Parents as Teachers helps organizations and professionals work with parents during the critical early years of their children's lives, from conception to kindergarten - and the results are powerful.

We develop curricula.

Grounded in the latest research, Parents as Teachers develops curricula that support a parent's role in promoting school readiness and healthy development of children. Our approach is intimate and relationship-based. We embrace learning experiences that are relevant and customized for the individual needs of each family and child. As a result, individuals and organizations who use our curricula benefit from our understanding of the evolving needs of today's families and children.

We train professionals.

Our organization is successful only when those we support are able to effectively meet the needs of the children and families they serve. Leading health, education and social service organizations and professionals seek out Parents as Teachers curricula and training because of its flexibility to easily integrate with other services they provide. We know our partners serve broad and diverse populations, so our training addresses the developmental needs of any child, including those most vulnerable. We offer providers practical, hands-on applications for parents in real-world situations.

We advocate for children and families.

We are a champion for early intervention and parental involvement and serve as a unified voice for early childhood education and healthy child development. We raise awareness and shape policy around evidence-based practices that support the importance of enhancing school readiness by reaching children during the critical, formative years of life.

We set high standards.

Our commitment to research and quality drives our organization. We are committed to evidenced-based research in order to offer the most relevant information and tools to early childhood development and education providers. The efforts of our work help our partners positively impact children during their most critical, early years of life.

The Brazelton Touchpoints Center was founded in 1996 by T. Berry Brazelton, MD, and colleagues and is based in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. Together with families, providers and communities, the Brazelton Touchpoints Center develops and applies knowledge of early childhood development to practice and policy through professional and organizational development, evaluation, advocacy and awareness and serving as a resource for proven practices

"When we strengthen families, we ultimately strengthen the community. Our goal is that parents everywhere work with supportive providers, feel confident in their parenting role, and form strong, resilient attachments with their children. To help achieve this, providers must be responsive to parents, knowledgeable about child development, and eager to see every parent succeed." - T. Berry Brazelton, MD

The vision of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center® is that all children grow up to be adults who can cope with adversity, strengthen their communities, constructively participate in civic life and nurture the next generation to be prepared to do the same.

Touchpoints practice guides the work of Maine Families visitors so they can discover together with parents the care and support their child needs to be healthy and ready to succeed.