Support families in our community today.
AVANCE’s holistic, multi-faceted, 2-generation programs yield measurable learning outcomes while building community and social capital. Our hallmark program is the Parent-Child Education Program (PCEP), an evidenced-based model of early intervention that focuses on the interdependent welfare of children, families, and the community. In addition to the core PCEP program, AVANCE-Austin offers additional programs including AVANCE to College, Triple P - Positive Parenting Practices, English as A Second Language, Summer Nutrition & Literacy, AVANCE Innovative Moms and Dads (AIMs) and Mamas Avanzando Alumni Program.
AVANCE Parent-Child Education Program (PCEP)
Parents as All-Important First Teachers
The best way to ensure children succeed in life is to involve parents in their child’s education, especially before age three.
AVANCE-Austin leverages our impact on children. We educate parents about their role as their child’s first and most important teachers. Parents learn how to turn their home into a laboratory of discovery, creating a cognitively rich environment that facilitates developmental milestones. Our parenting activities include parent education, toy making classes, community resource speakers, home visitation, parent-child interactive literacy activities, and leadership training. When parents master the typical parenting behaviors, their children excel in school and life. This holistic approach integrates lecture with hands-on experience to instill our educational message deep into the fabric of our families’ homes. All this happens while children become school ready in Early Child Development classes.
Parent Sessions
Peque y Yo Class (1 Hour)
Peque y Yo is designed to empower parents as their child's primary educator and enhance family interactions. During this hour-long learning lab, the children's interests drive the activities, with parents following their lead, fostering confidence and engagement. During these sessions, staff guide parents on how to support their children's learning through meaningful interactions and play, such as building serve and return skills. Each session concludes with a literacy-focused group activity that offers ideas for continuing learning at home and reinforces the parent-child bond. The primary goal of Peque y Yo is to enhance and enrich the parent-child relationship through collaborative learning and interaction.
Parenting Education Class (1 Hour)
While exploring child growth and development, parents learn they are their child’s first and most important teacher, and home is the first classroom. Sometimes, parents feel unqualified to fill this role. AVANCE breaks that myth! Parents are given tools and techniques to understand their child’s Social, Emotional, Cognitive and Physical growth. We show how everyday situations demand strong reading, writing, science, and math skills. With this knowledge, parents often become leaders in their school and community.
Toy Making Class (1 Hour)
The purpose of the toy making class is to teach participants how to create educational toys from inexpensive, readily available materials such as balls, baby dolls, or books from file folders. The toys are used to promote bonding, encourage educational play, and serve as the basis for monthly home visits. Through group activities, this class serves to create a peer support group. While parents are cutting or sewing, they are talking, comparing notes on their child’s development and offering a reassuring voice for each other.
Community Resources (1 Hour)
AVANCE-Austin is a remarkable program, but we need your help. Our three-hour speaker program connects parents with community resources. Each week, parents can attend a presentation on health and nutrition, financial literacy, health and wellness, and other topics that meet our parents' needs.
Children’s Sessions
Early Childhood Education
AVANCE provides a stimulating and nurturing educational environment for children up to three years old while their parents attend informative parenting sessions. Children learn the school ready concepts such as letters, numbers, figures, colors, and more. These activities are designed to stimulate their five senses as well as their fine and gross motor skills to prepare them for pre-school. The goal is for our children to start school a step ahead. Pre-school teachers and principals often remark how AVANCE children stand apart!
Home Visits
AVANCE-Austin conducts monthly home visits with each family. The visits offer parents one-on-one skill-based training based on their needs. During the home visit, parents have an opportunity to demonstrate their learned parenting skills through play and appropriate environmental stimulation. This observation gives staff members better insight into the family’s individual needs. Case management offers families information and referrals based on their individualized needs.
Support Services
AVANCE-Austin provides food and transportation services to ensure that those lacking these necessities can participate.