Just Daycare?!?

I have to say that whenever I hear the words "It's just daycare", my blood pressure rises just a bit, actually, more than a little.  So I took some time to think about why those words upset me.  Many years ago daycares were simply babysitting services.  They provided very little in the way of structured routines and basic, what we consider today, developmental learning opportunities. However, the more I reflected on today's daycares, the more I realized that they look very similar to what we have at Head Start.  Most of the better daycares and preschools offer children good, sound developmental curriculum with loving environments where they can learn and thrive.  They play and learn within healthy environments and are exposed to a wide variety of experiences so that when they do start school they are ready for a more academic venue.

That brings me to the next part of this “just daycare” issue.  What separates Head Start from the others? Why Head Start, if we all offer good, high quality, developmentally appropriate activities for 3 and 4-year-olds?  Well, at Head Start we offer these wonderful, exceptional opportunities to those children who cannot afford daycare or preschool.  Head Start is income based.  You have to qualify to get into our program.  Our children come from homes with loving parents, grandparents, guardians, etc who cannot afford those other options.  We also offer community services for those parents and caregivers.  We reach out to the entire family, not just the children; offering to find services for them and help where it is needed.

Head Start reaches beyond the classroom and requires parent involvement, home visits, and open communication.  We help the families find the things that they need to make their lives better.  Not to mention, the special relationship that Navasota Head Start has with Navasota ISD.  I work with our Pre-K teachers to make sure that our students are exposed to the information they need to give them the best beginning they can have when they start Pre-K in our district.  I hear so many positive comments about our Head Start children those first few weeks of school; how they know how to walk in line, sit on the floor and know their colors, shapes and can write their names.

So, while some may consider us “just daycare”,  please know that this is not a negative statement anymore.  Daycare is not a bad thing, these days.  A good daycare is a wonderful experience for your child. However, Navasota Head Start is all that and so much more!

Positively positive that this will be another great year!!!

The first weeks of school at Head Start always remind me of that commercial "herding cats".  It looks and sounds like complete chaos, but actually, it's not.  Our teachers and staff always take the time to remember that these beautiful little children have been in this world for 36 months.  A few months longer for some of them, but that's not a lot of time.  Their tears those first few days are their way of saying "mommy, I love you and I want you to know that."  Once those children walk through those classroom doors, they become our children too.  They are now our babies.  It is amazing to me how quickly that happens.  The bond is almost immediate.  There have been home visits and other contacts before that first step inside the school, the first day of school, they are now ours too.

We have had eight days of school with these wonderful, curious 3 year olds.  Most of them can already sit on the floor and listen to a story, walk in a line (on a rope) to get outside to the playground), wash their hands, feed themselves, throw away their trash after they eat, play with manipulatives and so much more.  Considering that some of these children have never been away from home before, this is nothing short of miraculous.

This is the beginning of a fantastic year that had a crazy start.  The teachers missed all their pre-service training thanks to Hurricane Harvey.  We are still trying to catch up on paperwork, but in the long run, we are all about these precious gifts that are trusted to us by their parents.  We take that responsibility very seriously.

I want to end this week's blog with some feedback I received from one of Webb's Pre-K teacher's about a Head Start student from last year.

Teacher:  Let's look at these letters.  Can you tell me any of them?
Student:  Well, let's start at the top. (She proceeded to name all the capital letters)
Teacher:  How did you get so smart?
Student:  Well, I went to Head Start!
(Side note, the teacher said that there was an attitude of self-assurance involved in her responses, I just love it!!!!!)