SAN DIEGO -- Learning truly begins in the home, and it begins years before the child ever steps foot in a school, according to 10News.

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HIPPY Makes Education Fun

One program is providing parents with the skills they need to become their children's first teacher.

At 4½ years old, Julia Szilard is already a good reader. It is a skill she works on every day with her mother, Heather Szilard.

"You're not sitting down and having a regimented school with them. You're just playing with them and they're learning and absorbing so much," Heather Szilard said about teaching her daughter.

Heather Szilard has learned to make education fun with help from a program called, "HIPPY," Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-School Youngsters. Instructor Georgiana Edison stops by once a week with books, toys, and games.

More importantly, Edison explained that certain toys and games teach, how they teach and the terms professionals would use to describe them.

"When they throw a ball, that's called gross motor skills. The parent starts to understand the meanings of these terms," Edison said.

So, when parents go to a parent-teacher conference, they will understand the ideals of tactile development, sensory development and intellectual development. Understanding how learning works gives parents the ability to see new opportunities for learning and new ways to teach their children, according to 10News.

"I've got three kids, and the first two -- (I do) things (now) that I didn't think about doing with them. It's been a lot of fun," Szilard said.

But, the most important lesson Szilard has learned is to take the time with her children.

"It's so easy to get caught up in everything that you do everyday -- making dinner, making lunch for them, putting them down for naps -- and it's easy to forget to actually play with them," Heather said.

To learn more about the HIPPY program, visit www.hippyusa.org. The program is funded in part by the First Five Commission of San Diego, KGTV's partner with KPBS in Project QKids.