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The current issue of COVID-19 has raised a lot of questions, including the discussion of how it is affecting our schools. More than just classrooms and hallways, for some families school is a haven for their children. Now with the closure of many schools and programs across the country, its left families with the challenge…

It cannot be put any clearer than this: Parents are the gateway to their child’s education. Although you cannot demand parents become involved in their child’s education, as an educator of young children, you can foster parental involvement by following a few simple, common-sense communication strategies that have existed since the dawn of spoken language.…

I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail. Muriel StrodeThe Wind-Wafted Wild Flowers, 1903 In the past, women were much more likely to be the primary caregivers who nurtured a child’s early development. That means that when the fathers…

I saw an interesting article recently on Medium called “The most important theory you’ve never heard of as a parent.” That theory is attachment theory, coined by psychoanalyst John Bowlby in the late 60s. We often discuss how the presence of a parent is important for the development of the child. However, just being there…

Have you ever heard the saying, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts?” I can’t think of a better example than when parents and educators are on the same page when it comes to preparing for a child’s future. While each side’s contribution is essential on its own, when communication is flowing…

Canton, Ohio-based attorney Corey Minor Smith is a long-time client, associate, and friend of The Gravely Group. She is a former Head Start parent and Board Member, speaker, and mental health advocate. She has recently written her debut book, titled #Driven, a resource for family and friends that care for a loved one living with…

In Head Start, shared governance is something we live by every day. From the very beginning, the framers of Head Start wanted to provide parents and community representatives with the authority and opportunity to participate in share decision-making concerning program design and implementation. But as we know, as human beings, we sometimes disagree. That’s completely…

2019 is not just the end of a year, but the end of a decade. What a decade it was! It all started in January 2010 with the release of the Head Start Impact study final report. A monumental, and sometimes controversial, report that found agencies across the country fielding questions from reporters: Has it…

As a Head Start consultant, I often find myself as the only man in a room full of women. It’s true, Head Start, and early childhood education in general, is dominated by women – staff, volunteers, and of course, mothers. It’s in rooms just like these that I’m often talking about the value of father…

As a Head Start leader, building relationships within your local receiving schools is one of the best ways to both understand and plan for the process of transitioning a child from Head Start to kindergarten. However, as with most things, that doesn’t just happen automatically or overnight. It takes time to form a plan, and…