Families get a Head Start on helping kids succeed

Head Start, the federal preschool program, serves roughly 1 million poor children and kids with disabilities. Spikes and cuts in its funding make headlines, but less known is the quiet expansion of family services with an eye to long-term change for its kids.

At the Margaret L. Annear Head Start center in south Modesto, kids are playing dress-up and talking about clothes. The topic seemed to be of interest, said early childhood master teacher Carmen Alvarez, and she has learned to take her cues from the kids.

“When I see an interest, we develop it. It helps that the children are interested in something. When I first started, I found things and made them fun. But it was all me. Now, I follow the kids,” said Alvarez, a 27-year preschool teaching veteran who holds a bachelor’s degree in child development.

But fashion week in her class goes beyond costumes and well-dressed dolls. Sorting by sizes and colors. Practicing hanging up, folding and putting away. Exploring books about clothes. Pinching clothes pins. Gluing buttons while counting to four. Dressing bears – buttoning buttons, snapping snaps, zipping zippers and tying laces – vexing things for stubby fingers.

Even clothes have an academic side – who knew?

“Preschool has changed. It’s not just play anymore,” Alvarez said, looking around at the youngsters tracing their names using chubby dry-erase pens.

But where preschools really shine are with nonacademic skills.

“Preschool is important for transitioning away from the family, getting used to being in a group. Being here just really prepares them for the next step. It’s the difference between crying when they’re dropped off or not. Being socially ready. Making friends. Following routines. Solving problems,” she said.

“Sometimes they come in shy, scared. I love to see the growth between when the first come in and when they leave. They have that confidence,” Alvarez said.

The Stonum Road Head Start run by the Stanislaus County Office of Education serves a number of children with special needs in its regular program.

“It helps both sides. It’s not just the child with disabilities. When (nondisabled kids) help, they get that empathy – that’s so important,” Alvarez said. “In early education, they have really moved from ‘No’ to ‘Yes, you can. We can get you support.’”

Across town at Martone Elementary, a full-day Head Start run by Modesto City Schools has a family service specialist on site. Mayra Toledo checks in with families every six to eight weeks, talking about needs and setting personal goals with parents to get often chaotic lives moving forward.

“I’m always busy,” said Toledo with grin. She works one-on-one with families to solve everyday problems, like getting a working car or finding a low-cost dentist, and larger issues, like mental health or substance-abuse counseling. Monthly meetings follow what she sees families need, from health tips to car seats to positive parenting.

“The hardest (need to fill) would be affordable housing. Those waiting lists go on for years,” she said. There is a high need for counseling services for children as well. Bad behavior can be a lingering effect of trauma kids live with, like domestic violence or watching a parent be arrested.

A statewide study on stress released in November found more than a quarter of California adults lived with an alcoholic or drug addict as children, and nearly 1 in 10 experienced neglect. Some 18 percent reported witnessing domestic violence, and 11 percent suffered sexual abuse, according to “A Hidden Crisis: Findings on Adverse Childhood Experiences in California,” by the Center for Youth Wellness.

“There’s this misconception. People think it’s child care, but if you could see what happens in the classroom. We involve parents. There’s a parent committee that makes decisions on the budget and hiring – there’s a lot to it,” Toledo said.

Toledo believes in the system that once helped her. “I was a Head Start student,” she said, “I know what it’s like.” That firsthand insight helps her understand the needs, which grew exponentially during the recession.

“Some of these families were working and lost their jobs, lost their homes. Times were hard, and if they didn’t have Head Start, I don’t know what they’d do,” Toledo said.

No matter what is happening at home, Head Start offers kids a stable, structured day. Hand washing happens before breakfast and lunch, served family style. Youngsters pass bowls and dish food onto their own plates. A teacher or aide sits at each table, leading the way with “Pleases” and “Thank yous.” Tooth-brushing follows.

“We know it’s important for them to get it here,” Toledo said.

The Modesto district has part-day Head Start programs at 15 campuses and full-day programs at three. It offers state-paid preschool, which has a higher income threshold and a more play-based day, at 16 sites. The district also contracts with 20 family child care homes for subsidized care of low-income children.

“When you talk about school readiness, it’s not just cognitive skills. It’s: Are they healthy? Do they have the social-emotional (skills)?” said Mickey Boelter, head of the Modesto City Schools child development program. Providing intensive preschool help not only helps the kids and families, she added, “it helps the schools be prepared for the students we have.”

It was Dr. Seuss week at Martone’s Head Start, with a low rack stuffed with the classic rhyming books. The center bustled noisily with youngsters enjoying a free-flowing play time.

A boy having a bad morning got a one-to-one discussion in a special corner, a short calm-down time to vent and regroup that has replaced timeouts in most preschools. “It’s a break. We sat and talked so I could understand,” teacher MaryAnn Carisoza said afterward. “Calm. Breathe. Talk. Help you problem-solve.”

In the blocks area, a little girl attached a cross-piece to a car and made it fly over a penned-in tractor and a fort under construction. At tables, small hands strained to squeeze tongs, picking up a critters and placing them in a pattern by colors.

The double classroom space had photos of the children on every wall. “This is not the teachers’ room. This is our room,” Carisoza said.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Families get a Head Start on helping kids succeed."