Staff and teachers at University City Children's Center (UCCC) have completed home visits with two classrooms and are working on our third. We are having a great time and wanted to share a little bit about our experiences so far.

First of all, I want to express how enjoyable it has been to be able to visit our children and families in their home. I know that making the time was not always easy, but we are grateful for the opportunity to get to know our children and families in this way.

Here are some of the things that I have learned along the way.

Make sure to check for the most up to date address before heading to the home visit. Luckily when we showed up at the wrong house, no one was home!
The Supernova children are great hosts. We were often offered cookies, snacks, and even a taste of dinner when visiting these children and their families.
UCCC families live all over the greater St. Louis area. I knew that we had families from more than 20 zip codes at UCCC, but it has been really enlightening to see what that really means (not to mention how long some families spend in the car with their child or children each day!).
I love being a part of these home visits to get a tiny glimpse into the wonderful family rituals and routines that are a part of the lives of the children at UCCC. What a great opportunity to get an even richer understanding of each child at UCCC!

Ms. Hitomi from the Supernova classroom also wanted to share some of her experiences. Here is what she had to say.

"During the home visits, topics that had not come up in conversations in the classroom popped up all the time—one child is deathly afraid of dogs, but we would have had no idea unless it came up during the visit! Some impending changes to the family were obvious, like a moving pod outside of their home; we could really delve into the issues surrounding moving like school districts, summer plans, and transitions for both the child and the family." and

"There was an undeniable excitement in the air for the Supernovas for the month of January. Children were constantly asking, 'When are you coming to my house?' It was such a privilege for us to be welcomed into so many homes with open arms and to be able to reinforce the relationships with our families. We hope that this enthusiasm doesn’t fade away, and that the visits helped the families feel engaged and excited about their child’s days at UCCC."

We look forward to continuing our home visiting adventure and look forward to getting feedback from the families about their experience.

Post by Jessica Sims

Adventures in Home Visiting