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Head Start helps to develop the whole family through innovative curriculum

    Over the past eight months, this column has been used to inform parents and community members of the importance of the earliest years of life. A variety of writers have shared some of the wealth of resources our area has for its youngest residents.  Head Start is one such resource.
    Why, you may ask?  Because Head Start is not just a program for 3- and 4-year-olds, but a program for the whole family.  While thousands of parents in the Downriver area have had the joy of finding such a program, others may not know that it is right under their noses.
    Wayne County Head Start recently had a satisfaction survey conducted by Plante Moran that included The Guidance Center Head Start program, as well as those run by their other delegates around the county. Ninety-four percent of the parents involved in the program last year said that they would recommend Head Start to a friend or family member.
   One parent wrote: "I believe that the program helps the children learn and grow with other children.  The program has a lot to offer the adults as well as the children."
   Head Start is a comprehensive preschool program and much, much more. Parents enrolling their children in Head Start can expect a safe, stimulating place for their children to grow and learn each day.
    They can expect an atmosphere that encourages literacy.  The Head Start program is now becoming involved in the President's Early Childhood Initiative, which will help to enhance the ability of teachers to address the early literacy needs of our children.
    Children in Head Start receive nutritious meals as part of their
program.   They go on field trips and share events like the Wayne County
Light Fest with their whole family.  They have experiences with the animals of Living Science, the Music Lady and others, right in their own schools.
    What can parents expect of a Head

cation with the help of Head Start.
    Not only does Head Start involve parents, but it also involves the community.  Local businesses and community volunteers assist Head Start through monetary donations, and the donation of goods and services.  For every dollar of federal money spent, 30 cents worth of in-kind match must be generated locally.
     Volunteer opportunities are endless, and Head Start volunteers feel the rewards of the program, whether they are painting a child's smiling face at a screening fair, building a playground or planting flowers along the entrance to a center.
     To meet the needs of its parents and families, Head Start is operated in both part- and full-day options in many of its centers.
     How can your child benefit from this excellent program? To be eligible for Head Start, your child must be 3 or 4 years old by Dec. 1, 2002. Foster parents and parents of children with special needs are encouraged to enroll.  Your family size and income also must meet guidelines, as Head Start is funded to provide comprehensive services to low-income families. Ten percent of families, though, can be over the income guidelines.
    If you are interested in enrolling your child in Head Start or in volunteering, call 1-734-287-6746 to be directed to a center near you.
     As one current Head Start parent said of the program:  "I feel so lucky. I couldn't pay for this kind of quality program, and it is just not out there anywhere else."
     Head Start is operated in 12 locations in the Downriver community, servicing families in Southgate, Wyandotte, Riverview, Taylor, Trenton, Gibraltar, Rockwood, Brownstown Township, Ecorse, Flat Rock, Huron Township, Woodhaven, Grosse Ile, Lincoln

Start center?  They can expect a well-trained staff that is continuously upgrading skills. They can expect bright classrooms full of learning materials.
    They can expect staff members outside the classroom who are on site specifically to work with the family to meet goals they set for themselves.
    Knowing that some families lack health insurance, workers link families to low or no-cost services, with many, such as dental and medical screenings, provided on-site at the local Head Start center.
    Head Start is a program that understands the power of parents.  It provides a variety of opportunities for involvement, whether it be volunteering in the classroom, taking a bus trip to Lansing to see how state government runs, serving on the policy committee to help guide the program, attending a field trip to the zoo or working with their children at home on an activity.
    Quality staff members are the anchors of the Head Start program. Many parents and even former Head Start children return to the program seeking employment.  They do so because they have felt the positive impact that Head Start has had on their families.  Almost one-third of the staff in The Guidance Center Head Start centers this year alone were current or former Head Start parents, many of them receiving a college edu

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