Preschool

1. Preschool • Preschool types • Head Start • Temperament • Behavior problems

2. Preschool: Types • Montessori • Waldorf • High/Scope

3. Preschool: Types • Other types • Church- or temple-run programs • Community organizations (YMCA) • Large companies • Bright Horizons (600 nationwide, work-site) • Children’s Creative Learning Centers (18 in CA and CO) • Parent-run cooperatives

4. Preschool: Montessori • Philosophy • Founded by pediatrician / psychiatrist Maria Montessori in 1907, • Emphasizes connection of all living things, and need for each person to find meaningful work and own place in the world • Child will learn at his or her own pace • Classroom • Five areas: Practical life, Sensory awareness education, Language arts, Mathematics and geometry, Cultural subjects • Most of interaction is among children: Older kids help younger ones learn how to master new skills • Who it's best for • Children who want a hands-on learning environment suited to their own needs • Special needs, especially ADHD or other learning or psychological problems, because of individual attention

5. Preschool: Waldorf • Philosophy • Stimulate and develop ‘spirit, soul, and body’ • Engage in creative free play rather than watching TV and videos and playing computer games • Classroom • Comfortable, homelike environment • Daily activities range from painting, coloring, singing, and reciting poems to modeling with beeswax, baking bread, building houses out of boxes, sheets, and boards • Dressing up and pretending to be parents, kings, and magicians • Who it's best for • More group-oriented • Good for children who thrive on order and rhythmic repetition • Not recommended for children with severe developmental disabilities

6. Preschool: High / Scope • Philosophy • Active involvement with people, materials, ideas, and events • Curriculum of "shared control" in which adults and children learn together • Children encouraged to make own choices about materials and activities • Classroom • Key experiences: Creative representation, Language and literacy, Social relations, Movement, Music • Computers • Who it's best for • Children who need individual attention • Originally created for at-risk urban children and used in Head Start • Effective for children with developmental delays and learning disabilities

7. Head Start: History • Part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty • Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 authorized programs to meet needs of disadvantaged preschool children • Panel of child development experts drew up program • Office of Economic Opportunity • Launched Project Head Start in 1965 • Designed to help end poverty by providing low-income preschoolers with program meeting emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs • Today, Head Start is a program within Administration on Children, Youth and Families in HHS • Programs are administered locally by non-profit organizations and local school systems

8. Head Start: Programs • Early Head Start • Promotes healthy prenatal outcomes • Promotes healthy family functioning • Strengthens development of infants and toddlers • Head Start • Helps create healthy development in low-income children • Offers wide variety of services to influence all aspects of a child's development and learning • Migrant and Seasonal Program Branch • American Indian-Alaska Native Program Branch

9. Head Start: Services • Eligibility • Largely income-based (100% of the federal poverty level) • Each local program includes other eligibility criteria such as disabilities and services to other family members • <10% of enrollment can be from over-income families • Disabilities - full services to children with disabilities • Education • Goal of Head Start is to ensure that children are ready to begin school • HS educational standards have become de facto standards for high-quality pre-school education programs • Family and Community Partnerships • Health • Provides health screenings • Ensures regular health check-ups, including dental care • Teaches good practices in oral health, hygiene, nutrition, personal care, and safety

10. Head Start: Effectiveness • Summary of 31 studies (Lee et al.,1990) • Head Start program showed • Immediate improvement in IQ scores of participating children • After beginning school, the non-participants were able to narrow the IQ difference • Diminution of effects over time, especially for low-ability children, may reflect differences in quality of subsequent schooling or home environment

11. Head Start: Effectiveness • HHS Head Start Impact Study (2002 – 2006) • 5,000 newly entering 3- and 4-year old children applying for Head Start • Randomly assigned to Head Start group or non- Head Start group • Data collection began Fall 2002 and continued through 2006 (spring of 1st grade) • Children who entered Head Start as 3-year-olds • Higher parent use of educational activities • Lower parent use of physical discipline • No significant impact for safety practices • Children who entered Head Start as 4-year-olds • Higher parent use of educational activities • No significant impacts for discipline or safety practices

12. Preschool: Temperament • Easy • Very social, comfortable in groups, can fit into most situations • When she wants something she can't have, it's easy to distract her before emotions escalate • When she's out of sorts, she’s easy to calm • Has a lot of staying power at a single task • When traveling, she can go with the flow and shift gears easily • Sensitive, slow-to-warm up • Slow to adapt to new situations • Likes the world ordered and knowable • Hates to be interrupted when engrossed • May not do well in social gatherings, especially if feeling pushed • If left to own pace, can mature into thoughtful, sensitive thinker

13. Preschool: Temperament • Spirited, active • Active physically, often willful, may be prone to temper tantrums • Very social and curious • Adventurer, very determined • Needs very clear boundaries, so that he doesn't act like a steamroller, trampling anyone or anything in her path • Given good guidance and an outlet for energy, can be a leader • Negative, difficult • Angry, obstinate, needs things to be her way • Great at independent play, but easily frustrated • Finds it hard to express herself, may become a biter or pusher • Tend to be insightful, resourceful, creative

14. Preschool: Behavior Problems • Yale Child Study Center - Gilliam • Survey responses from 3,900 teachers • Educators use expulsion three times more often with troublesome preschoolers than do their colleagues who teach K-12 • Preschool boys were 4.5 percent more likely than girls to be expelled • African-American children were twice as likely as their white or Latino peers to be expelled

15. Preschool: Behavior Problems • Aggression – predicts oppositional, violent behavior • Parent counseling • Time out • Verbal reprimand: saying “No,” explaining the rule for proper behavior, or warning of consequences if the aggression persists • Reward system: withdrawing privileges for aggression or providing incentives, such as a star chart, for prosocial behavior; • Redirection: having the child focus on something else • Promoting empathy: helping the child understand how aggression made the other child feel

16. Preschool: Behavior Problems • Shyness and fearfulness or behavioral inhibition - predicts social anxiety • Parent counseling • Encourage child to talk to parent • Limit isolating activities such as watching TV • Praise positive handling of social situations • Give child some undivided attention each day • Help child become independent and confident by teaching self-care skills

17. Preschool: Behavior Problems • Speech problems (5.8%) • Developmental delay (3.2%) • ADHD (2 - 5%) • Causes significant functional impairments • Is stable over time • Predicts behavioral problems later in childhood