Head Start
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion Archive: Archive November 2005:
Head Start
Does anyone have any experience with this programme? I am doing an assingment about Sure Start which is a programme in the UK to eradicate child poverty and help children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The UK programme was copied from Head Start, that's where the idea came from. It has only been in place since 1998 so it's early to evaluate its effectiveness.
Do you think Head Start has been succesfull in what it aimed to achieve? What do you think were/are the good things about it? I have read that people on the programme were evaluated some years later and had committed less crimes, had done better in school, etc. Why do think this is?
Thanks in advance for any comments, it will help me tremendously for my assingment.
Maria.
My Mother works for HS. I think it's a wonderful program. These children often times are not in the best situations at home and this may be the only time that someone really cares about them. HS provides breakfast and lunch for them. HS also sees to it that these children are up to date on their shots and wellness Dr.'s visits. They also see that they have the items that they need--such as a winter coat. My Mother is a family worker and she makes sure that the familes have what they need--like a social worker. HS also tries to prepare these children for Kindergarten by teaching them to write their names and learn the alphabet. It's also the first time many of them are in a structured environment. Some have behavioral issues, but most are just in need of attention.
HS is also a big resource for immigrant families coming to this country. So, there are many children that do not speak English, but they learn quickly.
Unfortunately, and sadly, there has been many budget cuts to HS. There are no longer buses at HS. (At least in the state my Mother works in) So, many of these families have no transportation and children can't make it to school. Teachers and family workers are being laid off. It's very, very sad. I think our (US) President is trying to phase it out. I'm hoping it fails! I think it's a wonderful program and for many children, it's the boost they need. HTH
Does England have free preschool or child care like France?
I think it is wonderful though I have no experience with it. We live in a middle class neighborhood and 25% of the folks choose not to send their kids to preschool due to finances or they want their child home. I think nursery school cost about $8 to $15 dollars an hour.
It is just obvious to me that any child with an sort of delay - physical - speech - ot - social - that the head start program would help.
Gives the schools the opportunity to catch things early.
My cousin went to it, and she loved it. She learned so much from Head Start. I might try and get Rylee in one when she gets older.
Thanks so much Eve, Feona, Rayanne,
Eve, why do you think the cuts are happening? It would be very very sad like you said because for what i have read HS has been very succesful in helping disadvantaged children.
Feona, yes in England they have free childcare places for three and four year olds. They offer free part time (usually 2 and a half hours a day) places for 3 yo and free full time (usually from 9.30 to 3.30 )places for 4 yo. They want to extend it to two year olds, and they are looking at it now. Some parents associations are outraged by this and others think it's wonderful (I wonder why policy-making is so difficult!  ).
In the UK, Sure Start delivers a lot of programmes for under fives which bring together health, education and social services, and many are really good. My experience with them is that they are used by a lot of middle class parents and that the services that are offered is for these parents, so sometimes i have wondered what is the point in spending so much money if all you are offering is day trips and story sessions and African drumming (one African lady in my course agreed with me and she said "not even Africans are interested in African drumming!"). What i mean is because Sure Start involved many parents from the beginning to help with the design of the services then of course a lot of the services reflect those parents, and many come from middle-class backgrounds.
But of course is not like this in all the Sure Start programmes around the country, and that is what I am reseraching.I want to talk about the real effectiveness of them implementing the policies they deliver and one way I thought is to talk about the original programme where the idea came from.
Rayanne, HS is only for financially eligible families (poverty line) unfortunately!
I wrote a long post about this earlier and it's not on here!  Sorry. I have experience with HS...I'll try to write more later!
I meant I answered this post with a long response earlier.... I don't know where it went!!
Thanks Deanna, I'd love to read about it.
I wish I really knew, Maria. With the No Child Left Behind, the federal government is sort of taking over responsibility that the state government had. In theory, I think it's good, but it has a lot of downfalls and I think it just relies on test scores too much. It's young, so who knows what will happen. I don't know if these new propsed budget cuts have anything to do with this Act.
I do know, it's extremely sad. We complain about crime and the high drop out rate and we don't want to pay for people to be on welfare, but we won't put the money into a program for "at risk" children. We should be expanding the program and putting more money into it. These poor kids are being left behind. You are right--they have a lower drop out rate and commit less crime after going through this program. It's incredibly sad to think how much we spend on War and we have to cut money for children.
Article
Do a search for "Head Start Cut Backs" and you'll find lots of information.
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