Hunter Foster is just shy of his third birthday. He’s not shy of much else.
“He’s one of those very active children, he needs extra attention,” said Leslie Foster, Hunter’s mother.
I can easily empathize with the Marysville mother, having one of those very active little boys myself.
Mine is older than Hunter. He has almost mastered sitting still in church (with pencil and tablet). We’re working on stress-free trips to the grocery store.
Hunter, his family and child-care providers are finding help through Success by 6. A national program at work in more than 300 communities, Success by 6 is a United Way of Snohomish County initiative supported by the Bank of America Foundation.
Its aim is the well-being of young children. There are about 61,000 kids younger than 6 in Snohomish County, according to United Way.
The methods are as simple as offering tips for parents, and as complex as an evaluation used in some preschools to note and solve problems.
Arlington School District is one of several agencies using the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment through the Success by 6 program.
At Our Saviour’s Lutheran Child Care in Arlington, where Hunter is in the 2-year-old room, a Devereux evaluation helped his teacher and mother improve his behavior. Hunter has been evaluated twice this year.
“When he first came in, there were lots of behaviors,” Leslie Foster said. “He was really aggressive, and very needy of the teacher’s attention.”
Since the evaluations, Foster better understands Hunter and can help him with choices that make everyone’s life easier.
“He’s happier,” Foster said. What’s working is offering Hunter options when he hears the word “no.”
“It doesn’t become a struggle over who’s stronger. He’s learning to cooperate,” Foster said.
Hunter is also getting a leg up on school readiness. Despite all the attention on older kids taking the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, don’t forget that learning begins years earlier.
United Way spokeswoman Deborah Squires said studies nationally have shown that about 46 percent of kindergartners aren’t ready for school, putting them “at risk for failure.”
Evaluations of Snohomish County children involved in Success by 6 show real promise, Squires said. A sampling of 189 county preschoolers ages 2 to 5 found significant improvements, from 27 to 39 percent, in areas that signal school readiness.
“Children need a certain degree of self-control, a certain amount of initiative, and to emotionally attach to be ready to go into a classroom and succeed,” Squires said.
At Our Saviour’s Lutheran Child Care, director Bev Curtis sees those qualities – or the lack of them – up close.
The assessment, Curtis said, “is a nonthreatening way to approach parents. We go over where a child is, concerns or strengths.”
In one case, an assessment helped qualify a child with a speech difficulty for an Arlington School District program, Curtis said. “If we didn’t have (the assessments), we wouldn’t have gotten him the help he needs,” she said.
Kristi Reardon, manager of Success by 6 with United Way of Snohomish County, said the grant-funded program is used in licensed child care centers and preschools in the Arlington, Lake Goodwin and Stanwood areas, and at some Early Childhood Education Assistance Program sites.
Soon, it will expand to cover about 2,000 children, including Tulalip preschoolers.
Success by 6 offers “things every parent can easily do to give their child a wonderful start,” Squires said. There’s advice at the Web site, www.uwsc.org/Community Impact/sb6.htm.
“Read to your child, at bedtime, on the bus, read signs wherever you are,” Squires said. “Help your child understand emotions. Tell your family story, and communicate your values.”
Getting together with other kids, enjoying your child’s company, and simply loving your child, it’s all part of fostering success.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist,” Squires said.
Helping kids is not rocket science. It’s a lot more important than that.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
Success by 6
Find tips and information about Success by 6, a nationwide program operated in partnership with United Way of Snohomish County, at www.uwsc.org/ CommunityImpact/ sb6.htm.
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