Talk to me about HeadStart?

[Pinoikoi]

Anyone done HeadStart? I haven't put any of my kids in preschool before, but the neighborhood school (where two of my kids attend) is expanding the headstart program. In the past we made too much money and it was low income dependent, but they said they expanded the program this year, so it is still low income priority, but my youngest (4yo ds) may still get in.. so I applied, and they called us back today. I have to submit some paperwork, but ds and dp are both pretty excited, although I am trying to keep it noncommittal since nothing is for sure.. it would be part day 9-1..

pros? cons? of THIS program? I am familiar with the school and administration, so that's a plus.. ds is SO ready for school. This is the first year he would be home without his brothers, and I am already seeing that may cause some issues for him..

[SunshineJ]

My son positively THRIVED at Head Start. They did speech therapy with him and did such a great job that his kindy teacher had commented on how clearly he spoke for his age (not knowing of the therapy). We still stay in touch with his teacher.

DD did not have as good an experience. Her first teacher was nice enough, but impatient with the transitions of a little girl who's mom had just gone back to work full time. During art stuff, DD always wanted to make pictures for me so I'd "remember" her when I was at work and to help feel connected with me and her teacher had trouble understanding that. The next year she was given DS's former teacher by request. She would've done well in the class except they had just integrated the special needs children with the other kids, and the sn child seemed to take exception to her. DD has hypersensitive hearing and he would follow her and scream in her face constantly. The person assigned to help him was never around and DD was becoming highly stressed so we pulled her form the program. Please note that this was not a problem that resulted from integrating the sn's kids (which I support) but a staff issue. We discussed it at length and there was nothing they could do.

Overall I really liked the program and would recommend that anyone at least give it a try!

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I don't have a link to the study, but it was shown that student in Head Start showed no advancement over their peers that went to no program instead by the time they hit 4th grade. So if your reason is to hopefully get your child ahead, I would pick a different program. I was very unimpressed when I studied the curriculum (I'm a licensed teacher).

[ChristaN]

I did an internship with an early head start (0-3) while in grad school that was housed in the same building as head start. The biggest concern that I had was the staff. It seemed that they hired a lot of lower income moms with very limited education whose kids were in head start themselves so that they'd understand and be able to relate to the presumed parents. There were some instances where the teacher in class A had a child in class B and the teacher in class B had her child in class A.

I don't want to sound discriminatory toward lower income individuals. We actually fall into that category ourselves right now. However, I would like my kids' teachers to be educated beyond high school and to be bright people. A number of the teachers just didn't seem that astute. I'd check into the staff for the class your child would be in; see if you can speak with the teacher.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by Evie's Mama

I don't have a link to the study, but it was shown that student in Head Start showed no advancement over their peers that went to no program instead by the time they hit 4th grade. So if your reason is to hopefully get your child ahead, I would pick a different program. I was very unimpressed when I studied the curriculum (I'm a licensed teacher).

No, I am not interested in him getting "ahead" (I mean, if he got ahead that would be great, but not really what I am looking for, kwim?) but I would like to get him used to some kind of school routine- we have never had him in daycare or anything before, when he stays home with daddy, they play, they eat, they take naps.. the world is pretty open ended really (as far as schedule).. I would also like to see him socialize with kids his own age at the same physical development he is at.. I have a 5 year old, but he is pretty severely (imho) delayed in multiple areas (he has been in occupational therapy, speech therapy, and the school district's special ed program for preschoolers- but it was only once a week) and he just can't keep up with him.. My youngest sometimes acts the bully of his brother for this reason, bossing him around, etc..

the only "routines" dp and youngest have really are dropping big brothers off at school and last year they did get to have some fairly regular play dates with a friend of dp's and his grandkids- because I was pushing the issue a bit..

This is my youngest and he has always been a very physical handful. He was walking at 8 months, and doing a jump/somersault off his high chair at 12 months.. he has pulled the curtain rods out of the walls, and likes to hang upside down from the banisters by his knees.. that kind of kid. He is very different from my other kids that way..

So learning a bit of "routine" would be a goal for him, as would practice with scissors, coloring, story time, practicing his letters, gym time (I took him swimming once a week this summer, and he plays independently on his bike pretty much everyday, but the only "team" activities we play is badminton).. those would be the kinds of goals I would have for him.. would his curriculum not cover that stuff? I am a licensed teacher as well- but upper grades. I don't know anything about what I should expect from a preschool curriculum. My mother has a masters in early childhood ed (and is a retired first grade teacher), though, I suppose I should ask her about local curriculum requirements in my state- she probably knows SOMETHING about it.. thanks for the suggestion.

ETA: mainly I am concerned that he might find Kindy difficult next year if I don't get him a little something extra this year, kwim?

[Pinoikoi]

Ok- I just found a form about HeadStart in my school district.

http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=c...ct&hl=en&gl=us

Evie's mom, do you know anything about Creative Curriculum (which it said is the primary curriculum) and then Houghton Mifflin PreK as supplement.. I have heard of Houghton Mifflin for upper grades, although I haven't used it myself.

It also says that each classroom will have one certificated teacher, one family advocate, and one teacher assistant (thanks for the questions ChristinaN!).. I wonder how many students would fit into a classroom with three staff members? What is a good ratio for this age group? (this coming from me who had 40 people in advanced grammar once!)

Thanks ladies for helping me find the questions to ask that I wasn't coming up with on my own!

[Pinoikoi]

thanks for the input Sunshine! I feel like you do that different kids have different needs as far as what will help them succeed.. my kids are all VERY different.. one has a lot of challenges before him, one is very gifted, one is SUPER physical and another one I think is headed the way of the oldest... probably will end up gifted or close it.. I told dp that I would only EVER enroll them in two schools though- just registering the one in one school and two in the other school was SO time consuming! I don't know how I would do it if my kids were split into three schools (something I realized MIGHT end up happening)!

[SunshineJ]

Where my kids went the family advocate wasn't in the room all the time. She had a group of rooms she was assigned to, and was really more a resource go-to person for the parents. I think she made visits to the classes periodically to kind of check in for visibile signs of problems - like if a student didn't seem to have appropriate winter clothes she would notice and see if the family needed help with that, things like that. So in reality there were only 2 people, a teacher and an aide, in the classrooms. I think the max class size was 20, but not sure.

[Momily]

We use Creative Curriculum as the core curriculum in the PreK at the school I work at and I love it (I'm the one who chose it so I guess I should love it). Essentially, CC is an "official" version of good oldfashioned play based preschool. A CC classroom is divided into 10 centers including things like blocks and dramatic play, sand and water etc . . . , and the children spend a significant portion of their day engaged in play that they choose and direct in those centers. In addition, they have short group times, both whole group (like a morning meeting) and small group, and there's a lot of emphasis on learning through routines so that snack time, lunch time, nap time etc . . . are carefully thought out.

Having said that, I think that most Headstart classes use good core curriculum. There's a relatively short list of approved curricula for Headstart, and I don't think any of them are truly bad, although Creative Curriculum and High/Scope are the ones I like best.

To me the number one most important factor in choosing a preschool is how the adults talk to the children. You can get a sense of that by listening to how they talk to your son or daughter when you stop by.

As far as ratios -- the school I teach at has 21 kids in each class with at least 2 adults in the room, and 3 for almost all parts of the day. There's a certified teacher, and an associate with a bachelor's degree (I don't think the degree is necessary, to be honest), plus an aide that floats back and forth. There are also a special educator, and an English Learning specialist who float back and forth too. If it's choice time, or reading, or small group time the aide is always in one room and there's a specialist in the other. For 4 year olds those are decent ratios (and similar to what you'll find in HS). At 3 I'd rather see fewer kids, but it's unlikely that you'll find it, and there are programs that do a good job with 20 kids at that age too.

[lauren]

Most HS classrooms have about 16 kids when they are at full enrollment. The family advocate may spend a lot of time in there but also will do home visits. Most try to do those in the afternoons after the kids leave though.

The Head Start program is a federally guided one in terms of structure, principles and routine. Each individual site is as good as its management, its teachers, and the amount of support they all receive.

You can look up Head Start standards online to see what they are aiming for. Philosophically and by standards, they are quite solid IMO. I think your child will definitely learn routines and be able to participate in the components of a school day, at the preschool level (morning meeting, circle time, choice time, clean up, outside play, etc.) But each classroom will be different depending on the talents of the teachers in the room.

One of the things I love about HS is that they encourage messy play, such as water tables, bean tables, shaving cream all over the table to play in and write letters in, etc. Another thing is that because they serve breakfast and lunch, the children get a lot of experience with table manners, pouring for themselves, cleaning up, etc. I am in Head Start classrooms all the time and I am amazed at how independent those kids are with pouring, serving, passing, clean up, etc. (I frequently tell my own older kids that HS kids are doing better than them at meals!! )

Anyway, these are just some thoughts!

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I find HS curriculum to be too content neutral so to speak. It is great at teaching them routines, allowing for creative play and the like, but just isn't the type of preschool I think is best. I much prefer the Core Knowledge curriculum created by E.D. Hirsch and the Core Knowledge Foundation that focuses on content while allowing for lots of routines and the like as well as lots of learning through play. To each his own though.

[Stone Fence]

Our district has Head Start/Universal Pre-K for the third year and DS is going. He's really looking forward to it.

There is a teacher, an aide and the family advocate for the program. There are 13 kids in each session-26 total.

The messy play is one thing I am looking forward to. There is a sand table, a water table, paint and lots of good toys in the room. Also, they get ducks or chicks to hatch in the Spring. Right now, daycare is pretty structured and there isn't much messy stuff.

We live rurally and there are not a lot of pre-k options that don't require lots of driving or that aren't religious.

I'm sure that I am projecting here, but I was not comfortable starting school until the routine was established. I'm hoping that the pre-school experience will help DS be comfortable with Kindy, which is full day.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by Stone Fence

I was not comfortable starting school until the routine was established. I'm hoping that the pre-school experience will help DS be comfortable with Kindy, which is full day.

This is pretty much what I was thinking for this particular son of mine. My other kids were fine without that practice time before Kindy, but I really think this one will need it.

I turned in my paperwork yesterday. They told me there are 15 slots for students and 19 applicants, so we may not get in anyway. They take low income and special needs kids first. We are low income for SOME programs, but not all anymore. (I suppose that is a good AND bad situation, ironically)

[phoenix78]

So Far So Good for SN DD

My DD#1 just attended her first HS program this summer and will be returning next week for fall. After a special ed eval discovered more severe needs with her speech and motor skills than we realized, we befan therapy through her daycare while seaching for what to do with pre-k. She could have stayed at daycare center which she was doing well in but was costing a fortune. Once her eval was done, we found out she qualified as a special needs child and therefore, qualified for HS despite our income level. I was REALLY unsure as to what the better choice was. HS is housed at the local elementary school where she could go for kindergarten. The other options were a Catholic Montessori school about 10 miles away that we couldn't do bussing for or 2 other Catholic schools in the area. Private schools were too far away in city. My first choice was Monytessori but they closed 2 weeks after we applied. So we went with the integrated HS program and they even made space for her in summer. She has a head teacher with an MS in special ed, a teacher aide, and then a Therapisyt/teacher and aide from the agency that provides the special ed services. Her program is all day, which is great for me because I WAH and the school is a 3 minute walk from our house. She gets her OT and Speech on site and the agency teacher and aide continue to work on IEP rest of day. I think there are 18 in her class.

They ask a lot of involvement from parents which I feel good about. DH visited twice during the 6 week summer program, once for an all day field trip, and came back with good reports about the level of interaction with the kids, how much support DD is getting, etc. Just yesterday, all 3 of her teachers for the fall came by for a home visit. Although I would have loved to send her to Montessori or Waldorf, they weren't options here and HS is meeting her needs. So I give them a big thumbs up in our district! And my AP kiddo did much better handling the separation than this AP mama who worries too much!

[BCFD]

We adopted our children through the foster care system thus qualifying them for Early HS and HS. Early HeadStart was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. We had a lovely, soft spoken, Persian woman who came in once a week and brought great activities for the kids. My oldest was about 18 months when we started and getting advice from the HS home teacher really helped me in so many ways. It was very practical life (Montessori) and Reggio styled learning and I loved it. My kids loved it.

When my oldest was 3, we started looking around at every type of preschool there was (Waldorf, Reggio, play based, co-op, Bev Bos' school, and eventually Montessori). I thought , "hey, it's free so lets look into it!" The classrooms were nice, but the particular teachers that I observed (in two HS classrooms) were not what I was expecting. Children were running around the room and it was sheer chaos. I left with the impression that the only thing my children would learn was how to be chaotic and disorganized. They were nice, but they just didn't seem to have a handle on their classrooms. One of the locations we visited was in a very low income, high crime area and there was absolutely NO security for the classroom. No gates, no door codes, nothing. I was very uncomfortable with the fact that anybody could walk into the classroom at any time. Nobody but my wife and I were concerned about this. Very odd.

I think that you just need to tour the classroom, observe a class in action, meet with the teachers and base your decision on that. As for the curriculum, I thought it was great!!

(p.s. We ultimately chose a private Montessori school)

[BCFD]

Oh, I also forgot to mention that the paperwork involved in being in the HS program is a freakin' nightmare. We stopped the program after about 2 years because I just couldn't deal with all the paper shuffling we had to do.