I'm so mad I could spit!
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive August 2004:
I'm so mad I could spit!
My youngest dd is in the headstart program. This is the federal program for low income families for preschool.
I've pretty much had a kid in the program for the past 4 years. Last year we moved and the school seemed like they didnt want to come to our new place to p/u her. We are now @ 4 miles from the school. They tried all kinds of things like for field trips the bus couldnt pick her up so I had to bring her in. This ticked me off because a big bus picks my other kids up and goes up the road to a turnaround and comes back down. (we live on a major highway that is on the county line so we are last house in the school district) Well that is to dangerous to do with preschoolers, so I had to take her for field trips. They mentioned how we were out of the way all the time.
Last year, we had only 2 people be on parent committee. One was me! I was chairperson. I was the one who sold all the crappy candy bars! I did all the footwork... I busted my butt for the program. I attended all the meetings and I volunteered in the classroom and on field trips. Heck I even got training so I could and I was approved to be hired as a substitute teacher.
The school sent me notice a few weeks ago that she was in the program again, had me do her physicals and dental stuff and we were to have an inhome visit next week. Well today I got a message on the machine from the gal ahead of the program. One that I know and have known for a few years since dh and I took a parenting class from her.
I called her back and as I expected.. DD is not scheduled on the bus route because we are out of the way. I have to bring her to school everyday and then go home and go back to pick her up. I told her, please withdraw her as I will not take her back an forth. Our finances are very tight so I don't want to spend extra on the gas to transport her back and forth. I also told her I expected it. She told me to talk to dh about it before w/d her. No need to talk to him. He is with me. We are both sick of being taken advantage of by them. She said she will keep dd in the program and if she doesnt hear from me w/i a few days she will take her off the program and fill it with another child. I told her no need. She is out of the program now. I will do her preschool program at home and get her ready.
Do you think this is fair? I really am fit to be tied. I have been trying to do a search online to see if in PA they can provide transportation for some but not others. But I can't find anything yet.
And I'd like to ask.. can anyone help me with developing a preschool program for dd? Or know of someone's online page with free curriculum to use? I really want to keep her going so she won't be behind for kindy. As of right now, she writes her name upside down and doesnt even know the letters. They won't "force" the kids on anything. Only make suggestions, so she doesnt know her letters or numbers. I tried to work with her before but she was distracted with her siblings but they will all be in school so hopefully we can do it together everyday. It sounds stupid for me to ask but doing this type of teaching stuff, I'm just not the greatest at. So any help would be appreciated.
It sounds to me like they really didn't teach her anything anyway. So you are at no loss, there are plenty of curriculum activities out there and free printable ones. I have some for my own dd, I can't remember the exact address but I think I did a search for printable tracing activities, all kinds of stuff comes up. I think the coolest was printactivities.com Anyway Good Luck and sorry you had to deal with that.
I would call the lady back & ask for a copy of the curriculum. I would explain how little your daughter has learned. Then I would call the school district & ask what your dd will need to know in order to get into kindergarten.
I will tell you that my friend had a similar problem with her dd learning & she brought her concerns up to the teacher. She was told that it is the parents responsibility to teach their child as well & if she wasn't learning then maybe they needed to work harder at home. The little girl no longer attends that program.
What an awful experience. For sure, check into the bussing issue. I think they have to provide it for you.
As far as preschool curricula go, the main problem is that the whole thrust and focus of preschool is interaction and social skills with other children and adults in a more structured environment than the child has at home. You may be able to provide the ABC's and 123's, but you can't provide the other stuff in a one on one environment or even with a few kids. The key is to get her ready to follow another adult's routine and structure.
I'd be really mad, too.
Good luck, and don't give up. Check on the bussing. Have the school send you a copy of the bussing policy - or better yet, contact the school district or agency that oversees the school.
Ame
I would defintly contact the district. Explain everything that you have done for the program etc. I'm sure someone, somewhere would pull a few strings. Maybe they could pick your daughter up in the morning and you pick up in the afternoon. Preschool is important for socialization skills. I have found that unless children attend 4-5 full days a week they may not pick up on their ABC's or numbers. It is all about repetition at this age. Flashcards are great. The Leappad books are also very good. If you type teaching your child the alphabet in the search engine many sites will come up. I hope it works out for you.
I agree with Stori, check with the School District and the program administrators - top level, not at the school itself, about the rules. If it were me, I'd also call my local congressman's office. Head Start being a federally funded program, I am sure there are rules about transportation, and also rules about curriculum. Sounds to me like you are getting a real runaround, and I would not be surprised if it has to do with the bus company as much as with the school. And if you call your local congressman's office, be sure to tell them that because of this local program's rules about the bus, your child is being "left behind".
I have homeschooled my children.
My oldest has been homeschooled until this year and she has now entered the second grade in public school.
I am homeschooling my youngest (4) in preschool. We use McGraw Hill Learn At Home, $30 for the book but it covers the entire 39 weeks and comes in every grade. Cirriculum can be so expensive, but I have found that this one book can cover most of our needs.
When my oldest entered public school she came home with her reading book and math book, both of them are McGraw Hill, so the public school is using the same cirriculum we are using.
Learn At Home
Reading, Language Arts, Spelling, Math, Science, and Social Studies From the Editors of American Education Publishing A Total Curriculum Guide to Teach Your Child at Home 36 weeks of lesson plans, step by step instructions, Ready to use activity sheets, MHkids.com McGraw Hill Children's Publishing 29.95
Comes in Pre-K all the way up. Every grade.
Also, my preschooler loves www.funschool.com it has games appropriate for preschoolers and kindergartenders. Hope that helps. AJ
I don't have any advice as far as the bussing and a curriculum but I thought I'd add my two cents.
Pre-school is not mandatory and is not completely necessary for a child to be ready for kindergarten. I didn't go to pre-school and graduated from HS and college with high honors. My dd(8) didn't go to any type of pre-school program or daycare or anything like that, and she was perfectly ready for kindergarten. My ds(5) went to a 2 hr. a day/3 days a week pre-school and just started kindergarten this year. He barely could write his name, can't write all of the letters or numbers, and doesn't even recognize every letter all the time. But that's okay, because that is what the teachers teach them in kindergarten. They do not have to know everything before they start. If they are too advanced, they are going to be very bored in kindergarten, and that is not a good thing.
I think headstart and pre-school are okay, but I just wish everyone didn't feel it was a necessity for a child to start kindergarten. Kids need to be kids and my ds just didn't have any interest in learning how to write all of his letters at age four. However, my dd did at age 4, and even age three, so she learned. It is all dependent on the child. I feel if they are pressured and pushed before they are ready, it just gives reason for them not wanting to learn when it is necessary.
So don't feel guilty if you do pull your child out of headstart. Your dd will be fine, and she'll learn all she needs to know for kindergarten. And if she can't write all of her letters when she starts, that's okay, too. She'll learn at school.
Hope everything works out for you! 
First off let me say that I would check into this, but I think a headstart program has to provide transportation. Really really check into this, don't let them bully their way into this. And now on curriculum. Preschool's only real importance in my opinion is socialization skills. We are pushing our kids way to fast to learn and studies show it is just developmentally inappropriate to force them to write and read before kindergarten. I am not saying that it isn't okay to teach them if they are truely interested. If you feel like you can get your child to a playgroup or structured activities with other children HER AGE at least a couple of times a week then preschool isn't that big of deal. So what do you do to get your child ready for kinder. First and foremost, read read read to your child. You really should read 4-5 books a day minimum at that age. Work on fine motor skills with measure cups, rice, beans etc. Count things as you see them, like the steps when you go up, towels as you fold laundry, etc. Label things in your house, each drawer could be labeled with contents and pictures. Walk into any preschool room and you will find a label on everything and posters on the walls. Make color posters for your house, find food wrappers, magazine pictures, junk mail, all things blue and glue them to a poster board. You can have her play with magnectic letters on a cookie sheet. In general if you expose her to things she will pick them up. she may not be formally reading, but it will come. My the end of first grade it all balances out.
I would call and talk to the program director and find out. If you are in the school district then transportation should be provided. I know here the moms have to take the kids to a certain spot right off base to meet the bus. Is there a loction a couple blocks from your house that can be compromised that isn't "dangerous for the preschoolers?" I think this is absoutly wrong from them to provide transportation to some but not all, and I would fight it.
this might help
http://publiccomments.acf.hhs.gov/cgi-bin/publiccomments.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?p_sid=ofNFxrjh&p_lva=&p_sp=&p_li=
actually, this is better
http://www.mhwest.com/Final%20Rule.htm
Thanks everyone.
Colette, I didnt see anything on those pages stating that they had to provide transportation to all the children and couldn't single out one to not provide for.
I am still so upset and not sure what I want to do. I know I don't want this to happen to other students. I am right now at the point that if she were to go back, I would not be doing any volunteering, well just what I'd have to and no more.
I did email a friend who worked for the program last year to see if she knew of any higher ups for me to contact.
It doesn't help that this happens in the midst of my aunt passing and other stuff happening in our family. Can you spell STRESS??
My ds was in a HeadStart program here and transportation wasn't provided. I don't know if it is required where you are and not here or if that is just a school district issue. The problem I would have is that is being provided for some. If you live within that school's boundaries and is being provided for the rest of the children than I think it would be considered a form of discrimination. I would talk to the school district, there should be an Early Childhood Coordinator, and ask if this should be taken up with her/him or if you should contact the transportation office.
I do think that you can provide what she needs at home though too. I agree that socialization and the idea of a routine is the most important part of preschool. If you decide to set aside your morning or afternoon for this, make up a poster with some kind of routine so that she sees the stability of it. If you take her to the park one or two days each week, go to storytime at the library, go to Sunday School (if you are so inclined) or enroll her in a preschool dance, gymnastics or karate class, she should be able to develop the skills she needs before starting school.
One kid went to preschool, the other one didn't. They are both A students now, so I don't think it mattered one way or another. I provided plenty of workbooks and good experiences at home and we got to socialize plenty. We also always had tons of library books in our house and both of my kids love to read.
If she doesn't go to preschool, I had just planned on trying to start a playgroup of some type. Plus to earn extra money, I was hoping to try to do some babysitting.
But I agree.. I am unhappy that she didn't learn much but I liked the socialization aspect of it. That really helped my other 2 who attended HS be prepared for kindy.
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