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Head Children Start Program Families School Health Low Income

Id ESLPod_0697_CN
Episode Id ESLPod 697
Episode Title Eating a School Lunch
Title The Head Start Program
Text

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services manages the "Head Start Program" to help low-income children and their families become ready for school. It focuses on education, health, nutrition, and "parent involvement" (encouraging people to spend more time interacting with their children). The program was created in 1965 as a "summer school program" (a program that runs in June, July and August to supplement what is taught during the school year) to prepare low-income children for "kindergarten" (the first year of school, when most students are five or six years old). The program has grown significantly since then.

More than 22 million "preschool-age" (ages 3 to 4) children have participated in Head Start. Most of them attend a Head Start preschool, which is less expensive than "comparable" (similar) preschools and offers programs to prepare children for school.

Head Start also includes many health "screenings" (physical examinations to determine whether one has a medical problem) for general medical, "vision" (eyesight), hearing, and "dental" (related to teeth) problems.

Head Start's social services include programs to help low-income families understand and receive "assistance" (help) from local community programs, such as health insurance, "food distribution" (programs that give food to poor people), and "abuse" (hurting other people) "prevention" (efforts to not let something happen).

Head Start programs mainly help children from families that are "slightly" (a little bit) above, at, or below the "poverty level" (the amount of income officially defined as poor). However, some families with higher incomes can be "eligible for" (meeting the requirements to participate in) the program if they are in an emergency situation or if the children have "disabilities" (physical or mental problems that affect their performance).

Topics Education | Food + Drink

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