The Head Start Program

Introduction

Head Start was/is a program for compensatory education in the United States. It should above all the educational opportunities for improving children from socially disadvantaged families and their resilience increase. Head Start program was founded in 1965 as part of the "war against poverty" by the government of Lyndon B. Johnson with the assistance of Daniel Patrick Moynihan started. Head Start program is one of the oldest programs of compensatory education worldwide; it is also one of the largest and most expensive programs of its kind (Fantuzzo, Hampton, p. 33). Goal of Head Start Program is to promote underprivileged children and children from disadvantaged backgrounds and neighborhoods to educational disadvantage and to produce more to reduce equity. In addition, many social problems like crime should, drug use, alcoholism, welfare dependency, and so fought, sometimes also involving the parents. Special programs contact the disadvantaged groups, such as in children with a history of migration (Fantuzzo, Hampton, p. 33).

Its mission is to achieve the integral development of children from early age through positive experiences that will prepare them for formal schooling successfully. Promotes self-sufficiency of families by making alliances with community resources. Through Head Start programs, Early Head Start and Day Care Ronald Reagan provided:

Health Services

Education

Proper Diet

Screening tests

Medical and dental

Lead Testing

The goal is to provide educational services to all infants, nursery and preschool learning environment is a safe, friendly and protective. On the other hand also helps children gain awareness, skills and confidence needed to succeed in their present environment and work with later responsibilities in school and life.

At its inception, the program's objectives were to ensure that low-income children reach the level of more advantaged children when they enter school. Because the creators of Head Start found that children living in poverty need much else, plus access to preschool education to be able to enter primary school, the program was designed with a holistic approach (Fantuzzo, Hampton, p. 33). Therefore, Head Start offers a combination of health, nutrition, social and educational low-income children between three and five and their families. More specifically, these services include early education, health screening, a good and proper nutrition and training to parents (Fantuzzo, Hampton, p. 33).

So far in the U.S. a total of about 24 million preschoolers participated in this program. In 2006, it was attended by over 909 000 children and families in Head Start is catered; the budget was more than 6.7 billion U.S. dollars. There are a total of 200,000 paid Head Start Program caregivers, and more than 130,000 volunteer tutors. There currently are about 1,600 total Head Start projects conducted in the U.S (Fantuzzo, Hampton, p. 33).

Discussion

The impact on Kindergarten readiness

Through introducing the Head Start Program for children coming for underprivileged families, the authorities are trying to make sure that the illiteracy rates are low (Slaughter-Defoe, Brown, p. 56-59). This is because the illiteracy rate is mostly high, because those belonging to the underprivileged family are deprived of education, because of the high fee structures (Fantuzzo, Hampton, ...