Early Head Start coming in 2001

Published 12:00 am Saturday, October 21, 2000

LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / October 21, 2000

LULING – An Early Head Start program will launch in St. Charles Parish in July2001, thanks largely to a two-year, $905,000 grant received by Dr. TaminikaOdinga, a preschool training project coordinator.

Head Start, which targets children from age 4 to Kindergarten, didn’t meet the needs of early childhood development, Odinga said, which prompted her to seek the grant to fund the start-up of Early Head Start, for children from birth to age 2 and half.

St. Charles Parish, out of 665 grant applications, received the only suchaward in the state and the southern region and only one of three nationwide.

The funding source is the U.S. Department of Health and Human ServiceAdministration for Children and Families, Administration for Children, Youth and Families and Head Start Bureau.

The Early Head Start program will provide services for infants, toddlers and pregnant teen-agers and women residing in the West Bank corridor communities of Ama, Luling, Hahnville and Killona.

“The focus is on respecting the family as decision-makers,” Odinga commented.

The program includes early childhood development, health and education, as well as family and community involvement.

Classrooms will be set aside at Luling Elementary (two classes), Carver Elementary (two classes) and Hahnville Learning Center (one class). It isexpected about 40 children will be served at the centers, with the remainder in a home-based program including mothers.

The center-based option will be available from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Thehome-based option will work with mothers up to two hours a week.

This will help to safeguard early educational development for infants, as well as proper mothering skills, aiming at reducing stress by providing resources for new mothers. This will translate, Odinga said, to a happier, healthier,safer child, more ready to learn.

By providing early-childhood learning opportunities, the children are better able to adjust to school environments at a time in their mental development when they are most open to learning.

“All children are smart,” she said, “They just need the opportunity to learn.”

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