Tūtū and Me Holds Statewide Graduation June 4, 2014

Tūtū and Me Traveling Preschool held its statewide graduation, earlier this week, at 26 different community based locations. This no cost early learning program serves approximately 2,800 children, birth through five, and their caregivers throughout the state and prepares children to be ready to succeed in kindergarten while providing caregiver support and education.
In Hawai‘i, the use of older family members to care for children from birth to the age five years is a very familiar practice. Tūtū (grandparents) are often the primary caregivers of their grandchildren due to socio-economic conditions, as well as the value of ‘ohana (family).

Tūtū and Me aims to identify, recruit, and service this underserved segment of the Native Hawaiian population through an innovative traveling preschool program done in cooperation with churches and community organizations serving the Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian community. The goal of Tūtū and Me is to meet the developmental needs of these young children and to support the grandparents as well as parents and other primary caregivers who are raising them.

The Tūtū and Me program will be on a two month summer break and resume in August. If you and your child(ren) are interested in attending this program for the upcoming school year, please visit www.pidf.org/tutu_and_me for the respective site’s contact information.