New Head Start site opens at Career Center
A new Head Start site opened in the Coshocton County Career Center building this school year and has about 19 students ranging in age from 3 to 5. Here is the Quiet Area where kids can go if they are having a bad day and either be alone to talk with one of the teachers or helpers about why they are upset.
COSHOCTON – A new federally-funded Head Start program started this school year in the Coshocton County Career Center building. Approximately 19 children gather at the Career Center Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. to learn through activities, playing, and interacting with some of the older Career Center early-education students.
Every morning, the children, ranging in age from 3 to 5 years old, come together at 9:30 a.m. for snack time and then begin their day by learning at four academic tables, led by teachers Sue Scott and Meghann Shalosky, and seven early-education Career Center students. The academic tables consist of fun activities where children learn basic math, social studies, language, and creative arts. Each Career Center helper has to have BCI checks and a physical. By the end of the year, hopefully they will have enough hours to receive their Child Development Association certificate.
“It’s working,” said Sue Scott. “It’s been really good for the kids and the high school kids. These kids love to see them. It’s been really nice for us.”
The school also uses HighScope curriculum, which is in accordance with the Ohio Learning Standard for preschools.
After an hour break including lunch provided by the Career Center from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., the students break up into small groups and do a variety of fun and educational activities until circle time where the kids gather in one area of the classroom and talk about their day.
The classroom offers a lot of fun and educational toys for the children to play with including play houses, blocks, books, a kitchenette, a science area, and even a section for mythical creatures like Pegasus and unicorns where the kids are encouraged to use their imagination. They also have a computer that the students use once in a while.
“The Career Center had everything ready for us to go,” said Scott. “They were more than welcoming. Anything we needed, they gave to us.”
Scott said that the teachers try to give the students as much freedom as they can and let them make their own choices about what they want to do for the day. There is even an area for students to go and be alone if they choose.
“If we see that a student is having a bad day, we’ll take them aside and say something like, you look sad today,” said Scott. “They can sit in the quiet time area as long as they want if they don’t feel like playing with the other students that day.”
The Head Start is funded by Federal Head Start and they are a grantee agency. They recently passed the daycare licensing but are on provisional licensing because this is their first year. They are also working on a five-star rating. They collaborate with the Career Center and Hopewell.
beth@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: Education
