The Twedt family reads a book together Tuesday at their Lawrence home. From left are Owen, 2 weeks, mother Becky Twedt, daughter Anna, 4, and father Dan Twedt. The Twedts have participated in the Parents as Teachers program, which provides support and information to parents regarding child development. Thursday is National Parents as Teachers Day.

They work throughout the year to help teach not only young Lawrence children but also the children’s parents.

The Parents as Teachers Program, offered through Lawrence public schools and the Kansas State Department of Education, will celebrate National Parents as Teachers Day on Thursday and with events next week.

PAT provides support and information for parents about how to help make their child’s development a success. Lawrence has five parent educators who are nationally certified and make home visits to work with families.

“We really didn’t have any other friends who had children that we could rely upon,” said Dan Twedt, of Lawrence. “We’d like some guidance beyond going to a book or something like that.”

Twedt and his wife, Becky, benefited from having a parent educator work with them and their daughter, Anna, who is 4. They are now starting the process with their 2-week-old son, Owen.

Lawrence PAT will host two events known as Playgroup Open House, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Thursday and Nov. 17 at the East Heights Early Childhood Family Center, 1430 Haskell Ave. Organizers also hosted one Tuesday.

Gayle Anderson, the Lawrence PAT coordinator, said parents, families, legislators, businesses and school administrators are invited to attend to learn more about the program.

For families, PAT is free and voluntary and offers the home visits, screenings, group meetings and play groups and other parenting resources from prenatal care to age 3.

“It’s essential to provide those opportunities for other parents, to meet with other parents,” Anderson said. “We don’t want parents of a newborn to feel isolated, and so we provide those opportunities for interaction.”

It started in Kansas in 1990 and is mostly state funded as long as local districts agree to a partial match. The Lawrence program served an average of 300 families per year, most of which are first-time parents. Both parents work in nearly half of the homes.

More than 80 families are on the waiting list for a home visit, but they can take advantage of all other resources, including calling parent educators with questions, Anderson said.