Head Start 101

When Cecilia Garcia recently visited a Washington, DC-based Head Start facility, she learned a lot—and shared the story of the Rosemount Center with you. Many Head Start advocates responded with their own opinions on the future of the program.

While the quality of Head Start programs is variable around the country, there is absolutely no reason whatever to change the Head Start paradigm. It is child-oriented, family-friendly and supportive, and comprehensive in services to a diverse population of low-income children. Head Start was conceptualized by some of the best minds in the child development and early education fields. Some of these scholars continue to contribute to our knowledge base in child development and early childhood. We must not allow childhood to become so politicized that the best judgment of those in the know is circumvented by those who are not in the know but have a political agenda. We in the early childhood profession are quite capable of promoting quality improvements and working collaboratively to that end.

Margaret Puckett

Thank you for a fair and well-balanced report on Head Start. I am a Head Start Director in Michigan and I am very worried about President Bush's plan for Head Start. It is very gratifying when a reporter or legislator takes the time to really look at a Head Start program and understand its comprehensive nature.

Kathy Kundrat
Head Start Director
Northwest Michigan Human Services

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Navigating Foster Care

Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses, is a memoir by poet Paula McLain who grew up in the foster care system along with her sisters, Teresa and Penny. In “Three Sisters”, Susan Phillips approached McLain’s memoir as an argument in favor of keeping siblings together in foster care.

Unfortunately, this story is too common. I used to work for Juvenile Records in Las Vegas, Nevada. I remember a mother calling us, telling us she couldn't care for her five small children as her husband ran away and left her without money, food, etc. I always have wondered what became of these five children and their mother. I was widowed at the age of 30 years old, leaving me with six children ages a baby to 10 years old. Fortunately, I had my mother and father and in-laws helping me out with food, clothing, etc.

Lois Denaut

As someone who has known several foster children and worked in the school system for a while, I see the pain in the eyes of many children. I will begin my first year as an elementary school teacher in August, and hope to eventually take in some abandoned children once I have settled into teaching. Those of us who love kids feel their pain and want to take it away from them and carry it on our own shoulders. Thank you for writing such a touching article about a problem so prevalent in our society. I look forward to reading Ms. McLain's book.

Patricia Martin

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Pot of Gold?

A number of readers were upset to learn of the uncertain future faced by TV’s Reading Rainbow, in Robert Capriccioso’s story “Rainbow’s End?”

Our 4 year-old son loves Reading Rainbow. He is already reading and loves to have the stories read to him from the program. It would be an awful shame to lose such a wonderful, fun, educational show! We donate to PBS every year. It is a shame our money is not being spread evenly among the wonderful shows available.

Carl and Diane Miller
Martinsville, In

I am a parent who grew up watching Reading Rainbow and took their book suggestions to the bookstore to purchase for both my children as well as for my friends’ children. I am outraged that in this time of school readiness and early literacy and children first "talk" shows like this are being cut back. My children are 8 and 10 now and still love to come home from school and watch Reading Rainbow. My daughter loves the pictures; she wants to be an illustrator. My son likes all of the places they go. Kids need to have these experiences that are at a pace that they can understand and really focus on. Many shows are too fast and bright and hard to follow. Keep it pure and perfect.

Lana Phillips
Paradise, CA

Inquiries about donations to the show should be directed via email to Steve Lenzen or Nan Schweiger.

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Your IDEAs

Susan Phillips’ commentary on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, “A Battle of IDEAs”, got the attention of many parents of children with special needs. One mother explains her situation:

As the parent of a dyslexic child who is qualified as LD, I have first hand experience with the problems with the implementation of the IDEA. The problem with using funding to help children not qualified as LD is not just the amount of money available, it is what the schools will do with it. Currently, even for reading disabled children like mine, no reading instruction is provided or available past grades 1 to 3 depending on where you live. If schools do not even provide specific reading instruction for their worst readers, what will they do with the money for marginal readers? My daughter is also qualified for LD in math. No remediation is available for math. The current LD system in the schools just provides support services so the children don't fail. They do not remediate. They do not even write goals in the IEP for math since they don't know what to do with it. Again, it they don't know anything to do for these kids, what will they do with to help marginal children? These are the problems that need to be addressed first before they decrease parents' rights to try to force instruction out of the school. We had to threaten to sue the school just to get a phonics instruction for our daughter. Phonics instruction is the research proven need for dyslexic children, this info has been out since early 1990's. We bought the reading instruction package for the school ourselves. If this bill had passed before our daughter was in the system, the school would have just ignored us and our daughter would never have received any instruction at all.

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Potpourri

Some of you love us, some of you don’t:

Thank you for the Connections e-letter that you and your team put together and get out to us in the educational field. Your focus on the needs of children and families is clear and compelling. I am always pleased to forward your newsletter on to all of the teachers that I work with in California in the hopes that they find extended resources for their classrooms, and growing opportunities to engage their students as well as their students' families.

Brian Ausland
Professional Development Coordinator
Center for Distributed Learning - California

It seems that all of your info is taken from the liberal side of the spectrum. It would be a nice change to see our kids have a choice as to what others say about these issues besides the chosen liberals you have gathered here. Balanced reporting is what kids need right now. So that they can make up their minds for themselves.

John Spence

To all of you we ask: what can we do better? Write us a note—we'd like to feature your opinion in our next talkback feature.

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Talk Back

If you've got comments or questions about this story, we'd like to hear them. Send your response to Susan Phillips.