March

'These Children are just looking for Someone to Anchor their Rocky Boats' - Dr. Poyner (March 2, 2017) -- At only 6 years old, Kevin challenged everything she knew about good teaching practices. The most trying child in her classroom, he exasperated her, and was infamous throughout the school for his difficult behavioral and social-emotional needs, said motivational speaker Nefertiti Bruce Poyner, Ed.D. in her keynote address to MHSA’s 26th Early Childhood Learning Conference in Troy. Over…

Researcher Gilliam Unravels Data Behind Preschool Expulsions, Offering Hope for Improving Outcomes for Children of Color (March 2, 2017) – Exhibiting a probing mind brimming with questions and a persistence to match, Yale University researcher Walter S. Gilliam, Ph.D., detailed how he came to learn that children of color, particularly black boys, were getting pushed out of preschool at rates disproportionate to their peers. Before the sensational headlines of his groundbreaking work made the…

February

East Lansing, MI (Feb. 8, 2017) – The re-competition for federal funding among Head Start providers in Detroit in 2014 significantly changed the early childhood landscape in that city – resulting in the emergence of a number of new grantees and location of Head Start classrooms. It became immediately clear that parents wanting to enroll their children in Head Start in Michigan’s largest city would need a tool to find the program best suited for their family’s needs, Nicole de Beaufort told a…

In his 2016 Yale Child Study Center research brief looking at implicit biases in preschool expulsions and suspensions, Walter S. Gilliam, Ph.D. wrote that the loss of an early educational placement or time in care could directly undermine a child’s access to future educational opportunities. Calling it the “push out” phenomenon, the noted scholar and researcher from the Yale University Child Study Center described it as an issue of growing concern in the early childhood education field in…

January

Jan. 6, 2017 (Washington, D.C.) As the newest Members of Congress join their colleagues in the nation’s capital to legislate a path toward a productive, prosperous and peaceful future, I am hopeful every member of the 115th Congress is reflecting on America’s core values and how those values contribute to the American dream. As a member of the Head Start community, I find myself reflecting on the more than 33 million vulnerable children whose lives have been transformed by the Head Start…

Jan. 4, 2017 (Washington, D.C.) -- The Office of Head Start announced Tuesday that it will distribute $290 million to 665 Head Start and Early Head Start programs around the country that they can use to expand their full school day and year offerings. Congress appropriated the supplemental funding in a fiscal 2016 budget bill for the federal preschool program for children from low-income families, and the money is now part of Head Start's base funding, subject to congressional approval. The $…

October

Most of the parents of the students at Sergio Rodriguez’s early childhood care facility work as migrant farm laborers in fields and orchards in Kent and Montcalm counties during the growing season. And even though they are exposed to all sorts of fresh produce, their kids know very little about the fresh fruits and vegetables they harvest, much less the benefits that eating these foods have for their growing bodies and minds, Rodriguez says.  "They (the parents) work long days, sometimes 12…

  Total investment increases to over $11 million over five years and expands geographic reach  Detroit – The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan today announced that the Head Start Innovation Fund Collaborative (Innovation Fund) will invest an additional nearly $6.2 million to support innovation and high-quality programs and services at local Head Start agencies serving thousands of young children and their families. This funding brings the total support for Head Start and Early Head…

  ALKER, MICH. - Some lucky children in the Walker area have a unique opportunity to learn what it's like to be a real life meteorologist -- just like the ones they see on TV. Head Start for Kent County in Walker built a replica mini WZZM 13 On Target Weather Deck. The idea is to give kids at the Head Start program an educational play area, centered around weather, but in a way that's fun for that age group. The mini 13 On Target Weather Deck is complete with a weather wall with magnetic…