Copyright 2013: Little Havana Activities & Nutrition Centers of Dade County, Inc.
VPK
Early Head Start
School Readiness
786.470.3002 Little Havana
305.532.4377 Miami Beach
Florida’s School Readiness program offers financial assistance to low-income families for early education and care so their young children can do well in school in the future and the families can become financially self-sufficient.
The program is designed to give children who might be at a disadvantage access to the kind of opportunities that help prepare them for school. Being ready for school starts early and draws on understanding how young children learn; establishing sensible expectations for what children should know and be able to do when they start school m and then helping them get there.
Benefits:
- Prepare children to start kindergarten
- Helping working families afford quality early learning services
- Keep parents in the workforce and/or participating in educational or training activities.
- Help families become financially independent
- Provide parents information about child development and family well-being
Eligibility:
Parent(s)/guardian(s) must be working or participating in an educational activity such as attending college or trade school at least 20 hours/week.
Gross income must be at or below 150 percent of federal poverty level for a family size
Families must pay a copayment for child care based on income and family size
Other children may be eligible if they have special needs, are at risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment, their parents are homeless, victims of domestic violence or are low-income, migrant families of low-income families or farm worker.
Early Head Start is a federally funded community-based program for low-income families with pregnant women, infants, and toddlers up to age 3. The program promotes school readiness for low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development. Early Head Start programs promote and support children’s growth in many areas such as language, literacy, social and emotional development. Early Head Start also emphasizes the role of parents as their child’s first and most important teacher. This program helps build relationships with families that support family well-being and many other important areas.
Benefits:
- Prepare children to start kindergarten
- Early Learning services are completely free.
- Keep parents in the workforce and/or participating in educational or training activities.
- Help families become financially independent
- Provide parents information about child development and family well-being
- On-going assessments and screenings
- Family engagement
- All-inclusive program
Eligibility:
Children birth to 3 from families of low-income, according to the Poverty Guidelines published by the Federal government, are eligible for Early Head Start.
Children in foster care, homeless children, and children from families receiving public assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families of Supplemental Security Income) are categorically eligible for Early Head Start Services.
Curriculum
The Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Program or VPK- is a prekindergarten program for 4-5-year-olds, who reside in Florida. Participating children must be 4 years of age on or before September 1. It is a state-funded program that subsidizes 540 instructional hours per school year for those children who are eligible. Wrap around services is included in our program.
Benefits of early education and the VPK program
- The most important growth and development in the brain happens by the age of five
- The early years are the learning years. A child’s ability to follow directions and stay attentive begins in the early years. Structured early learning fosters these abilities that will later be applied later in school and in life.
- Pre-k prepares children to be ready for school. Children who participate in high quality learning develop better language skills; score higher in school-readiness test and acquire better social skills.
- Early language of literacy focus.
All services offered by LHANC have specific eligibility requirements in order for individuals to access them. You must contact each individual program staff in order to determine eligibility for the service requested. All clients must be registered to receive any of the services requested. For LHANC registration, please contact (305) 858-0887 and specify which program you would like to register for.
Programs
The Creative Curriculum Approach
By: Teaching Strategies
At the heart of The Creative Curriculum, is knowledge of child development theory and careful consideration of the latest research in the field of early childhood education. Used to inform and shape The Creative Curriculum, and the guidance offered to teachers, the research base curriculum ensures that teachers know not only what and how to teach children but why particular practices are effective. By understanding the theory and research behind how children’s knowledge, skills, and behaviors progress over time, teachers are better able to support children’s development and learning.
The Creative Curriculum is based on five fundamental principles.
- Positive interactions and relationships with adults provide a critical foundation for successful learning
- Social-emotional competence is significate factor in school success
- Constructive purposeful play supports essential learning
- The physical environment affects the type and quality of learning interactions
- Teacher-family partnership promote development and learning
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