WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) – Jazyra Melendez settles in comfortably on the floor of her Split Rock Drive home for reading time.

“Today we’re going to talk about someone who’s not our friend,” the longhaired 3-year-old is told. “Do you remember the name?”

Jazyra pauses, then lights up. “Germs!” she says, and soon she’s listening carefully to a children’s book that praises soap and covering up sneezes.

The woman next to Jazyra on the floor is not her mother, but an in-home teacher who makes regular visits to Jazyra’s family as part of a growing program to help new parents.

Some 1,500 families statewide are visited up to once a week by parenting teachers as part of the program, sponsored by the Children’s Trust Fund, a state agency.

For no cost, teachers travel to homes of new parents for up to five years to work with parents and children alike. The hour-long lessons focus on virtually every element of raising a child – from nutrition and safety to literacy and table manners. They even help with potty training.

“Our goal is to help parents be the best parents they can be,” said Christine Bianchi, director of grants and community programs at StayWell Health Care in Waterbury, which administers the program for 29 area families. “This really is contributing to building a stronger community.”

The primary mission of the 10-year-old, $10 million state program is to reduce child abuse and neglect. About 1,250 families participated last year, said Karen Foley-Schain, the Children’s Trust Fund’s executive director.

Many participants are low-income or single parents who often benefit from other social services they learn about from their home visitors.

Learning sessions take place in the home to accommodate busy parents and to strengthen the relationship between families and teacher, Bianchi said.

“If we’re to partner with them, and guide them, we need to understand what their lives are like,” she said.

StayWell has administered the program in Greater Waterbury since 2000. Not every interested family is assigned a home visitor, though some form of parenting help is always available, even if it’s just a weekly phone call from a parent educator.

Jazyra’s teacher, Mildred Figueroa, visits up to five families a day. “It’s work that is rewarding to me, because I see the parents grow with the children,” said Figueroa, a home visitor for three years who has three children of her own.

On a recent afternoon, Figueroa brought blocks to help Jazyra perfect her counting skills and to entertain her smiley younger brother, year-old Melvin. Most of the toys and books she brings are given to families, along with items like sippy cups and electric outlet protectors. Today’s book, “Germs Are Not For Sharing,” joined Jazyra’s growing library, alongside the previous title, “Hands Are Not For Hitting.”

As Figueroa works with the children – teaching Jazyra to sneeze into her arm, for instance, or helping Melvin open the plastic block container -she offers steady observations and advice to their mother, Shawna Melendez, 22.

“It’s important to praise her after she completes something,” Figueroa advised, and later warned, “They like to put everything in their mouths, and that’s where a lot of infections come from.”

Parents often need care just as children do, she later added.

“It’s part of my job – to open my heart and listen to her,” said Figueroa, who knows the children’s birthdays by heart. “We are there to help.”

Melendez said she doesn’t know anyone else participating in the program, but she’s thankful for Figueroa’s help.

“At first she was more of a teacher/worker. Now, since she’s been in my daughter’s life for so many years, she’s more of a friend,” she said.

AP-ES-10-06-07 1321EDT