Twenty five children who attend our local Migrant Head Start (MHS) program received applause, school supplies and a diploma recently.
Mid-August they will all go their separate ways to various Kindergarten classrooms in Watsonville. During their time with Migrant Head Start the preschoolers learned how to express their emotions, how to share, the pleasures of drawing and painting and the treasures hidden in books.
Their parents—all farmworkers in the berry fields of Watsonville–regularly attend MHS parent meetings in order to learn how to better teach their children with conversations and games, songs in English and math activities. Each parent helps the family childcare provider to choose and support educational goals for their children during the harvest season.
An enthusiastic Ms. Zamora, who picks strawberries in Watsonville, stated that her childcare provider was very supportive of her and attentive to her little boy. She added, “I can just tell that the staff really believes in the importance of our children’s early years. It’s an excellent program,” she concluded.
Hopefully, the parents’ active involvement with their child’s education will continue at their children’s “big school.”
One thing is for certain, the children are confident and excited about the big change ahead of them.