Aboriginal HIPPY in Canada

|Helping build strong and vibrant Indigenous Nations by strengthening Aboriginal communities, family by family.

Aboriginal HIPPY works with Indigenous families and communities to build positive experiences in education and to strengthen their capacity to support learning. The program serves land-based and urban Aboriginal families across the country, particularly those impacted by the legacy of residential schools, poverty, parents’ limited education, and social isolation.

Since 2002, Aboriginal HIPPY in Canada has had great success in Indigenous Nations and communities, utilizing a culturally relevant curriculum to maximize the educational and holistic potential of Aboriginal children.

Click Here for List of all HIPPY Site Locations

Our Mission

To work efficiently and collaboratively with stakeholders to provide culturally competent, high-quality Aboriginal early childhood training and support to Aboriginal parents, caregivers, families, and communities across Canada.

Principle & Values

Indigenous knowledge and learning as a foundation of our work
Trust to foster life-long learning rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing
Peaceful listening to support healthy dialogue and decision-making
Integrity of the Aboriginal process and decision-making
Operation as a community-driven organization
Cooperation through collaborative sharing, responsibility, and partnering
Sustainability by responsible planning for future generations

The Need for Aboriginal HIPPY

According to Statistics Canada, 52% of young adults (20-24) living on reserve did not graduate from high school.

Because the history of colonialism has affected Aboriginal families and communities in Canada, Aboriginal families have only cautiously received educational institutions and curriculum.

The probability of living in poverty increases with less formal education. As poverty is integrally linked to low literacy, a concerted effort must be directed toward increasing and improving education outcomes and decreasing high school drop-out rates for Aboriginal children. And, efforts to undo the negative impact of colonization, including residential school and child welfare practices, must be enhanced.

Aboriginal HIPPY has created a setting for Aboriginal families to re-establish and embrace their traditional roles as parents and teachers of their children. As a community-driven and community-based organization, Aboriginal HIPPY is an expression of Aboriginal families’ and communities’ vision and strength to maintain deep cultural knowledge and passion by sharing teachings of their ancestors through its incorporation into education and learning. Aboriginal HIPPY provides the building blocks for Nation-building by teaching children while simultaneously empowering caregivers.

How HIPPY Works

01. Aboriginal parents are hired and provided accredited training to deliver HIPPY in the home.

02. Aboriginal families with children (3–5) are recruited by Home Visitors.

03. Aboriginal families commit to participate for 30-40 weeks a year for a minimum of two years.

04. Weekly home visits teach parents to deliver curriculum to their children through role-play.

05. Home Visitors spends approximately 1.5 hours with the parent each week.

06. Each Home Visitor is employed by the community to work with 10-12 families.

07. Aboriginal parents work 15-20 minutes a day with their child.

08. All of the instructional materials are prepared at a grade 3 reading level.

09. Aboriginal children graduate from the HIPPY program ready to start school.

Benefits of the Aboriginal HIPPY program

As a cost-effective approach, the HIPPY model removes cultural and social barriers to participation for Aboriginal parents wanting educational enrichment for their preschool children. Supporting Aboriginal HIPPY’s efforts will contribute to:

Measuring Success

Aboriginal HIPPY is an evidence-based program that utilizes a performance management system referred to as “Efforts To Outcomes”. This system consists of a framework of tools, processes and training to help Site Coordinators and Home Visitors record and assess their families’ progress, challenges and successes.

Mothers Matter Centre is a high-performance organization committed to a comprehensive performance management process (PMP) that holds itself accountable to its stakeholders, funders and, most important, to the families it serves. We have moved beyond counting outputs. We are all about change – about social impact – about ensuring the lives of the families with whom we work are, in fact, better than before we started working together. This tool gives Coordinators real-time data they need to adjust programming strategies to better serve their clients. Most important, the performance management approach helps Mothers Matter Centre measure and understand the process of change.

HIPPY Children Demonstrate:

Improved academic performance in comparison to similarly situated children with positive outcomes for school readiness, reading ability, and school behaviour.
Improved school readiness skills, school performance, English skills, self-esteem, and self-confidence.

HIPPY Mothers Report:

Improved parent-child relationships, greater self-confidence, reduced isolation, and improved opportunities for expanding social networks and social support.
Acquisition of skills necessary to work with their children, confidence in their role as their child’s teacher, improved language skills, greater participation in their children’s school, and more time spent with their children on learning activities.

HIPPY Home Visitors Benefit From:

Employment (often first-time) for mothers who typically experience multiple employment barriers.
Workplace training on HIPPY curriculum, community resource network systems, rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship, and employment skills.
Goal-setting and job-search support to transition Home Visitors to other jobs and / or higher education following their three-year work / learn position.
Home Visitors, once isolated mothers, are now highly employable members of society who contribute to the economic well-being of their families and communities.