There are so many attempts to divide us. Our children unite us.
Head Start Staff, Parents, and Board Member at Kansas Housing Conference
From the September 13, 2018 Kansas Housing Conference in Topeka. A group of Head Start folks participated in the panel "Workshop on Connecting and Supporting Families Experiencing Homeless Issues through Head Start."
From left: Elisa Chavez, KHSA Board Member and parent, Russell, KS; Terry Wilson, from Early Childhood Connections, Hays, KS; Mary Stafford and Betty Vanalstine, from Reno County Early Head Start, Hutchinson, KS.
We're All Moved In!
Our new address is:
832 Pennsylvania St., Suite 1007
Lawrence, KS 66044
In process. No room to move!
Building our new desks. From left to right: Claudia, Karen, and Randy. (pardon the sweaty look--we dripped buckets)
Nearly there! Peggy is happy about that!
Exhausted. Time for a snack!
All moved in! The rest is just adding some color and finding somewhere to stash those pesky flipcharts!
We are Moving!
KHSA will be closed August 27-September 3, 2018. We will reopen at our new address on Tuesday, September 4. While our phone and fax numbers will remain the same, neither will be functioning until September 6 as we are changing phone services. You may still contact us via e-mail during the two days. For our new address and hours, please see the Contact page.
These Kids are Watching their Parents Die
“These kids are... experiencing so much ongoing and pervasive trauma in their lives that if we are not supporting them in that way, we really can never get to the educational part of school" - http://bit.ly/2tXsRem via @thenation #BreaktheAddictionCycle
Tuesday, August 7, 2018 is Primary Voting Day
KHSA has put together a few worksheets with ideas to help you make it to the voting booth. Have you considered child care? A ride to your polling place if you don't have one? Do you have your ID? Our handy checklist will help no matter which candidates you plan to vote for.
Voting Aid in English and Spanish
Just Say No to Judgment: How Judging Parents Actually Leads to Worse, Not Better, Outcomes for Kids
Almost all parents feel judged, almost all the time. Our Tuning In survey showed that nearly 9 in 10 parents across the board feel judged (90% moms and 85% dads), and almost half say they feel judged all the time or nearly all the time (46% moms; 45% dads).
Read the full article here: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/1716-just-say-no-to-judgment-how-judging-parents-actually-leads-to-worse-not-better-outcomes-for-kids
How Data Helped Head Start Centers Tackle a 'No Show' Problem
From the article:
"What do you do when you build a preschool class—but many of the children never show up?
That's what happened at the Head Start program overseen by the Community Action Project of Tulsa in Oklahoma, or CAP Tulsa for short. In September 2016, 135 preschoolers—fully 20 percent of the program's Head Start population—never appeared at the start of the school year, even though their parents had enrolled them.
CAP Tulsa, as it has often done in the past, turned to data both to figure out the problem and devise a solution. And in doing so, it provided an example of how all of Head Start's 1,600 grantees are now expected to infuse data into their decisionmaking and continuous-improvement processes."
Stressed Kids’ Brains Mature Faster
A new study found that when children are exposed to stress during childhood, their brains mature faster.
"Researchers first examined one-year-old children and their parents in 1998. Over 20 years researchers observed the children's playtime sessions, interactions with parents, friends and classmates, along with other factors. They also conducted MRI scans on the children.
With this information, the researchers were able to observe how stress affects the natural pruning process of the brain. Synaptic pruning removes connections in the brain that are no longer needed. This helps the brain function more efficiently as people age and learn new complex information.
According to a press release from the university, the researchers examined two origins of stress in two different life phases: negative life events and negative social influences at ages 0 to 5 and 14 to 17. They then compared the amount of stress with the synaptic pruning process in different areas of the brain that are responsible for functioning in social and emotional situations and that are especially vulnerable to stress."
Head Start: Stabilizing and Empowering America’s Communities in 2018 and Beyond
Head Start: Stabilizing and Empowering America’s Communities in 2018 and Beyond
by Yasmina Vinci, National Head Start Executive Director