Originally Posted by Heidi:
I'm still going to argue that those gains that children make, then lose, is because of our public schools, NOT because they didn't make them in the first place.
I was a family childcare provider for 14 years, and have been a HS Home Visitor for 6 months. I am appalled at the difference between the children I cared for then and the children I serve now. They are so behind, for the most part, it's sad. As frustrated as I sometimes got with daycare families that didn't seem to really care what was going on with their children during the day (how or what they learned), at least I had them 9 hours a day and they learned! The kiddos I serve now, I see 1 1/2 hours a week. I see progress; but 1 1/2 hours a week is a drop in the bucket.
We have to document every single visit to every single child, and track their development. We have to do quarterly reports to show their gains. I'm telling you, as frustrating as it is, the gains are there. Without HS, these kids would be way behind when they get to school.
As far as one classroom getting grant money and therefore being able to offer better materials or equipment for those kids, I wish it weren't the case. But, honestly, that's what the money is allotted for. We used to be able to get grants that benefited ALL the children in our group; those grants are gone. Years ago, having low-income children in your group did give you extra "points" in your grant application, but it wasn't as in-your-face as this program seems to be.
Well I can only speak for my experience with HS. DD qualified when she was little, due to her assessment. She also qualified for pre K where she would have been bussed. I beleived that HS would be better so sent her there. She learned nothing that she wouldn't have learned at my home daycare, maybe less. When I asked them about it, the teacher told me (and I can quote I was so appalled I remember it to this day) "we don't teach in HS, this is more for socialization so they can learn to play". I was at least doing some teaching in my daycare. I really feel like I cheated her sending her to HS. She was not ready for kindy. Now to be fair, she has a July 23 birthday so part of not being ready MAY have been age, but the school wouldn't hold her back when we asked they wanted to put her in special ed with in the autistic room 4 hours a day for first grade. DD did not then and has never been diagnosed with any medical or mental issues to cause learning problems. They threatened to take us to court to put her in that classroom. We changed schools she had the same teacher first and second grades who worked her backside up to help DD catch up.
We moved to Ohio in the middle of second grade, the teacher told us there was no way DD would pass the test in third grade to move on and suggested we hold her back in second. It made a world of difference for her with NO special ed, and no autistic classroom.
So in my experience, HS is a complete and total waste of taxpayer dollars and gets us nowhere.
Which brings me to my next question. Now not only do we have HS but we have "no child left behind". How do we go from Head Start to left behind?