Review

Individualization Based on Interests: Partners for a Healthy Baby provides prompts for families to observe and learn about their child's interests (e.g., "I can tell my baby is interested in something when ..."). A few resources also mention the importance of following a child's lead during play. For example, "A New Way to Read" describes how to follow a child's interests in books. However, the curriculum does not include explicit discussion of how to individualize or modify the home visit based on an individual child's interests. In addition, the home visit planning process is led by the home visitor, with little input from families about the child's interests.

Individualization Based on Strengths and Needs: Partners for a Healthy Baby provides minimal guidance on how to tailor home visits to be responsive to individual children's strengths and needs (e.g., the "User's Guide" says, "Inquire about any immediate needs or concerns"). The home visit planning process does not include collaborative planning with a family to determine how to individualize the home visit based on the strengths and needs of the child. Additionally, parent handouts that are designed to support children's development (e.g., the "Watch Me Grow!" series) do not provide guidance on how to tailor activities to individual children's strengths and needs.

Individualization Based on Interests: Baby TALK provides some guidance for engaging the home visitor and parent in learning about the child's interests. For example, materials like the Encounter Protocol promote a reflective process that includes open-ended questions (e.g., "Where does your child like to explore? What are some of his favorite books? Does he seem to like sorting and grouping objects?") In addition, there is a Parent Interview form that guides the home visitor to ask the parent about their child's favorite play things. Overall, the curriculum's approach emphasizes the importance of implementing the activities responsively. However, there is no specific guidance on how to tailor activities based on children's individual interests.

Individualization Based on Strengths and Needs: The curriculum provides general guidance for how to tailor home visits based on the strengths and needs of individual children. It discusses the importance of implementing the activities responsively, being sensitive to the development of the child. The Encounter Protocols include a structure and prompts to engage the home visitor and parents in "Observation" (e.g., "How does the toddler show frustration?"), to notice "Developmental Behaviors" (e.g., "Elicit or note expected behaviors and the meaning parents are making of the behavior."), and to consider this information when planning the next family visit. Several resources in the curriculum discuss individual differences (e.g., Temperament). However, the curriculum materials lack specific guidance on how the home visitor can tailor the monthly learning activities to children's individual strengths and needs.    

Individualization Based on Interests: The curriculum provides specific guidance throughout various resources on how to tailor home visits to build on the interests of individual children. For example, in "Understanding How the Young Child Learns," children's interests are emphasized as key motivators for their learning. The "The Child's Interests Drive Learning" section encourages parents to learn about their child's interests and follow their lead to support their ongoing learning and development. The "Activity Pages" remind parents to follow the child's lead and continue if the child is interested but stop the activity if the child is not.

Individualization Based on Strengths and Needs: The curriculum provides specific guidance embedded in its resources on how to tailor home visits to be responsive to individual children's strengths and needs. For example, "Supporting Learning" describes how parents can scaffold children's learning based on where the child is developmentally: "By scaffolding learning, parents support their child according to her level of skill development, gradually helping her less and less as she gains greater understanding and mastery." In addition, many of the "Activity Pages," such as "I Spy: Describing Objects and Practicing Conversation" and "The Echo Game: Listening, Remembering, and Repeating," provide prompts and suggestions for individualizing the parent-child activity, depending on the child's developmental level.

Individualization Based on Interests: The curriculum provides specific guidance embedded throughout the materials on how to individualize both the overall home visit and the learning experiences based on children's interests. For example, the "Personal Visit Planning Guide" offers guidance on adapting activities based on a child's interests (e.g., "Based on the interests of the child or culture of the family, parent educators may adapt a parent-child activity by substituting some materials."). In addition, "Supporting Learning in the Early Years" highlights strategies for adapting activities based on a child's interests.

Individualization Based on Strengths and Needs: Parents as Teachers provides specific guidance on how to tailor home visits to be responsive to individual children's strengths and needs. For example, "The Benefits of Activity Pages" includes specific strategies for adapting activities based on the child's strengths and needs (e.g., "Consider the child's current developmental level and choose an activity that interests the child in order to enhance existing skills and encourage emerging ones."). Additionally, "Supporting Learning in the Early Years" describes a process of observing children to meet them where they are developmentally and adapting activities accordingly. Moreover, many of the "Activity Pages" describe scaffolding strategies to support children at varying levels of development.

Individualization Based on Interests: The curriculum provides minimal guidance on tailoring home visits to the interests of children. The curriculum manual offers a few prompts for home visitors to ask families what children might be interested in (e.g., questions about a child's favorite pretend game). However, few activities in the Learning Pods suggest ways to plan or adapt activities based on children's interests, and the overall home visit planning process does not provide guidance on incorporating children's interests.

Individualization Based on Strengths and Needs: The curriculum provides some suggestions for adapting activities in a home visit based on the strengths and needs of children. For example, the module "Unique Needs: Being a Parent of a Child with Special Needs" of Growing Great Families provides broad suggestions for modifying specific sections of the curriculum based on a child's development. One suggestion for the "Play-by-Play" language development activities in the curriculum includes exploring and supporting different kinds of communication a child might use when that child does not use spoken words. However, the majority of activities described in the curriculum do not include support on how to tailor the home visit based on the strengths and needs of individual children.

Individualization Based on Interests: Some activities in the curriculum manuals suggest ways to adapt activities based on children's interests, particularly around selecting materials for activities (e.g., an activity on naming objects encourages parents to use items that the child might be interested in). However, the curriculum provides minimal guidance throughout the materials on how to tailor home visits based on the interests of children.

Individualization Based on Strengths and Needs: The curriculum provides some suggestions for adapting activities in a home visit based on the strengths and needs of children. For example, the module "Unique Needs: Being a Parent of a Child with Special Needs" of Growing Great Families provides broad suggestions for modifying specific sections of the curriculum based on a child's development. For example, one suggestion for the "Play-by-Play" language development activities in the curriculum includes exploring and supporting different kinds of communication a child might use when the child does not use spoken words. However, the majority of activities described in the curriculum do not include guidance on how to tailor the home visit based on the strengths and needs of individual children.