Program offers kids even-earlier head start

WENATCHEE - Four tiny children sit at a tiny table, eating scrambled eggs, tortillas and salsa as the morning sun beams in the windows.

Two cribs sit along one wall, while the rest of the space is a mix of pint-size furniture, comfortable couches and chairs, and lots of toys. The children are from 5 months to almost 3 years old.

It sounds like a typical family home. But this is a classroom for Early Head Start in a complex of buildings managed by Chelan-Douglas Child Services on Kittitas Street in Wenatchee.

The program, a companion to Head Start, which is for 4-year-olds, started just about a month ago. Early Head Start is aimed at helping low-income children younger than 4 have a better chance of succeeding in school by helping them develop socially and intellectually. Mothers and fathers are taught skills to help them be better parents.

The program also provides care for pregnant women.

Reaching families where parents may not have the skills to help their child develop normally is critical, early-childhood specialists say.

"There's recently been a lot of research on brain development in newborns and babies in utero, and we thought perhaps we should be reaching these children earlier," said Sara Bartrum, the director of Chelan-Douglas Child Services Association, which manages the Head Start and Early Head Start programs locally.

Early Head Start began after President Clinton signed an amendment to the Head Start Act in 1994. Funding for the program totaled nearly $340 million last year.

Julie Ann Crevatin, director of the regional Head Start office in Seattle, said there are 13 Early Head Start programs in Washington.

In north-central Washington, only Moses Lake and Wenatchee have received funding for the relatively new program. The Moses Lake program serves 48 children. In Wenatchee, 16 children come to the full-day program, and another 16 are served through home-based programs.

Families qualify based on income and need. Most are referred to the program through other agencies, such as Work First, the state Department of Social and Health Services, state Child Protective Services or Catholic Family and Child Services.

Early Head Start teachers make home visits to stay-at-home parents for an hour and a half each week. They teach them how to do the same things with their children that the teachers in the full-day program do in the classroom. Parents whose children attend the full-day program at Head Start because they work or go to school are taught the same skills.

"We're trying to reinforce and support the family unit as the most important influence in a child's life by providing services that encourage social competence, raise self-esteem and foster independence," said Juan Valle, assistant Early Head Start manager.

There is one teacher, or early-childhood specialist, for every four children. They foster independence and responsibility in small ways.

As Marina Qualtier, 2, finishes her breakfast, she scrapes the remains from her plate into the garbage and puts the dish in the sink. She grabs a dishrag and carefully wipes her place at the table.

Next up? That could be listening to a story, dancing to music or playing at the water table. Simply playing and providing different kinds of stimulation help with brain development, said Kathie Pete, manager of full-day service for Early Head Start.

On this day, Marina, Jordyn Jackson, 2, and Marcelino Albertson, 1, want to play at the water table with toy boats, play animals and cups. Teacher Patty Sadewasser plays with them, talking and asking questions about the animals and the other toys.

These are the kinds of activities and ways to interact that parents are exposed to, Pete said.

"We're teaching parents about nurturing and bonding and how to have a relationship with a child," she said.