Parents, Children, & HeadStart

In today's society, families are being forced to face the fact that our economy is much more than just fractured; it is shattered. This means that parents must work harder than ever to provide for their children. It also means that these working-parents have less time then they once would have to provide the one-on-one attention needed to prepare their children to enter public school. Unfortunately, this also means that millions of American children are spending at least part of their day in childcare. Therefore, these centers and caregivers need to be able to provide a place where these children can learn and grow not only socially, but educationally as well. After all, research clearly tells us that a child's early experiences will pave the foundation for all aspects of their future (Knudsen, 2006). In other words, it does not matter where these experiences happen, what matters is what happens and that it has a positive effect.

Sadly, not all American children have the same socio-economic and educational opportunities. Therefore, without public intervention and support, low-income families would be at a disadvantage (Holzer, 2007). They would have to choose between meeting their child's nutritional, material, and housing needs, or providing a safe, secure environment that would ultimately meet their child's social and educational needs. This choice could lead to devastating results, because many of our nation's children would not only be depreived of their parents time but also the much-needed services that they need to succeed in an educational atmosphere once they reach public school age. This is why the American society began providing a federally funded, family-oriented child development program called Project Headstart.

What is Project Headstart?

Project Head Start began as an eight-week summer program in 1965. It was meant to prepare low-income preschool age children for the following academic year. Since then, the Headstart program has become the primary means of early childhood education and social services for low-income families (R4HSA, 2009). This program provides comprehensive services to low-income children age 3-4 and their parents at no cost to the family. This makes income the only real criteria for admission, because a family must meet the current income standards. For example, a family of four must not make more than $22,050.00 a year in order to qualify (Headstart, 2009).

[Special Note: The GMN Tri-county Headstart Center does give leeway to families who are up to 10% over the family's income bracket (Valerie, 2009)].

Once accepted, students and families are provided many services. The majority of centers provide cognitive developmental services, along with speech, physical, and occupational therapy. Beyond that Headstart officials also specialize in providing referral services that may consist of securing medical screenings, immunizations, dental services, and nutritional assistance (Power to End Hunger, n.d.) .

What Does This Mean On A Local Level?

In Woodsfield, Ohio, Project Headstart is maintained by the GMN Tri-County Headstart Center. This center is located in a prominently Caucasian community, and is accredited with the National Association for the Education of Young Children. It currently maintains a 9:1 student-teacher ratio, but this is about to change, because this center is in the process of adopting a new standard called "Step up to Quality"; which will lower the teacher child ratio to one teacher per ten students in a classroom or seven students while on fieldtrips (Valerie, 2009). These new standards will also state what credentials are needed for an individual to become employed with the center. For instance, primary or lead teachers will be obligated to obtain an associate's degree in Early Childhood Development or Child Development (or enough credits to equal an associates degree), and be working towards their bachelor's degree. (Schilder, 2005). They will also be expected to attend a minimum of 20 hours of professional development (Schilder, 2005). Teaching assistants will be obligated to secure their CDA, and bus drivers will not only need their CDA but also a special commercial drivers license as well. [Special Note: the down side to this change is that no matter the education level, all child instructors will receive the same pay. In other words, an individual with a CDA will receive the same pay as a lead teacher who holds a Master's Degree (Dalrymple, 2009)]

Step Up to Quality is only part of this center's standards. As stated in the Headstart program's description, this program is dedicated to providing low-income children with the skills needed to jumpstart their education, which means implementing a formal, but creative curriculum. At GMN, that means utilizing many differentstandardized child and classroom assessment tools. Some of these tools include: Get It Got It Go, the Galileo Assessment, The NRS assessment, and the Early Learning Content Standards; all of which monitor the individual needs and progress of each student. For example, the Galileo Assessment starts at the beginning of the first year. It measures pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary, oral comprehension, phonological awareness, early math, fine and large motor skills, behavior, social skills, along with the child's individual approach to learning, and social competencies. It should be noted though that Headstart in general was designed to focus on a child's socialization skills. Therefore, academic related activities such as reading, writing, and math are not pushed. Instead, children are offered a variety of activities that are capable of stimulating the child's desire. For Instance, it is not uncommon for one child to have a teacher's aid reading one child a book, while another is working with a group of children who are painting or writing their names.

Over all the GMN Tri-County center appears to

attempt to offer each children the opportunity to

be involved in a variety of experiences. Their

schedule includes shared reading and writing along with music that allows the child to experiment with words and expression. It provides exercise, free center time, and Art that allow the use of fine and larger motor skills, along with social stimulation. It provides several opportunities for the children to engage in hand washing, tooth brushing, and clean up activities, which is valuable hygiene training. The teacher even slips in an occasional Spanish or Sign Language lesson, which not only spices things up a little, but also allows the children to explore a foreign language.

[Special Note: This center also sponsors a fatherhood initiative activity event every other month, they provide both parents with a monthly potty training meeting and bi-monthly parent association meeting.]

Conclusion

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Youth and Families' 2005 Head Start Impact Report states that children who participated in Headstart are more advanced in pre-reading, pre-writing, and vocabulary skills than children who were denied early education services. These children also tend to show slight improvements in problem behaviors as well (Power to End Hunger, n.d.). In other words, Project Head Start has more than fulfilled their goal of narrowing the educational achievement gap between low and upper-income kids. Not to mention the fact that children who complete the program have an increased chance of graduating high school and remaining free from a criminal record (Fight Crime, 2006). Then again, the greatest achievements I've noted is the fact that Project Headstart supplies low-income parents with a much needed childcare system, that not only provides a safe atmosphere, with warm loving care-givers, but also stimulates the bodies and minds of their children.

Resources:

Dalrymple, S. (2009). A Lead Teacher at The GMN Tricounty Headstart Located in Woodsfield,

Ohio.

Fight Crime; Invest in Kids (2006). Head Start Reduces Crime and Improves Achievement.

Retrieved on April 31, 2009 from the Fight Crime Website: http://www.fightcrime.org/reports/HeadStartBrief.pdf

Headstart (2009). 2009-2010 Income Guidelines Handout (Effective Feb 1, 2009)

Holzer, Harry, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Greg J. Duncan, and Jens Ludwig (2007) The

Economic Costs of Poverty. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress.

Knudsen, Eric I., James J. Heckman, Judy L. Cameron, and Jack P. Shonkoff (2006) "Economic,

neurobiological, and behavioral perspectives on building America's future workforce."

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103: 10155-10162.

Office of Head Start (2008)Head Start Program Fact Sheet Fiscal Year 2008. Retrieved on May

4, 2009 from the U S Department of Health and human Service Administration for

Children & Families website:

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/About%20Head%20Start/dHeadStartProgr.htm

Power to End Hunger (n.d.) Background on 2005 Head Start Reauthorization. Retrieved on May

4, 2009 from the Power to End Hunger Website:

http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=618

Region VI Head Start Association. (R4HSA) (2009) History.Retrieved on May 1, 2009 from the

Region VI Head Start Association Website:

http://www.reg6hsa.org/history.htm

Schilder, D. EdD., Cauncey, B., Smith, A., Skiffington, S. (2005). Retrieved from the Education

Development Center, Inc. Website: http://ccf.edc.org/pdf/OhioHeadStartPlusReport-EDC.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families

(USDH&HS) (2009) Head Start Impact Study and Follow-up key findings. Retrieved

from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children

and Families Website:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/reports/first_yr_execsum/firstyr_sum_findings.html

Valerie (2009). A Social Worker at The GMN Tri-County Headstart Located in Woodsfield,

Ohio.