ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

It is unfortunate that the control group included children who may have been in child care or other non-parental care arrangments--as this appears to me to compromise the results.

If it were not for the Head Start program we would have even more children graduating high school at a fourth grade reding level. H.S. lays the foundation that is so desperately needed for young children, espically those that come from a low income background. If the tehachers are given the opportunity to teach and learn with these children, and the children are given the opportunity to come to a place created just for them-catered to them, an amazing thing will happen. As you can see this amazing thing has already begun to reveal itself. Tomorrow's future is becoming stronger in reading skills, math, and social skills. This all attributed to the Head Start Programs in the United States.

I have to respond to the GA respondent who stated we should start giving preschoolers seat work and work sheets. I don't know about you, but I have an education and a background that is in early childhood, and not one early childhood association, college or group would agree with what you are saying. This is not developmentally appropriate practice (see NAEYC)! Do we, as ECED educators, do what we truely know is not good for young children because the public school is doing it different? I know that we prepare children for K in my center and we do not have dittos or seat work. I didn't want to work in the public schools specifically for this reason. It is disheartening and troubling for me to hear ECED educators compromise what we believe and what we know about young learners. I am thankful I am not a 4 year old in a school full of seat work and dittos! I have trouble doing both of these things as an adult!

As a site supervisor at an early head start program I see firsthand the importance of our program. Children who have been enrolled in ehs from an early age and stay in the program are given experiences they would never have other wise. Allowing these children to continue into head start at the age of 3 only increases their ability to prepare for kindergarten. The only problem is that we are unable to serve the number of children who qualify, due to lack of funding, and that the actual guidelines for qualifying for the program are very unrealistic in San Diego County. Early Head Start and Head Start are working due to the dedication of the teachers, supervisors and supporting staff of the grantees.

I am a proponent of mixed grouping (including ethnicity, ages, and economic levels) hwever, Head Start meets a need and I challenge critics to see where the children would be without it. The gap may not be closed but it is smaller because of Head Start.

I understand the positive aspects of High Scope and Creative Curricullum, etc. but I believe that by using those strictly, we are not helping children make a smooth transition to elementary school. We are showing them one way, then putting them into Kindergarten where everything they have done in preK or headstart is thrown away. If we truly want to prepare them, we must start teaching them sitting as a class, doing some formal worksheet type activities, whole group activities. This is what they are doing in kindergarten. Maybe mixing some teacher directed with the child directed activities would better prepare them for school. Each child should be help, directed to learning to write their name, alphabets, basic skills. Add this mix to Head Start and we will see more positive results that those presented in this report.

If the family doesn't have sufficient income for housing, food, medical care, utilities then just increasing the child's educational skills isn't going to make that big of a difference. It is invaluable and important, but it isn't the magic wand that will take away all the other factors influencing the child and their family. Hopefully the child will see the importance of education as a means to change their lives, but that is a long way in the future for these children. Gradually the trend will change, but the system we have is not a quick fix. Head Start does work, and it works very well, but it can't do it all. Decent wages and affordable healthcare will go a long way in improving the lives of these children and their families. That and Head Start working together will make a great impact in the lives of children.

Head Start Programs to myself and others is another way for the government to control families. Once enrolled the families are totally under direction of others for their children's early years without choices.

I have been fortunate to observe Head Start Programs in my area as well as to have Head Start Children in my Child Care and Preshool Programs in the Past. What I have found based on testing provided to Pre-Kindergarten students prior to kindergarten enrollment is that our children who have gone through our preschool program (or others) of social skills, literacy based learned in both reading and in math, test above the district average more often than those that attended Head Start who require a Jr. Kindergarten or Developmental Kindergarten Program in lieu of Kindergarten.

Good Child Care Homes or Centers, along with Pre-school with programs that combine, play, social skills as well as literacy based learning prepare children ready and able to learn at their Kindergarten enrollment age. There will always be children in every economic level that will require additional learning in order to be able to achieve educational success.

Head Start is "another name" added to our society of early learning programs for our young children to be labeled "differently challenged", before they are given opportunities to succeed in normal pathways.