Our Resources
Education
Community Action Agency for McHenry County Head Start strives to ensure that the individual needs of every child are met. It is our goal to provide children with a safe, nurturing, engaging, enjoyable, and secure learning environment, in order to help them gain the awareness, skills, and confidence necessary to succeed in their present situation and to deal with later responsibilities in school and in life.
We use the objectives and widely held expectations developed by Teaching Strategies GOLD to continuously assess each child’s development, and that assessment information is shared with families three times during the program year. Teaching Strategies GOLD supports learning for all levels of development, including children with special needs and dual-language learners, and is aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework and Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards.
School Readiness
Community Action Agency for McHenry County Head Start is committed to helping create a strong foundation for each child’s future success in school and in life, and we utilize a comprehensive, holistic two-generational approach. We place a high value on the parents’ role as a child’s first and best teacher and work together with families to ensure all children are ready to learn. School Readiness is defined as meeting or exceeding the current standard developmental level, or widely held expectation, for a given age group. The School Readiness Goals we have developed are inclusive of the following domains: Language & Literacy, Approaches to Learning, Cognitive, Social Emotional, and Perceptual Motor and Physical Development.
School Readiness Goals
Child Outcomes Report
Developmentally Age Appropriate
Community Action Agency for McHenry County Head Start strives to provide learning experiences appropriate to children’s age and developmental status and responsive to the social and cultural contexts in which they live. Developmentally appropriate practice involves teachers meeting young children where they are developmentally appropriate practice does not mean making things easier for children; rather, it means ensuring goals and experiences are suited to each child’s individual learning and development and challenging enough to promote progress and interest. This best practice for early childhood education is based on knowledge and research about how children learn and develop.
Family
Family Services
Our children and families make our program successful.
One of Head Start's goals is working in partnership with parents to promote self-esteem, self-confidence, and school readiness for children. Services available for families included within the program are: educational services, medical health, dental health and mental health services, nutritional services, services to children with disabilities or special needs; family educational and development services; social services support, referrals and transportation services.
Family engagement in Head Start is about building relationships and developing partnerships with each family. Families that participate in the program find that it supports their well-being, promotes strong relationships between parents and their children as they continue to learn.
Family Service Workers
The family service workers work directly alongside each family beginning at enrollment and through the year partnering with families as they set family goals toward family outcomes and participate in Parent Committee meetings, Parent Curriculum classes, and Family Partnership Agreements.
Open, Family Service Worker Crystal Lake Center
(Email Not Listed)
Yesenia Carreño, Family Service Worker Crystal Lake Center
yesenia.carreno@headstartmchenrycounty.org
Irma Nunez, Family Service Worker Harvard Center
irma.nunez@headstartmchenrycounty.org
Araceli Jimenez, Family Service Worker McHenry Center
Family Partnership
The primary goal of our Family Partnership Agreement is to guide families and encourage parent participation in the program while assisting them in their efforts to improve the quality of family life.
Parent Curriculum
Our program offers 2 research based parent education curriculums:
Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors classes meet once a month for 10 sessions. Sessions are designed to provide parents and guardians the tools they need as they work with their preschoolers in school readiness. Topics from this curriculum include My Child’s Growth and Development, The Power of Words, and Healthy Body/Healthy MInds just to name a few. When parents and guardians participate in this parent education class the parents make what they learn part of their daily family life and a part of their community culture.
The Incredible Years classes meet once a month for 10 sessions. Sessions are designed to provide parents skills to positively coach their children through difficult stages in their growth and development. The basis of this curriculum is vignettes or videos and group discussion on the topics. Child Directed Play, Coaching and Effective Praise, and Positive Discipline how to ignore or re-direct are a few of the titles in this parent education program. Families that have participated in this curriculum take new skills learned with them as they work with their children through social emotional learning, academic competence and well-being.
Parent Committee Meetings
Each family service worker hosts a parent committee meeting once a month at each center. These meetings include parent workshops and special programs in addition to decision making activities. Topics include school readiness, health and nutrition, current parenting issues, sharing resources and many others.
Policy Council
Parents and legal guardians have an opportunity to be a part of the program’s Policy Council. The Policy Council works with key leadership staff and the governing body to develop, review certain policies and procedures while it serves as a link to the Parent Committee.
Health & Nutrition
Health and Nutrition Services
Hand-washing, Brushing Teeth, & Nutritious Meals are just a few of our activities that help teach healthy habits!
At Head Start we:
Emphasize the importance of prevention and early identification of health and dental concerns.
Work together with parents to ensure treatment is obtained for children needing follow up care.
Provide vision and hearing screenings through the McHenry County Department of Health.
Work together with parents to ensure children have up-to-date immunizations, well child exams, & dental exams.
Provide educational opportunities for children and families throughout the year in the areas of health & nutrition.
Disabilities
Disability Services
The program ensures that at least 10 percent of the total funded enrollment is filled by children eligible for services under IDEA. We work collaboratively with the school districts in the county to serve children with disabilities. We perform developmental screenings within 45 days of enrollment to identify any potential delays. We then work with the families to start the referral process to the appropriate school district for further evaluation. Children continue to receive support in the classrooms during the process and can be dually enrolled.
CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD - The Birth to Five Flyer Illinois - ENGLISH Version
CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD - The Birth to Five Flyer Illinois - SPANISH Version
Mental Health
Mental Health Services
We work in collaboration with a Mental Health Consultant to support the staff with consultations and support in the classrooms. The Mental Health Consultant performs observations in the classrooms as needed and will meet with staff and parents to provide guidance and support.
We also offer families opportunities to meet with a family counselor. The counselor meets with families individually to provide support.
Click Here to Download The Juan E. Service Flyer - SPANISH Version
Family Counseling with Juan Escutia - Testimonial
(English) Juan has helped my family improve tremendously. We are not used to asking for help because we think we can solve our own problems on our own. Sometimes our problems become more than what we can handle. That is where the help of a professional can be a great blessing. Juan helped my family to better communicate, love each other, and value different points of view. I think that every family in Head Start should be part of a private and confidential session with him. I am very grateful to Head Start for giving us this free service to use.
(Spanish) Juan ha ayudado a mi familia a mejorar nuestra forma de ser. No estamos acostumbrados a pedir ayuda porque creemos que podemos solucionar nuestros propios problemas solos. Pero a veces los problemas se convierten en algo más de lo que podemos aguantar. Y allí es donde la ayuda de un profesional puede ser de gran bendición. Juan ayudo a mi familia a mejor comunicarse, amar se y valorar los diferentes puntos de vista. Pienso que cada familia en Head Start debe de ser parte de una sesión privada y confidencial con el. Estoy muy agradecida con Head Start por dar nos este servicio gratis.
