Early Childhood Development Is A Beneficial Tool, It Should Not Be Mandatory

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.

meeting educational, health, social service, and parental needs. “Head Start also wants to help bring about a greater degree of social competence in these children (Mallory and Goldsmith,

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.

In a long time since its initiation, Head Start has enhanced the lives of more than 32 million youngsters and their families. Notwithstanding life and school readiness, Head Start is likewise the country's research center for early learning development. Head Start offers an exceptional children and family program configuration combined with a conveyance framework that incorporates nearby projects, national models, observing, proficient improvement, and family interactions. This has been the reason for some resulting statewide and group

She declares which the chance of failure for these children is at high risk. Currie argues “those actually enrolled in Head Start are likely to face the most severe problems and are least likely to do well in the future” (683). In defending the needs of these children, it is crucial to provide a preschool program such as Head Start. This is not only an academic resource, but it focuses on the whole child; which means it provides these underprivileged children with opportunities such as: nutrition, health, education, and builds social skills that they otherwise do not have access to.

Head Start/Early Head Start Program is a governmentally financed project that serves low-salary children and their families in DeKalb, Atlanta/DeKalb, and Rockdale districts. The Program gives discriminating formative, training and wellbeing administrations to pregnant ladies, burdened youngsters from conception to five, and their families to enhance their long haul school and occupation prospects. The Programs incorporate an in number social administrations and guardian inclusion center. Parents are prepared to work and associate successfully with their kids, their families and inside of their family. The general objective of Head Start/Early Head Start is to enhance the school status of youngsters

Head start was and still is a preschool program designed by President Lyndon B. Johnson with the goal of eliminating poverty. His idea was to improve childhood developed by providing a positive environment for pre-kindergarten children. President Johnson was the first president to pioneer this type of program. The target group affected by this program was poverty strict families that had no positive psychological influence. His belief was that by improving the physical and psychological development, it would result in a change in the child’s genetic traits for the imbetterment. By stimulating the educational success of children, this would transition into better adult earnings and eventually put an end to poverty. The Head Start

Not long after Johnson took office, an official announcement from the White House launched the Head Start Program opening “the gates of opportunity” . With economic expansion on the rise, Johnson and Democratic Liberals believed “that economic growth made it possible to fund new programs and to improve the quality of life.” With enrollment numbers soaring, the program jumped off in assisting nearly 560,000 children across the country. This eight-week summer program gave children a start in early education that more than likely would not have had provided to them without Johnson’s vision. Based on the level of success, congress authorized the Head Start Program to be fully funded for the first year. Throughout 1965, the program grew and children as young three were being

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.

According to the Administration for Children and Families (2010), “Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families” (para. 3). Based on this mission subject, it is possible to subject Head Start to a program evaluation based on the following questions: (a) Is Head Start provisioning educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families? (b) Is the provisioning of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services leading to an enhancement of the social and cognitive development of children? (c) Is the social and cognitive development of children a social good for which taxpayers should pay $7 billion a year? These questions will be addressed, both directly and indirectly, later in this overview.

National Head start Association believes that every child, regardless of circumstances at birth, has the ability to reach their full potential. This organization advocates Advocacy leverages grassroots action, alumni- and parent-driven support, and a bipartisan strategy to ensure a successful and sustainable future for Head start (NAEYC,2005).

Early childhood education has many benefits and there is the potential for many significant outcomes if universal preschools were put into place. Some feel that children who start kindergarten without previously attended preschool sometimes lack certain skills such as social and communication skills and an inability to follow routines. There were also studies done that found attending preschool could help to close the achievement gap in the grade school years. A child’s first few years of life are most important, and they absorb the most during those years. By providing universal preschool, all children would be benefiting, especially those who are in at-risk families or part of the lower class. As a society, we have a responsibility to help the children in our communities and provide them with the education they need in order to help them succeed in life.

In the article we reviewed what is known about Head Start and argue that the program is likely to generate benefits to participants and society as a whole that are large enough to justify the program’s costs. Although in principle there could be more beneficial ways of deploying Head Start resources, the benefits of such changes remain uncertain and there is some downside risk.

This article was researched and published by a reputable organization. It acknowledges the significance of parents continually evaluating their children