You know how I’m fond of saying kids don’t come with an instruction manual? Still true. 

But they do come with a helpline. It’s called Parents as Teachers. 

And in Missouri, all parents have full and free access to the program, which sends trained and certified parent educators to visit children birth to 3 years old in their own homes. (Kansas has the program, too, but it's been in Missouri longer.)

Wow. Think about that. Free parenting tips and advice from a real, trained person in your own home. 

It’s little wonder Missouri has a different attitude about Parents as Teachers. The program began in the state in the 1970s, when educators realized kids were starting kindergarten with vastly different readiness levels. Some had been in preschool while others hadn’t. Some came from families with college-educated parents while others didn’t. 

Parents as Teachers was seen as a way to bring all parents – their children’s first teachers – up to speed on what was going on developmentally with their children from birth on. Studies showed then and continue to show now that parental involvement in their children’s educational development makes for better readers and better students.  

Four districts, including the Independence School District, piloted the program in 1981. By 1985, the state began funding the program for each of the state’s public school districts. And now, the program exists in all 50 states and several other countries. More than 3 million children have participated in the program since its inception. 

Some people think Parents as Teachers  exists only for at-risk parents or those with children who have special needs. But it’s for everyone. And let’s face it – most parents are like me, woefully unprepared to be in charge of a little human.  

I mean, you spend nine months growing the kid, go to the hospital, experience excruciating pain and insurmountable joy, and come home with a tightly bundled 8-pound thing who changes before your very eyes. You spend every spare minute reading T. Berry Brazelton and What to Expect: The First Year and every parenting magazine you can get your hands on, and you’re so overwhelmed and confused that you’re practically immobile. 

And then you get a visit from your parent educator, who calms your fears and plays with the baby and explains that it’s normal for children to eat their boogers but that you’re correct to be concerned about your child’s hearing if he’s had a lot of ear infections. 

It’s like having your own personal Mary Poppins. 

Some might scoff and say that Parents as Teachers is fluff, that it’s not necessary in this age of daycare. Our parents didn’t have it, so why do we need it? 

Well, I say it never hurts to have another set of eyes looking at your child, particularly eyes trained to spot problems that can be corrected with early intervention. 

So I was surprised to learn that across the Kansas City area’s Missouri school districts, enrollment in Parents as Teachers is down 4 percent. No one seems quite sure why that is. 

Enrolling in Parents as Teachers should be a no-brainer. It's free. Why wouldn’t someone want to participate? Why wouldn’t you want to make sure your child is ready for school, especially in this age of high-stakes testing and the crazy accountability methods being used in schools? 

I called the Parents as Teachers National Center, which is in St. Louis, and asked if the staff there knew why the enrollment numbers had dropped. 

It could be a matter of funding, said Pat Simpson, marketing director at the national center. Most districts find that when they allocate more money to the program, they can hire more parent educators and reach more kids and families. Some districts only give their programs the money provided to each district by the state, while others provide more.  

Last week, Parents as Teachers advocates and educators from across Missouri converged on Jefferson City to create awareness of the program and to lobby their legislators for support. But Gov. Jay Nixon has proposed level funding, not an increase, for Parents as Teachers in the state budget. 

And of course, that money is still at risk as legislators wrangle over who gets what during this tight, tight budget year. 

But Simpson doesn’t really think these budget issues are affecting the enrollment numbers. In Missouri, she said, it’s probably more a matter of complacency. The program has been around almost 30 years. Missourians take it for granted. 

“When I talk to people in other states, they’re just amazed that parents here can have home visits,” Simpson said. “All they have to do is call their local district and sign up.” 

I’m a big Parents as Teachers fan, even though I once spanked my errant child in front of the parent educator. She did not hotline me, and she was as horrified as I was at both my actions and those of my oldest child, who threw a saucepan at me, striking me on the ear; he was angry because the parent educator was paying attention to his sister at the time.

The whole incident inspired me to take seriously my son’s temper, which led us to discover that he suffered from anxiety issues. It took several years, but we’ve finally got that under control. And it all started with that incident. 

My husband and I participated in the program with each of our three kids, who each had different needs. You would have thought that by the time the last one came along we would have known what we were doing, but we didn’t. And my educator’s visits were comforting. 

So here’s my plea. If you’re expecting a baby, even if it’s not your first, please sign up for the program through your school district. If you’re past the baby stage but know someone who’s expecting, tell her about Parents as Teachers. Have her check out the Parents as Teachers National Center web site. Or visit the center’s blog. 

Just like any other investment, putting in your time with Parents as Teachers sometimes doesn’t yield a dividend until later. But doing all that you can to ensure your child has the tools to be successful in school is priceless, isn’t it?