Trust our children to succeed.
Head Start is it a leg-up?
Through the eyes of an educator, I believe Head Start is an excellent program for under privileged children. The program not only about educational development it also allows children to learn to express themselves appropriately as well as verbally. Most of our children come into our environment are actually entering a new world. We are exposing our students to new social interactions and learning experiences that they may not receive at home. You wouldn’t believe what children can learn just through social interaction with their peers and educators. Children can learn math, develop language skills, social skills and more. The children are expose to different cultures, other environments and healthy eating choices all of which they may not receive at home just because their parents may not have the means to get the exposure. It is our jobs as teachers to help these disadvantaged children transition into school and succeed in their future education. They already are in a world that has counted them out so why let the world succeed. They will prove them wrong!
I know that Head Start works because I witnessed it first-hand. This is a great program if implemented the right way. Let me tell you a story about a student from this pass school year. This little angel at the ripe age of three entered the school year with a bang. His mother was nervous that he would be put out before he even entered the classroom. Apparently he had been kicked out of every daycare he had ever entered. It’s a good thing this wasn’t daycare. Before entering the classroom his mother let me know that he had a behavior problem and was a handful. His father has been in and out of his life, his fourteen year old sister was hell on wheels and he was exhibiting her behavior as well as behavior that he had already had. On top of all of these things my little friend had a speech problem. Well I like a challenge so here we go. So I rolled up my sleeves and dug my heels in.
This little person terrorize my classroom, his peers, the staff and my poor little co-teacher (bless her heart). In the first day or two I realize that he lacked structure, discipline and social skills. This kid was a social monster bite, hitting, kicking, pushing and slapping his peers at any chance he got. Oh yeah, he did these things to my co-teacher as well. I realized that he had such a hard time with his peers because they didn’t understand him. So because of this he would get so frustrated that he would lash out physical. In the beginning I had to separate him from his peers and have him shadow me to see how to interact with others. I slowly emerged him into small group interactions. I also referred him in doing this he received and IEP (Individual Education Plan) which gave me benchmarks to work with him on and improve his speech. He also received speech therapy at the center. Now dealing with the behavior as far as the tantrums and hitting we discussed how it made our friends feel and how to treat people nicely. I created a solution chart to help him with his problem solving skills. He would use the chart when a problem arose. The chart consisted of pictures such as: children hugging, taking deep breaths, talking, and drawing a picture of how you, feel a quiet place to go etc. He learned to self sooth as well as communicates with his peer in an age appropriate manner. Needless to say we saw great improvement in him by the end of the school year. My little buddy has returning for the up and coming school year and is doing well with few outbursts. He always makes sure he stops by my room every chance he gets even if he’s not supposed to. Thanks to the program he’s doing well and has that head start that he needs to succeed when he enters kindergarten.
Head Start has been one of the most popular and enduring subjects of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society. Even though questions still remain about the long-term effectiveness of Head Start programs, the government supports its expansion and improvement.
Since its founding in 1965, the federal preschool program has offered poor children and their parent’s comprehensive services ranging from health care to parenting education. Preliminary data from the first nationwide appraisal of the program show that Head Start youngsters do better on some intellectual, behavioral and health measures than similar children not enrolled in Head Start. But some critics say the program should dispense with health care and parental education in order to focus on pre-academic skills. To improve Head Start’s performance, the Bush administration proposed turning it over to the states, but Congress refused; instead it wants to require half of all Head Start teachers to obtain B.A. degrees or higher by 2011. Meanwhile, states are launching their own preschool programs, raising new questions about whether Head Start -- now serving some 900,000 youngsters -- should be under federal or state control. (Clemmit, 2005).
Head Start and I have broader goals for these children. As Head Start teachers we have to teach social, emotional, physical, language and cognitive skills as well as skills needed to learn reading and math (Clemmit, 2005). Research on the program has shown that children who complete it do better socially and academically than children not enrolled in the program, and that they tend to have lower high school dropout rates. But the initial test score benefits tend to fade out by first grade, which, combined with the findings of the accountability office, has caused critics to call for cuts (Steinhauer, 2011).
Economists note that Head Start children usually end up in the lowest quality elementary schools because of the neighborhoods that they live in. The also suggest that Head Start’s positive impact continues only if the children attend better elementary schools (Steinhauer, 2011).
Our children success rate declines due to their environment which is unfair to them they can’t help where they live and which school is in their district. They aren’t able to attend a better school and if they are able to attend a better school their parents have to provide transportation that they don’t have or have excess to. This is why Head Start is not just for the children, but for the parents as well. We have helped parents look for jobs, assistance, get their GED, driver’s license and more. The program helps it just needs a little faith and moral and everyone will do well.
I have students that come back to visit quite often. One of my most accomplished students is now eight years of age and has been a straight “A” student. She also is on a fifth grade reading level. I had the pleasure of having this young lady two years in a row and by her second year my co-teacher and I had started her down the path to reading. I love when parents bring them back and thank us for all of the things we have done. As Head Start teacher we are appreciated by some. I been able to teacher four children from one family and the parents have a three month old and are already ready for him to join us in 2014 when he turns three.
Overall the article tells us that Head Start does make a change, but once the children enter elementary and the school has a poor education background, underpaid teachers, and where it is located the children will not succeed. The article also states that once they enter kindergarten and there are students that aren’t on their leave they are over looked because the teachers feel that they are on track so they don’t receive the same exposure as they once did. The poor public school system is what’s actually failing them.
Articles Cited.
Clemmitt, M. (2005, August 26). Elevating head start. CQ Researcher, Retrieved September 22, 2011, from the CQ Researcher database.
Steinhauer, J., (2011, March 10). Cuts to head start show challenge of fiscal restraint. New York Times, Retrieved September 24, 2011, from the New York Times database.
