Reading to your child 20 minutes per day has been shown to improve your child's reading skills later in life.

Children who were early readers came from homes that provided a literacy rich environment.

The ESC-20 Head Start program curriculum meets the state expectations of the development of skills in the areas of phonemic awareness, numeric awareness, print awareness, use of language to communicate, use of complex and varied vocabulary, appreciation of books, and progress in ESL mastery.

Throughout the school year, teachers, assistants and Family Services Associates receive on-going professional development. Topics vary depending upon the needs of the staff and program goals. All new teachers, assistants and Family Services Associates also attend the Head Start New Staff Orientation training. New staff is provided ongoing assistance to learn the Head Start Performance Standards by attending Head Start 101 Training.

Parents are given opportunities to increase their early childhood knowledge by attending a variety of parent trainings provided by program specialists and facilitators. Family Services Associates offer parenting skills through the Parent Learning Network (PLN) curriculum.

As the school year nears the end, the Head Start teachers meet with the kindergarten teachers to provide the children and families a smooth transition to kindergarten. Children are taken into the kindergarten classroom to interact with the students and teachers in order to prepare them for the coming year. Kindergarten teachers meet with program parents at the last Parent Committee meeting of the school year to explain the similarities and differences between Kindergarten and Head Start.