Child Development Is The Heart Of The Head Start Program

After, reading Morrison’s chapter on implementing Early Childhood programs I have a better understanding of the many programs that are offered. All programs promote child development and learning and focus on effective approaches to connect with children and families. One of the programs that I have heard mostly about is Head Start. I would like to work in a Head start program because of the impact it has on children’s development, and after reading about it I know have more understanding on the program. Head start focuses on parent involvement because research has showed that the more parents become involve in their children’s early childhood education the better they will do in school.

Head Start is a federally funded, education development program that was created in 1965. The program provides education and services for eligible children from low-income families. Head Start 's philosophy focuses on the development of social-emotional, physical and mental health, nutrition, and working with families and the community and stated “low-income people should help plan and run their own programs” (p. 41-42). Head Start has truly expanded their resources over the years by providing a full school year for ages 3-6 years old and offering services such as health screenings, referrals, and social services (p. 42). Most importantly, each and every Head Start program must follow the federal Head Start Program Performace Standards that address all areas of development (p. 42). The program is truly committed to support low-income families and creating an education system that supports all aspects of the child.

Head Start has already accomplished the goal of affecting services available for low-income families and children. This is being accomplished due to better resource and referral services (Blank, 2002). 20,302,000 children have been enrolled in the

The research finds that participants with the lowest initial skills are the most beneficial from public Head Start programs. But this study also states that Head Start program has lots of limitation. At the beginning of this research paper, the author introduces the history and definition of Head Start program and its main purpose. He states, “The federal Head Start program is the largest early childhood education initiative in the United States, giving matching grants to preschool centers that provide parent training, early education, and health services to poor children and their families” (Healy, 2015, para. 1). As the author emphasis, the Head Start program is not suitable for all children but only offers to children from the low-income families. There are still many families left who need the public

For my field experience, I had the opportunity to observe a four-year-old pre-kindergarten classroom on November 5th and 12th at Bushwick United Head Start program. The school is located at 136 Stanhope street, Brooklyn, N.Y. Majority of the families the school serve are Hispanics, and as a result, the student body entails mostly ELL students. There are approximately 130 students enrolled in the program, and out of that 130, about 10% speaks English. The school uses an additive model of English Language to support both the student’s home language and foster and support English language acquisition. The classrooms are staffed with teachers who speak the children’s home language, who can apply some use of the home-language within the classroom and providing hands-on experiences for students. Additionally, to support students with disability, the school also partnered with United Community Services (UCS), a program that offers speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy to students. The school uses the evidence-based Creative Curriculum. The Creative Curriculum is aligned with Head Start Performance Standards, NAEYC guidelines and the NY State Prekindergarten Common Core Standards.

Head Start was created in 1965, during Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidential administration, as part of the Great Society plan and the War on Poverty (Currie , 2001). After observing the quality discrepancies between low income and high income educational settings, Johnson realized that “Five and six year old children are inheritors of poverty 's curse…(Johnson, 1965)” As a result, he called for the creation of a program that would allow “…preschool children of poverty [to] get a Head Start on their future (Johnson, 1965).” Soon, Head Start was established, with the goal of “enhance[ing] children’s physical, social, emotional and cognitive development (Mississippi Head Start Association, 2012).”

Head Start and Early Head Start are comprehensive child development programs which serve children from birth to age five, pregnant woman and their extended families. They are child-focused programs that have the overall goal of increasing the school readiness of young children in low-income families. . These programs try to prepare young children intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically for their future educational and social endeavors. ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002).. The programs prepare the parent(s) to be supportive in the endeavor. Head Start has the philosophy that parents are a child's first and most influential teacher. The Head Start program is beneficial to early learning.

Early Head Start is a federally funded grant program. Women can apply when they are pregnant and the school is for ages six weeks up to three years old. It helps out the families who are lower income to get their children the education that they need for the early years of their lives. In Early Head Start there are 48 children that are enrolled in school.

The classroom sites that were studies were state preschools, Head Start, Title 1, Tuition-based programs, full-day programs, and half-day programs. Eighty-one percent of the children were 4-year old, 19% were 5-year-olds. “The gender was balanced, and included 36% African American, 31% White, 20% Hispanic/Latino, 10% multi-race, and 3% Asian. Approximately 23% of the children were ELLs. The mean percentage of children eligible for early childhood special education (with IEPs) was 11%. This also varied across program types with 15% of children in Head Start programs having IEPs and 3% of children in Tuition-Based programs. Regarding parent/caregiver educational attainment in the overall sample, 22% of parents reported having less than high school, 23% had high school diplomas or general education development (GED),

Head Start provides children with a developmentally appropriate early childhood education. Teachers work with children, and their families, to help them gain the skills needed to succeed in school- both academically and socially. The program offers comprehensive health, nutrition, and other family support services including opportunities to learn nurturing parenting skills.

The lack of attention given to an individual child’s needs can be observed in the structuring of the classroom at Head Start. The program places

In the 50 years since its inception, Head Start has improved the lives of more than 32 million children and their families (Why). Many of the Head Start alumni have graduate to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, leaders, and scientists – had they not been given the opportunity through head start, who knows where they may have ended up in their neighborhood. Head Start offers a unique whole child/whole family program design coupled with a delivery system that includes local programs, national standards, monitoring, professional development, and family engagement (Why). This makes it so everyone in the child’s life receives assistance and the benefits of learning engagement. I can see this being extremely beneficial to lower class families because it encourages everyone to learn and to see the potential of what an education can give you.

The Head Start Program, typically referred to solely as Head Start, is offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program was inaugurated in 1964 as a means of preparing children

Ensuring that the most vulnerable children and families are served by Head Start and Early Head Start must be a given.  There is too much at stake. (p.1).”

It is funded by the federal government and offers early childhood programs for children with special needs. Many children from lower social economic areas are the most beneficiaries of the Head Start programs. The Head Start program has been giving satisfactory services to children with developmental disabilities. Children with special needs easily adapt compared to adults, therefore, transition and change is not difficult for them. Young students with disabilities are able to learn with the support of their caregivers who are adults. These children with special needs require support from adults in order to achieve the desired developmental changes.