Teaching in Hawaiʻi

Head Start Preschool in Hawai’i

What does Head Start preschool mean? It is giving young children the head start they need to become functioning members of a social and academic community of learners. The program has been around for 48 years for a very good reason. It works.

How many times have we seen children come into our classroom who are unaware of social norms and insecure? We have the privilege to help them grow up and become active participants in school. As an employee of the Department of Education, I am a special education teacher in the Head Start program. Our inclusion classroom has both special education and regular education students. In the past five years, I have seen students develop quickly with peer modeling. It is a lot easier to teach a child the right way by example. Language barriers vanish when two gibberish-sounding three year old children speak clearly to each other. Ability levels disappear as they engage with classmates. Accepting differences is routine in our preschool lives.

Playing happily, a new three-year-old enters our playground and creates a toy gun out of legos. Another, more mature four year old says, “There are no guns in school!”  Yes, it is sad to say, that our preschoolers are viewing useless video games, television, and movies that are way too violent for their young minds. We explain that what they are watching is not real. When we say they are not real, we mean that they are pretend, and that school is real, their classroom is real, and their friends are real. We have to socialize them and teach them to differentiate between the “real” goodness in this world as opposed to the “unreal” violence. For some of them, the distinction is difficult.

Personalities are strong in young children. A few years after birth, they are defining who they are and what they like. We are grateful for any positive influence that we have in their language, literacy and social development. Reading is important so we share books on the circle carpet each morning. This is a bonding time when teachers and students approach literacy as a community based, caring activity. When a student needs extra attention, reading a special book with the teacher is quietly satisfying.

Health and welfare of the children are big concerns. We discuss healthy food and unhealthy food. Every day, the children brush their teeth, drink milk, and eat balanced meals. We teach them safety precautions, with a trip to the local fire station. They are introduced to the good men and women who can help them in need.

The Head Start program goes beyond helping the children and supports families in every way they can. Monthly parent group meetings are held on our classroom lanai. The Head Start Family Advocate addresses parental concerns. Important parenting information is reviewed. Parents are elected to serve on a policy council local governing board. Volunteering time to help our preschool is encouraged.

If I could for one minute share the joy of watching a physically impaired child learn to run with his peers, a nonverbal four year old open up and speak words, a stubborn three year old begin to share and care about another person, a concerned four year old wipe away the tears of another four year old, an independent three year old stand up to another student shouting “Stop, I don’t like that” when their personal space is invaded, a loner come in and learn how to make friends. All of this makes me wonder why we don’t have more preschools like Head Start in America. We should be expanding these programs that work.

 (As appeared in the Honolulu Star Advertiser 12/8/13 in Views and Voices)

About Sandra’s teaching:

I was accepted into an ARLISE program which was a combined program designed by the Dept of Education in Hawaii and Chaminade University. It was a 2 year work study to obtain a special education degree for teaching in Hawaiʻi. I had mentors from the Department of Education and Chaminade following my progress every step of the way. It was a rigorous program of work study as I was already teaching during the day while earning my certification. I had on-line courses in the evening after work and 2 weekends a month I met for seminars with the DOE where assignments were to be submitted. I taught at Kailua Elementary for ten years and did marketing and promotions for the school activities. I ended up the last 8 years in the Head Start Preschool Program on campus (a combination of the DOE special education students and Head Start regular education students. I loved it!