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Family Information

What can Head Start Offer Us?

Head Start offers you a sense of belonging, support services, and a chance to become involved in activities to help your whole family. You can take part in training classes on many subjects, such as parenting, job training, learning about health and nutrition, and using free resources in your own community. Head Start staff members refer families needing help to medical, social welfare, or employment specialists they know in the community, and will follow up to be sure you receive assistance.

You can become a Head Start volunteer and learn more about child development first hand in the classroom. This experience may later qualify you for training which can help you find employment in the child care field or at the Head Start program. You can also have a voice in the Head Start program by serving on the Policy Council or various committees. Parents’ experiences in Head Start have raised their own self-confidence and improved their ability to make decisions.

Parental Participation Policy:

All parents/guardians are invited to visit the Head Start Center at any time during operating hours. By becoming involved in the program, parents learn more about their child, their child's development, and their child's individual needs. When children see that their parents are interested and involved in their school, they become more enthusiastic about their learning.

Possible ways for parents/guardians to become involved include:

Volunteer time assisting in the classroom or on a field trip
Work on Home-School projects with your child
Let the family take turns reading your child's weekly library book, or talk about the pictures in the book together
Share special skills, hobbies, or knowledge with the children
Sew clothing for dress up corner or doll clothes
Help to recruit new eligible children for Head Start programming
Become a class representative to the Policy Council or the Center Committee
Help to repair classroom equipment and materials
Attend monthly informational Parent meetings/workshops
Help with the organization, set-up, and clean-up at our "All Family" events
Attend the Open House to see your child's room and meet the teacher

There are many other ways for parents to become involved as well. We welcome all friends and family members over the age of 18 to volunteer.

Attendance Policy:

If your child will be absent, please notify your child's classroom teacher as soon as possible, as well as the transportation specialist. Please give the reason for hte absence and the return date. For the appropriate phone numbers for the teacher and transportation specialist please visit the Contact Us page. It helps teachers plan the day if they know a child will not be coming to Head Start because of an illness or vacation plans. We also need to know if a child is unable to attend school because he/she has been exposed to or has developed any communicable disease. As a licensed center we are required to report all communicable diseases to the Marathon County Health Department and to notify all families enrolled in the center. Consistent attendance is essential to your child's progress in school. If you do not contact us regarding absence(s), a staff member will contact you to discuss this. Please keep us informed of illnesses or emergencies that will prevent your child from attending.

Working with your Child at Home:

There are two specific ways we ask you to work with your child at home:

Library Books- Although preschool children do not have the necessary skills yet to read, it is very important for them to be exposed to words and to develop an enjoyment of reading. Each week your child will bring home a library book from the classroom library. Help your child to find a safe place to keep the book until it is returned to school. This will help to teach your child responsibility. We ask that you or another family member read to your child as often as possible. If you cannot read, make up a story while looking at the pictures. You'd be surprised at the wonderful stories you can come up with together! Literacy is very important. If you or another family member cannot read and would like to learn how, please let us know. We will be glad to help get you started.
Home-School Projects- Once a month your child's teacher will send home a home-school project. This will allow some special one-on-one time for you to work at teaching your child. These projects are often asked to be sent back to school for a special sharing time. The purpose of this is not to do "home work", but to help your child to understand taht learning is a continual process that happens outside of the classroom too. Make it fun!!

Social Services Provided by Head Start:

Head Start is committed to supporting your family. We will help you identify your goals and support you in reaching them by using your family strengths and community resources. This will reinforce teh gains made by your child at Head Start. Each family will be assigned to a caring and knowledgeable "Family Resource Provider" who will be available to help with information and resources for your family. We want to support your own personal growth and independence.

Service provided include:

Home visits and phone contacts by the Family Resource Provider
Help in identifying concerns, needs and goals your family or child may have
Information about community resources
Resource Directory listing services available in the area
Emergency or crisis intervention
Encouragement and support for your own efforts to obtain the quality services you deserve
Development of goals and strategies that you identify as areas for personal growth
Head Start sponsored parenting classes and informative workshops
Support for child development and discipline/guidance issues
Advocacy for you in dealing with agencies or individuals
Availability to computer with internet access

My Rights as a Head Start Parent:

To take part in major policy decisions affecting the planning and operation of the program
To help develop adult programs which will improve daily living for me and my family
To be welcomed in my child's classroom
To choose whether or not I participate without fear of endangering my child's rights to be in the program
To be informed regularly about my child's progress in Head Start and about program opportunities such as special projects and events, parent meetings and workshops
To always be treated with respect and dignity
To expect guidance for my child from Head Start teachers and staff, which will help my child's total individual development
To be able to learn about the operation of the program, including the budget and the level of education and experience required to fill various staff positions
To take part in planning and carrying out programs designed to increase my skills in areas of possible employment
To be informed about all community resources concerned with health, education, and the improvement of family life

My Responsibilities as a Head Start Parent:

To learn as much as possible about the program and to take part in major policy decisions
To accept Head Start as an opportunity through which I can improve my life and my children's lives
To take part in the classroom as an observer, a volunteer worker, or a paid employee, and to contribute my services in whatever way I can toward enrichment of the total program
To provide parent leadership by taking part in Parent Center Committees or Policy Council, to explain the program to other parents and encourage their full participation
To welcome teachers and staff into my home to discuss ways in which parents can help their children's development at home in relations to school experiences
To work with the teachers, staff, and other parents in a respectful and cooperative way
To guide my children with firmness, which is both loving and protective
To offer constructive criticism of the program, to defend it against unfair criticism and to share in evaluating it
To take advantage of programs designed to increase my knowledge about child development and my skills in areas of possible employment
To become involved in community programs which help to improve health, education, and recreation for all.

** For more information about Head Start Policies and Services, please view the Parent Handbook.