries



4. Hard to Reach Families
   Focus:
   • Barriers to building a trusting relationship
   • Strategies to engage families reluctant to home visiting
   • Adolescent parenting
   • Key issues faced by teens and supportive strategies



5. Goal Setting – A Strategy for Change
   Focus:
   • What is realistic and appropriate goal setting with parents
   • The process of goal setting and planning with families
   • Principles of collaborative goal setting
   • How to support parents in building their self-esteem



6. Reviewing Families and Supervision
   Focus:
   • The importance of sharing information with the supervisor and the team
   • The role of the supervisor in reflective supervision
   • What kinds of issues and concerns to bring to the supervisor
   • Accurate record keeping
   • Signs of a successful home visit



7. The Prenatal Period
   Focus:
   • Components of healthy prenatal nutrition
   • Common physical changes during pregnancy
   • Physical symptoms/discomforts that require medical attention
   • Fetal growth and development
   • Strategies for supporting a family during pregnancy
   • Lifestyle and environmental issues affecting reproduction and the developing fetus



8. Postpartum Care and Breastfeeding
   Focus:
   • Common physical and emotional aspects of the postpartum period
   • Diversity of beliefs and approaches related to the postpartum period and breastfeeding
   • Myths, misconceptions and benefits of breastfeeding
   • Postpartum care and breastfeeding – a family affair



9. Attachment
   Focus:
   • The meaning of attachment and how it affects child development
   • How to recognize whether or not the parent-child attachment is going well
   • Promoting a secure attachment



10. Parenting the Newborn
    Focus:
    • Characteristics and capabilities of newborn babies
    • Common concerns that parents of newborns express
    • Helpful hints to care for a baby in the early months
    • Strategies to support a warm relationship between baby and parents



11. Child Growth and Development
    Focus:
    • Developmental milestones in the areas of: CognitionSpeech and languageFine and gross motorSocial and emotionalVision and hearingSexual development
    • Cognition
    • Speech and language
    • Fine and gross motor
    • Social and emotional
    • Vision and hearing
    • Sexual development
    • Planning developmentally appropriate activities
    • Importance of language in the early years
    • Signs of vision and hearing problems
    • Supporting families where there is a child with special needs



12. Healthy Nutrition for Young Children
    Focus:
    • Safe and successful bottle feeding
    • Sequence of solid foods
    • Behavioural aspects of nutrition
    • Strategies for families to meet nutritional needs



13. Parenting Young Children
    Focus:
    • Different parenting styles and their impact on children
    • Differences in temperament and how it affects child behaviour and the parent-child relationship
    • Understanding and guiding children's behaviour
    • Common issues for parents of young children, e.g., fears, aggression, sibling rivalry
    • Promoting positive parent-child interactions



14. Child Health
    Focus:
    • Symptoms of illness or poor health
    • Appropriate referrals to a doctor or dentist
    • Recommended schedule of immunization
    • Differences in approaches to childhood illnesses
    • Dental care for young children



15. Injury Prevention
    Focus:
    • Safety hazards and safety practices for injury prevention for infants, toddlers and preschoolers
    • Tips for home safety
    • Tips for safety in an outdoor play area
    • Information on product safety
    • Tips for talking to parents about child safety and injury prevention



16. Child Abuse – Recognizing and Reporting
    Focus:
    • Definition of and factors contributing to child abuse
    • Indicators that a child may have been abused or witnessed family violence
    • Documentation of indicators of abuse
    • What to do if a child discloses abuse
    • Feelings that interfere with mandatory reporting
    • Provincial/Territorial child protection legislation
    • Reporting procedures and responsibilities
    • Supporting a family where abuse has occurred



17. Family Violence
    Focus:
    • The cycle of violence and barriers to leaving an abusive relationship
    • Responding and supporting women who are victims of abuse
    • Indicators of children who witness family violence
    • Review of reporting procedure



18. Coping with Stress
    Focus:
    • Common sources and symptoms of stress
    • Ways of reducing, responding to and coping with stress
    • How to recognize and cope with the stress of being a family home visitor



19. Community Resources
    Focus:
    • Availability of local community resources
    • Services offered
    • Local activities, events and cultural organizations
    • Role of the family home visitor as part of the network of community resources for families with young children