The Benefits of Early Head Start

Early childhood education serves many benefits for many children. Children with disabilities and those who come from low-income areas are shown to excel in the opportunity that they have when attending early head start programs. Early head start programs are federally funded so that children younger than 3 can begin their education at a younger age so that they will be better prepared for when they come of school-age. In addition, Early head start programs are also put in place to educate pregnant women how to provide support to their developing child including being able to care for themselves. It is beneficial that children with disabilities have this opportunity to participate in early education, especially beginning physical therapy, occupational therapy, to help enhance their social, emotional, and physical needs at an early age. Children who live in poverty are at a greater disadvantage when it comes to education and it\u27s important that they have those opportunities to learn at an early age just as any other child would. “Programs assist families in meeting their own personal goals and achieving self-sufficiency across a wide variety of domains, such as housing stability, continued education, and financial security. Early Head Start programs also mobilize the local community to provide the resources and environment necessary to ensure a comprehensive, integrated array of services and support for children and families.” (About the Early Head Start Program, 2020). Early head start programs provide support and services to families that need it. For example: food insecurities are addressed, screenings such as behavioral, developmental, hearing, vision, nutrition, and dental are conducted in order to tailor services to meet children and their family’s individual and unique needs. These compassionate programs are based on evidence-based practices that acknowledge and celebrate the parent as the child’s first teacher are available and accessible to eligible families. The compassion that these programs have to help children develop and grow really shows when seeing the progress that the child has made from the start of their journey to when they graduate and move onto elementary school