When preschool mom, Lynda, was planning to send her sixth child through Futures preschool, she did something first that she had not done with her other five children.
Before her youngest child, Dawson, was old enough for preschool, she enrolled him in Futures’ Early Head Start program, which serves prenatal moms and infants and toddlers to age 3.
“I just wanted to stay on top of everything,” Lynda said of her reason for enrolling in Early Head Start, which brings a home visitor into the home weekly for an hour and a half of developmental play time and goal setting. “I didn’t notice any, but if he had delays, I wanted them to be caught early and addressed sooner rather than later.”
Surprisingly, making time each week for this 90-minute visit was not a scheduling challenge, despite Lynda being a busy, single, working mom with six children. “The entire family looked forward to the visits and seeing how excited Dawson was to have Miss Deana and later Miss Shirley come with their “bag full of things” made me realize what a good thing this was,” said Lynda.
Lynda says Dawson has loved his Early Head Start visits and that she feels she should have enrolled sooner. He’s learned a lot of his colors and shapes and worked on taking turns and sharing to get him ready for preschool. “I feel like he opened up more with someone coming once a week,” says Lynda. “He had things he was excited to tell her, like what he had eaten and she would reinforce his healthy eating choices.” Lynda also admitted it was nice having another adult to talk to.
The Early Head Start program helped Dawson not only get ready for preschool but to look forward to it. “And, I was more at ease myself taking him,” says Lynda. “I didn’t have as many concerns about leaving him at preschool. I feel more confident as a mom.”
This is just the beginning! Follow along in our future posts as Dawson grows from Early Head Start to preschool!
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Futures Unlimited, Inc. is Sumner County’s premier early childhood program offering preschool, Early Head Start, Head Start preschool, special education and Pre-K services for children ages prenatal to 5. Research-based curriculum ties all program activities to cognitive outcomes. Full-day and half-day preschool options are available. School readiness checkpoints ensure children are progressing toward their next educational step. Programs involve and benefit the whole family. Futures helps families thrive! To find out more call 316.369.0256, email apply@futures-unlimited.org or visit www.futures-unlimited.org.