Hawaii

Here's another excellent new program for kids in Hawaii. Every early childhood place should encourage parents to participate in every aspect of a child's day simply because a parent's interest means so much to a child.

Maui News

Parent participation preschool to open

By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer

KAHULUI – A preschool program that trains parents as well as their young children will be opening at Kahului Elementary School in January.

The Keiki O Ka Aina Family Learning Center is a parent participation preschool in which the classes require a parent or caregiver to be involved with the child while providing an educational program for children as young as 1 and up to age 5.

The sponsoring Keiki O Ka Aina Family Learning Center has been running parent participation preschools for about 10 years on Oahu. The Kahului Elementary facility will be the first on Maui as the nonprofit organization initiates a project to expand to the Neighbor Islands.

Early Childhood Director Vicki Draeger said Keiki O Ka Aina recently received a three-year, $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to conduct preschool programs throughout Haw-aii.

The grant will help to fund the nonprofit’s 12 parent participation schools on Oahu, a nationally acclaimed “Parents as Teachers” program on both Maui and Oahu, and a third program that features home instruction programs for pre-schoolers on Oahu.

Keiki O Ka Aina chose Kahului Elementary as its first site for a Maui parent participation preschool, in part because the school last year was deemed in need of restructuring. Kahului Elementary was forced to hire a private provider for assistance because the school fell short of “adequate yearly progress” standards set under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The concept of a parent participation preschool is to have families participating in providing a jump start on skills necessary for children to have early school success.

“We want to empower parents to help their children,” Draeger said.

Classes in the parent participation preschool are scheduled for 8 to 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Jan. 10 in the Kahului Elementary School cafeteria. The preschool is free, but a one-time registration fee of $25 will be charged.

There are no guidelines for participation in the preschool. Income and race are not criteria for enrollment. Families need not have a student enrolled at Kahului Elementary to be eligible to attend.

Draeger said Kahului Elementary Principal Fern Markgraf welcomed the idea of opening the program to all of her families and not just the Native Hawaiians that Keiki O Ka Aina has traditionally served.

Kahului Elementary has approximately 800 students enrolled, of which some 200 are of Hawaiian ancestry, according to Draeger.

Activities in the parent participation preschool will include arts and crafts, song and dance, puzzles, blocks and easels, story time, shapes and colors, math basics, field trips and Hawaiian culture. Children under the age of 1 may also attend if they have an older sibling attending the preschool.

What makes parent participation preschool different from other preschool programs is its focus on helping parents or caregivers deal with issues on caring for young children, Draeger said.

“We want to help parents know that they are their child’s first and best teacher,” Draeger said.
In addition to covering issues of discipline and general child rearing, parent participation preschool will also help the grown-ups understand the terminology often used by educators.

“Teachers at parent conferences will throw out terms like small motor control, impulse control and visual perception. We try to help parents develop this vocabulary of education terms so that they know it once they hear it,” Draeger said.

For more information about the Keiki O Ka Aina Family Learning Centers, visit its Web site at www.keikiokaaina.org. To receive information on registration, call (888) 99-KEIKI.

Registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Draeger said the parent participation preschool will accept between 20 and 30 families.

Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.