Head Start Program

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Institution

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Topic: Head Start Program

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform my effective speaking class about the Head Start Program.

Central Idea: Head Start program is a free preschool for ages 3-5 that uses creative curriculum to prepare children for Kindergarten.

Strategy: Topical

Introduction

Attention Getter: How many people have heard of Head Start Program?

Relevance to the audience: the audience will be pre-school Educators and kindergarten educators. This program will be important to help these educators to design a good curriculum that will ensure smooth and appropriate transition of children from preschool to kindergarten (Vinovskis, 2005).

Credibility: Comprehensive research has been undertaken to unravel the benefits and limitations of Head Start Program. So far, the benefits outweighs the limitations of Head Start Program hence the validity and credibility of the program.

Preview/ Central Idea: Head Start Program is a program mostly adopted in the USA that provides comprehensive early childhood education, nutrition, health and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. Head Start Program enhances children’s physical and emotional well-being and establishes an environment to develop strong cognitive skills (Vinovskis, 2005).

Link (Signpost): First off, I’ll talk about the foundation of Head Start Program.

Body

Head start program was launched in 1965 by its 1st director and creator Jule Sugarman. It was originally developed as a catch-up summer school program that would teach low-income children of what they need as they graduate to elementary school. However, through the Head Start Act of 1981, the Head Start Program was expanded (Persky et al., 1991). It is considered one of the effective and longest running program aimed at addressing poverty in the United States of America (Vinovskis, 2005). The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) sponsors more than 250 Head Start centers in neighborhoods throughout New York City. This is approved by the fact that more than 22 million pre-school aged children have been involved in the program as at 2005.

Link: now that you have known the foundation of Head Start Program, let’s talk about the importance of Head Start Program and specifically the benefits of creative curriculum.

Head Start Programs are geared for children 3-5 years of age. If a child love learning, everything else becomes secondary. Daily, at Head Start children enjoy all kinds of games and activities developed for comprehensive teachings from numbers and letters and sharing and getting along with others. They learn about nature and science and through fun, hands-on activities (United States, 1975). These children draw, paint, play music and dress up all to encourage the special curiosity, joy and imagination of childhood. Head Start program is one of the creative curriculums. Creative curriculum has several benefits to both the teacher and the pupils. It allows the teachers to use nontraditional methods to intrigue the pupils (Vinovskis, 2005). It is worth noting that creative curriculum comprises of developmentally appropriate goals and objectives for children within 4 main categories of interest namely: physical, social/emotional, language and cognitive (Persky et al., 1991). The physical stage mainly focus in improving the child’s large and motor skills while the cognitive stage is associated with thinking skills. In its part, the social/emotional stage promotes self-confidence, independence and self-control. The language stage helps the children to improve their communication skills (Vinovskis, 2005).

Link: This last part of the body deals with the benefits of preschool before Kindergarten

It is a fact that attending a high-quality program prepares kids for kindergarten and beyond. However, to find the best option for the child requires time and research. Almost 80% of brain development occurs before the age of 5 (United States, 1975). Thereby, a good preschool program provides children with an educational environment where they can learn and grow (United States, 1975). In addition, quality preschool sets the baseline for knowledge, confidence and social skills hence ensuring success throughout their school year and in later life. Lastly, studies have revealed that universal preschool returns half its costs in later savings to the school systems via less special education and grade repetition (Persky et al., 1991).

Link/ Signal the end: after discussion head start program and its benefits, let us wrap the discussion

Conclusion

The importance of head start program is undeniable. This is because it promotes school preparation through enhancement of the cognitive and social development of children via the provision of health, nutritional, educational and social services. In addition, the program ensures a creative, smooth transition from preschool to kindergarten. From its inception to now, Head Start program is good program that is designed to help people, change lives and build communities.

References

Persky, B., Golubchick, L. H., Doctorate Association of New York Educators., & American Federation of Teachers. (1991). Early childhood education. Lanham: University Press of America.

United States. (1975). Head Start program performance standards. Washington: OCD.

Vinovskis, M. A. (2005). The birth of Head Start: Preschool education policies in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.