HIPPY MISSION:

In a meeting of representatives of HIPPY programs around

the world, the mission of HIPPY was defined as follows:

HIPPY is dedicated to:

Increasing the chances of positive early school

experience among children from educationally and
economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Empowering parents to view themselves as primary

educators of their children.

Creating an educational environment in the home that

encourages literacy.

Fostering parental involvement in school and

community life.

Providing parents with the opportunity of becoming

paraprofessionals in their own community.

Helping paraprofessionals develop skills and work

experience needed to compete successfully for other
jobs in labor markets.

Stimulating the knowledge development of the child.

Improving interaction between parents and their

children.

Teaching parents and children the job of learning.

Breaking through the social isolation of the parents.

Last Updated 3/15/2017

 HISTORY OF HIPPY
The first experimental HIPPY program was set up by a
team headed by Professor Avima D. Lombard at the National
Council of Jewish Women Research Institute for Innovation in
Education of the School of Education at the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem. Initiated in 1969 as a research
project, it was designed to examine the feasibility and
effectiveness of home-based educational intervention with
parents and their preschool children from educationally
disadvantaged sectors of Israeli society. The idea behind
HIPPY was that changes in home instruction patterns could
effectively improve children's school learning achievements,
a theory based on the belief in the power of home
socialization.

The project passed from its research phase into a

country-wide operational phase in 1975, when the Israel
Ministry of Education and Culture, impressed with the results
of the pilot project, sponsored HIPPY within the framework of
the national education welfare program. This program was
aimed at localities with large numbers of educationally
disadvantaged children and school dropouts.

While the government covers the costs of the HIPPY

program and provides the administrative infrastructure at
the community level, the Research Institute at the Hebrew
University maintains program quality, which includes
coordination on regional and national levels, training of local
and regional staff, and systematic input. Since its adoption
into the national educational welfare program, HIPPY has
grown rapidly. Currently about 6,000 families participate in
HIPPY annually, in about 690 urban and rural communities.
These numbers are a direct indication of the popularity of
HIPPY with client communities.

In 1980, the Research Institute sponsored a seminar on

HIPPY, which was attended by experts in early childhood

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development and education from around the world. The
consensus of the participants was that HIPPY could be
implemented in a variety of settings in different countries
around the world.

In 1982, with support from the Ford Foundation, the first

International HIPPY Workshop was held in Israel. Over 30
participants from around the world gathered to learn about
the HIPPY model and to assess its applicability in their own
countries or regions.

The first HIPPY International program began in Turkey in

1983, as part of a board research project of the Bogazici
University psychology department. Following three years of
post-research implementation, the program closed for lack of
funding.

HIPPY was first introduced to the United States in 1984.

In 1991-1992 there were 58 programs, serving about 8,000
families in operation throughout 16 states. HIPPY programs
are located in both rural and urban communities. Some are
affiliated with schools, others, with community-based
organizations. Program materials are available in English,
Spanish and some Asian. HIPPY U.S.A. was established as a
not-for-profit educational corporation in 1991 and provides
all training and guidance services for programs in the United
States.

Last Updated 3/15/2017