My Field Experience At Bushwick United Head Start Program

The Head Start Program contributes to the successful learning of children in a major way. Head Start promotes healthy prenatal out comes, enhances the development of infants and toddlers, and promotes healthy family functioning. The children are giving a better chance to succeed in school and life. Therefore, the rate of human learning and development is in the early years.

setbacks. In order for one to understand the benefits of the program one must know what

When an educator walks into her classroom for the first time, she needs to be prepared to encounter students that come from a variety of backgrounds. The children will be in different stages of language development, and the educator must accommodate for each of these students. Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera (2013) state, “The US Census Bureau projects that by the 2030s, children whose home language is other than English will increase from roughly 22 percent to 40 percent of the school-age population” (p. 9). This increase in second language learners will cause the educator to accommodate for those needs. Second language learners “need teachers who welcome them and recognize their unique abilities, what they know, and what they need to learn” (Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera, 2013, p. 10).

For the classroom observation assignment I was able to observe at Stepping Stones Family Childcare and Preschool Program. I conducted observations for five hours each on the dates of September 24th and September 25th of the year 2015. This licensed home-based daycare and preschool program is located in a quiet suburban neighborhood on 4103 Bryant Street, Blasdell, New York. The facility allows for a twelve-child capacity (ages 6 weeks to 12 years with four additional school age) and is owned and founded by Kim Bannister. When I observed, there were two additional staff present. Therefore, there were a total of 3 adults and 12 children at the center when I observed. New York State Senator Marc C. Panepinto was also present on September 25th as he read to the children and toured the home. I chose this specific setting as I personally thought it would be an interesting dynamic to study how a home-based preschool program is run.

The amount of young children who are acquiring English as a second or even third language in the early care and education (ECE) setting as well as K-12 public classrooms have amplified across the United States in recent years (Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). These young children that are acquiring two or more languages concurrently, or learning a second language along with refining their native language are considered dual language learners (DLLs) (Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). The number of DLLs has multiplied tremendously and now accounts for 25% of all children living in the United States (p. 40). The Office of Head Start (2011) state that fifty-nine percent of the children enrolled in the Head Start Programs were from racial or ethnic minority families, 37% were Hispanic/Latino and more than 30% were dual language learners (as cited in Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). Unfortunately, starting from the preschool stage and throughout high school, the educational achievements of DLLs tend to

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children NAEYC) recommendations emphasize that early childhood programs are accountable for creating a welcoming environment. The environment should respect diversity, supports children’s ties to their families and community. It should also support both second language acquisition, children home language, as well as cultural identities. Linguistic and cultural diversity is an advantage, not a deficit, for young children. As stated in the DEC/NAEYC joint position statement, the inclusion contributes to how every child with or without disabilities is developing and learning to reach their full potential. However, this can benefit to young children and their family to experience

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),

Bishop Sexton Head Start is a city school located in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn New York City. Bishop Sexton Head Start has a population of 104 pre-K students. This school offer free pre-school education for low-income families. The school seven classrooms serve 2.9 to 4 years old students. Bishop sexton has three UPK classroom with a Lead Teacher and Assistant Teacher and a classroom Aide. Two Inclusion classrooms has four teacher Two General Education Teachers and two Special Education Teachers. The inclusion classroom has several additional teachers and intervention specialist Speech, OT. PT and SIET. provided by Starting Point Services for Children. The two-regular classroom has one Lead Teacher and Assistant Teacher. Teachers who serve

The mission of Petite Genie, is to provide an atmosphere where developmentally appropriate assessment, and active learning is key. Through hard work and play students have the ability to learn at their own pace, and in their own way. We provide a culture that believes that education is fun. Plant your little seedlings on steady educational ground. We will provide an atmosphere that is rich with learning opportunities at every corner, and caters to the different learning styles education is fun, the children of Petit Genie will play with a purpose.

The second classroom I observed was a first grade class of twenty-five students. Students in this class were all of Mexican descent and labeled as early intermediate English language learners. The

“Literacy learning has a profound and lasting effect on the social and academic lives of children. Their future educational opportunities and career choices are directly related to literacy ability. Since early childhood is the period when language develops most rapidly, it is imperative that young children are provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate literacy experiences throughout each day, and that the classroom environment is rich with language, both spoken and printed. Early childhood teachers are responsible for both understanding the developmental continuum of language and literacy and for supporting each child’s literacy development.

During my observations in the different classrooms at “The childcare Center”, I learned about the proper environment, the fundamentals of the teachers lesson plans, their health and safety regulations, their approach to guidance and discipline, and overall quality childcare. The center has eight different levels of age groups; each of them has their own curriculum based on their age and developmental needs. This curriculum changes and has a new theme each month that helps the lead teachers to be able to start their lesson plans each week. From infants all the way to pre-K the lesson plans include fine motor, gross motor, art and sensory, math and manipulatives, music and movement, language including both signing and Spanish.

Constructive early language and literacy development can be an ally to opening a child’s (ren) imagination; this will enhance and empower their potential to become successful readers. As the children grow (birth to 3 yrs. old) their brain goes through an extradinary developmental process and they begin to think, learn, communicate and rationalize things. When this early developmental stage is not being nourished the child will feel the affects of it in the long run. Children that come from low-income families that are enrolled in schools are affected the most. Educators and parents can assist these children by giving them the support (early-on) that they need to sustain a healthy learning environment. As educators it is our duty to create an environment that will help in this process.

The classroom follows a partial day inclusion program. Ms. Welsh’s classroom on the second floor of Village School is considered their base area. The student’s belongings are all kept in the classroom upstairs and they spend the majority of their time there throughout the day. All students are taught by both teachers for math, science, and social studies. For reading and writing, Ms. Wilush teaches three students in a pull-out resource room on the first floor of the building. When it is time for students to review those lessons, the three students make their way down to Ms. Wilush’s classroom with the folders and other materials they may need. Once reading and writing periods are completed, the students either return to Ms. Welsh’s classroom or go to an alternate room for specials such as art or music. Ms. Wilush and Ms. Welsh’s relationship can be described as both friendly and professional. Ms. Welsh is currently going to graduate school for special education, so she is learning a lot from Ms. Wilush’s work. At the same time, Ms. Wilush is taking the opportunity to learn from such an experienced teacher as Ms. Welsh who has taught for ten years. They believe that the best way to work efficiently and achieve the most success for each student is

Of the 27 programs evaluated, six showed strong indication of effectiveness and five had moderate evidence of effectiveness. The results for these programs were on language, literacy and/or phonological awareness. For some of the studies the significant effects were seen at the end of preschool (Direct Instruction, Interactive Book Reading), and for others at the end of kindergarten (Curiosity Corner, ELLM, Ready Set Leap!) (Johns Hopkins University, 35). It is programs that actually show results that improve academic and cognitive strength. That is why it is important to support and fund programs like these.