Early Head Start
Starting in May at Angle Lake Child Development Center
Easter Seals Washington has been awarded eight Early Head Start (EHS) slots in our Young Toddler Program. Our Young Toddler Program is age segregated, with 12-20 month olds in one room and 20 months to 2 1/2 years in the other, keeping your toddler in a developmentally appropriate setting.
Teachers will be practicing “primary care giving”, where the state of Washington requires two lead teachers in the classroom. Each teacher will have their own “primary group of four children”. Making the teacher to student ratio 1:4, with the maximum being 2:8.
Teachers will also be planning individual lessons with an emphasis on primary school readiness. They’ll be able to track observations, portfolios, and assessments online through “Teaching Strategies Gold.”
Early Head Start children will be provided with home visits, access to a nutritionist, on site family advocate, monthly health nurse visits, access to a special education coordinator, child development coordinator, and mental health specialist.
12 Things to Know about Early Head Start Programs
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Studies in the past two decades have shown that the early years lay the foundation for children’s success in life or create early roadblocks.
- Long-term studies of at-risk children in three high-quality early learning programs found benefits in the lives of participating children even when they were in their mid-20s (Campbell, Ramey, Pungello, Sparling, & Miller-Johnson, 2002; Reynolds, Temple, White, Ou & Robertson, 2011; Schweinhart, 2005).
- Children in the high-quality programs scored higher than their peers in school readiness tests, had better language skills (including skills in English for those whose home language was not English) and math skills.
- Early Learning experiences are designed to fit each child's needs and developmental level.
- Optimal learning is not possible if children are not healthy, or have vision or hearing difficulties. Staff work with families to attain medical and dental coverage.
- Children receive health screenings to check vision, hearing, height and weight.
- Early Head Start invites parents to get involved in a variety of ways. For example, parents can volunteer in the classroom or serve on a policy council.
- Early Head Start teachers must attend at least 15 hours of professional development workshops or classes per year.
- All staff who work with children must have training in first aid and infant/child cardiopulmonary resuscitation; disease prevention; disaster planning; and preventing, identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect.
- Early Head Start children test higher in social-emotional, cognitition and communication/language skills than their 3-year-old peers.
- Early Head Start parents are more emotionally supportive of their children than parents not in the program, and use a wider range of child discipline strategies.
- 40% of Washington's school districts operate or collaborate with ECEAP and/or Head Start programs.
Click here to learn more about the Early Head Start program.
Click here to learn more about all our Child Development Centers.
