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Getting an early start on learning

The federal program serves infants to 3-year-olds, but limited funding keeps it from expanding to serve a growing waiting list.

By SHAWNTAYE HOPKINS
Published July 11, 2005

HERNANDO - Two-year-old Mercedes Roy of Beverly Hills was one of the less rambunctious kids at Early Head Start on Thursday.

Shortly before lunch, she and her classmates gathered at a table coloring in shapes drawn by their teacher, Hollie Dunn. Mercedes quietly used her green crayon to fill in the leaves of a rose.

When Dunn drew a circle and asked Mercedes to make it an orange, she colored that green too.

Okay, it's a lime now, the teacher said.

This was just one of the activities designed to prepare mostly low-income kids as young as 6 weeks old for academic and social success.

Although it's difficult to rate the program's success since it started in Citrus County almost three years ago, those involved with Early Head Start say it has been beneficial.

Citrus has 24 Early Head Start slots. Twenty are for children, like Mercedes, who are 6 weeks to 3 years old. The other four are reserved for pregnant women, who attend classes on topics such as breast feeding, what to expect during delivery and what to expect after childbirth. From time to time, they also volunteer with the Early Head Start kids.

The waiting list for Early Head Start continues to grow, said Thelma Griffith, director of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Citrus and Marion counties.

There are 250 applicants for Early Head Start in Citrus and Marion.

"We have no problems keeping the centers full," she said.

The program lacks enough financial support to expand in Citrus, although the need is great, Griffith said.

The program began here in December 2002. Like Head Start, Early Head Start is federally funded. The combined Early Head Start budget for Marion and Citrus is $1.3-million. This includes 116 slots, including the 24 in Citrus.

Early Head Start is based at the Historic Hernando School, 2415 N Florida Ave. (U.S. 41). It consists of three classrooms, one for each age group.

The infant classroom includes floor activity mats. Colorful plastic fish swim in one water-filled mat. The students, who are not even 1, become more familiar with cause and effect in this room using Jack-in-the-Box-type toys.

The 1-year-old classroom includes bins of building blocks and other items. The children tend to dump the items out, but eventually learn to clean them up.

The 2-year-old classroom includes three stairs and a ramp to help kids exercise large muscles groups such as arms and legs. These muscles are also developed during outdoor activities.

The children exercise smaller muscles, such as fingers and toes, called fine motor development, by cutting Play-Doh with scissors. This prepares the children for cutting paper in the future.

One learning tool is found in each classroom: books.

Books sit on the shelves. Books about trucks sit near plastic toy trucks. Books are carried away by children eager to have a teacher read to them.

"You think, why do you want to teach babies to read?" curriculum supervisor Glenda Stone said. "Even babies have to start somewhere."

The younger children, who often stick non-food items in their mouths, are not discouraged.

"They learn with their senses," Stone said.

That's why many books at Early Head Start are made of cloth or cardboard. For similar reasons, some artwork is created using pudding or yogurt.

Although the students can't read, they begin to realize many things about reading and books at these young ages. For example, they might understand what a cover is, or that sentences go from left to right.

As Mercedes' group sang Wheels on the Bus , she stared at the pages of a children's book about a chicken who takes a walk. Still, she managed to maneuver hand motions showing that the horn went "beep, beep, beep."

Her teacher asked if she wanted the book, Rosie's Walk , read to the whole group. She did.

But, before that, they sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star .

When a lunch of carrots, cabbage rolls and mixed fruit was served, not all the children were hungry.

One boy didn't want lunch. Instead, he cried and screamed until calming down after a short nap.

Early Head Start has three children in the 2-year-old classroom who started in the infant classroom.

These children, as well as the others, have been exposed to learning and social skills they probably wouldn't have obtained at home, Stone said.

Children are automatically moved to the next classroom each year. They keep the same teachers for consistency in care, Stone said. The Early Head Start children are too young to adapt to a new teacher each year like schoolage children.

The school day runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children attend the program year-round with some short vacation time.

Parents are encouraged to enter their child into Early Head Start at 3 months of age. But the program accepts 6-week-old children whose parents work outside the home.

Early Head Start officials make regular visits to the homes of parents who participated in the pregnancy program, but whose child has not yet started attending Early Head Start.

Children are permitted to stay in the program until age 3, when parents can apply for regular Head Start.

The Early Head Start teachers, who are certified child development associates, assess each student every week determing goals for the following week. One student, for example, might need to practice jumping on both feet.

There is one teacher for every four students in Early Head Start.

Parents are also asked to set goals for their children to include on the assesments.

The program is accepting applications for the new school year, which starts Aug. 10.

[Last modified July 11, 2005, 01:00:09]