My name is Yahi and I am a mother of two amazing boys ages ten and five. I am honoured to have the opportunity to share my experience as a HIPPY mother and HIPPY Home Visitor for the HIPPY Toronto Downtown site.
The HIPPY program has given me confidence in my role as a mother and an immigrant woman.
At home, HIPPY is the time of special moments when we learn, have fun, and grow together. HIPPY is more than just a package of structured activities for my family. It is a whole experience that will last forever! I can better understand how my children think and learn. They now both perform above what is expected for their age – and even better! Thanks to HIPPY and its Adopt-a-Reader campaign, they have also developed a genuine love for books. We got to the point of reading up to ten books every night because they just don’t want to stop reading!
But parenting for me and learning for them wasn’t always as easy as it is now…
My oldest son, Arian, had learning difficulties in kindergarten due to his hearing problems and speech delay. Thanks to the constant practice and learning routine established at home, he overcame his challenges. Last year, as a Grade 4 student, he represented his class in a literacy competition in French, his third language! I couldn’t feel prouder!
My youngest son, Derek, has also shown big improvement, especially in his behaviour. When he joined kindergarten, he was not following all instructions and got easily distracted. But shortly after I had started to do HIPPY activities with him five times a week, he was changing. His teacher noticed that he had improved. At our second parent-teacher interview, she told me that she could tell that I was doing a great job as a mom. I felt super proud!
Knowing that both of my boys thrive at school thanks to the HIPPY program makes me a happy and confident mother.
I have always thought that if we want a better world, we should invest in our children. However, HIPPY has taught me that in order to raise children who are happy, healthy, and prepared to succeed in their lives, their parents must also be prepared, because children not only learn from what they are told but from what they see and what they are exposed to every single day.
While working as a HIPPY Home Visitor in the past two years, I have observed how HIPPY works and benefits other families at different levels. I have seen the program’s empowering process in action. HIPPY believes mothers can do their best in shaping their children’s future by being their first and best teachers.
Being a recipient of the Mothers Matter Centre’s 2018 Outstanding HIPPY Home Visitor of the Year Award and a confident mom who makes her children proud gives me a solid trust that I, an immigrant woman, can lead a successful life for me and my family. Because now I really believe that I can do it!       Â