outreach or home visits
A Peep session with an individual family can happen anywhere and at any time, either virtually /online or face-to-face.
Home visits
Peep home visits tend to happen when a family has a new baby or moves into the area, or when their child is due to start attending an early years setting or school. Some Peep-trained practitioners focus their visit on introducing the family to the Peep programme, while others incorporate Peep into their usual health, nursery or family support visit.
Visits aim to:
- start getting to know the family
- provide information about Peep and other local groups or services
- discuss and model a simple activity and book-share, involving everyone
- offer follow-up contact, or put the family in touch with other relevant services.
A few resources might be offered to the family, such as:
- leaflets about local services - including times, locations and contact details for Peep and other local groups
- Learning Together leaflets with information and ideas about aspects of child development that were discussed (e.g. 'Sharing books with babies', or 'Mark making' for toddlers)
- a picture book or a homemade book (made during the visit)
On-going outreach
Sometimes a practitioner and parent agree that the family would benefit from a few 1:1 Peep sessions, around parent-child interaction and supporting the child's learning and development. The practitioner and parent/carer agree on the focus of the sessions, based on the family’s needs and interests. The practitioner can use relevant Learning Together topics to plan future visits. Families often go on to attend Peep and/or other local groups or stay and plays, as well as gaining confidence and ideas for supporting their children’s learning in day-to-day life.
‘Having a visit at home helped me come along to a group, made it personal’
Feedback from a mother with two children aged 4 and 1 years old, whose husband (their father) was in jail. The mother cannot speak English well, she was isolated and depressed, and mostly, she said, she spent time with her children without interaction and play. She had four 1:1 Peep sessions at home.
‘This Peep home programme changed my life. I felt I was somewhere lost and this gave me support to trust myself and each week I learnt new games and ideas and slowly I started learning to believe I and my situation could change. Now I am beginning to understand my children. I did not know how language develops, reading stories, singing poems and just talking could make a big difference in our lives. Dual language books like ‘Little Beaver and the Echo' made a huge impact in my isolated life. Peep songbook and CD also reduced my loneliness. I did not know that music and play could play such a positive role in your soul. Making playdough, playing with treasure basket objects and drawing on paper, going out with my children gave lots of happiness to my children and learning to me. I listen to my children’s voices now, and my own too. I would like to learn the English language as well as driving, for me and for my children's mobilisation.’