Amy Grubb hasn’t always known how to find the right home activities to help her daughter and two sons prepare for school.

But the Rowan County mom has found a lot of advice from counselors at the Adolescent Family Enrichment Council. Counselors from the agency visit her home near the Ellis Crossroads north of Salisbury.

“I learned more activities that I can do with them, and I’m trying to learn to give each of them time to play,” she said in her den recently as her children — ages 5, 2 and 6 months — played on the floor.

Now in its fourth year, the literacy-based Parents as Teachers program targets children from birth to age 3. Educators work with parents to show them how to develop their children’s motor skills, prevent abuse and neglect and encourage safety.

They tour homes with a checklist to look for hazards such as household chemicals and drop cords. They screen children twice a year, checking their vision and hearing. They even bring learning toys for children to borrow.

Educator Kathy Belleman encountered a 2-year-old girl who had never visited a playground or a park. So Belleman took her to Salisbury’s City Park.

“We were looking through some pictures and saw a slide and swings and she said, ‘I’ve never been on one of those,’ ” Belleman said. “You just can’t believe that that would possibly be.”

Grubb says the home visits have helped her find ways to manage her children’s behavior.

“She seemed a little bit whiny,” she said of her daughter. “But I’ve realized I’m not the only one.”

Local doctors and agencies such as the county health and social services departments can recommend the program to new parents, but it’s open to anyone.

Teen mothers and fathers often hear about Parents as Teachers.

“We’ve had some teen-age moms who really didn’t know what to do who are real success stories now,” educator Carolyn Menster said. “We’ve had all kinds of families.”

Begun in 1981 as a pilot project by the state of Missouri, Parents as Teachers has grown into a national network of 2,600 programs.

The Rowan County chapter, operated by the Enrichment Council, has worked with 80 families and 91 children in the past year with a staff of two full-time counselors and one who works part-time. The program receives about $100,000 annually from the state’s Smart Start program.

Counselors visit families as little as once each month and as often as once each week, Menster said.

“We do a lot of things to hook them up with the resources they might need,” she said.

You can reach the Enrichment Council at 630-0481. Or go to http://www.patnc.org/ on the Internet to learn more about the Parents as Teachers National Center.

Contact Brad A. Hodges at 704-797-4266 or bhodges@salisburypost.com .