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EQUIPPED W I TH a big blue basket, a flannel board and a friend
ly smile. Chapter / teacher Heather Smith brings preschool to se
lected four-year-olds through home visits. Above, Ann Morrozoff
helps Smith head to the next stop.
m
STAFF PHONOS RV SUSAN USHER
MANY ()! SMITH'S PORTABLE LESSONS are built around themes. Here she shares a story about the weather with Miranda
Morrozoff.
Ci iuui L ? r o ? ? i p>p> n i t i
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Home-Based Teacher
Prepares 4-Year- Olds For Kindergarten
BY SUSAN USHER
Four-year-old Miranda thinks it's great that a
teacher comes to her house once a week, giving
her undivided, one-on-one attention for at least an
hour.
She usually watches lor "Miss Heather" at the win
dow and greets her at the door, eagerly peeking inside
the big blue laundry basket in Heather Smith's arms.
The Chapter I home-based pre-kindergarten teacher
wuik.s with Miranda and other four-year-olds in the
Waccamaw, Bolivia and Supply school districts?the
number served varies, depending upon where each child
lives and the travel time involved.
Unlike some classroom teachers, she not only hears
about but meets their parents, their pets and their fa
vorite playthings.
"She gets real excited about 'Miss Heather' coming
each week," says Miranda's mom, Ann Morrozoff. "It
gives her something to look forward to and something to
talk with her brother about when he comes home from
school. Hopefully when she starts kindergarten she'll
have a head start."
Jonathan is in fourth grade at Supply Elementary
School, where Smith's office is located.
A typical weekly session with a student includes three
to five different hands-on activities designed to equip
students with the skills they need to be ready for kinder
garten.
"I want them to be able to see words and letters and
to know they mean something, and I want them to learn
to be excited about school," said Smith, a first-year
teacher who graduated from West Brunswick High
School and UNC-Charlotte.
"At the end of the year I want to give each of them a
tour of the school they'll be attending next year, so they
won't be scared, so they'll be like little leaders when
they start school. I'll let them see the school and intro
duce them and their parents to the principal."
Working with those objectives and others in mind.
Smith tries to capitalize on students' curiosity and per
sonal interests.
"I find it's better to sit and talk, to let them lead with
what they are interested in. There's a lot of going out
side and learning from their environment."
"If I notice a child is frustrated with an activity, I just
throw it out and do something else," she said.
ERNIE of Sesame Street fame gives Miranda
plenty of practice zipping zippers, snapping snaps
and buttoning buttons.
Lessons are personalized for each child, based on
needs identified in the "DIAL R" screening test that as
sesses motor skills, concept and language. The assess
ment determines which students qualify for the pre
kindergarlen service.
Most lessons are also built around a theme, perhaps
planning a birthday party or the weather. That makes it
easier to get youngsters involved in learning situations
that How naturally from one activity to another, and it
helps determine what goes in "Miss Heather's" big blue
basket of supplies.
Working in the home with children "is good for me,"
she says, offering pluses every teacher doesn't have. "It
has helped me get to know parents, and 1 get to work
with the children individually. I get to see their home life
and their interests."
Smith works not only with the youngsters, but with
their parents as well. It's personal contact and help most
parents, including Ann Morrozoff, eagerly welcome.
" They provide a lot of resources that help me with
her," said Morrozoff, gesturing toward Miranda, who is
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totally absorbed in a weather-related activity with Smith,
matching teddy bears dressed for various kinds of
weather with the appropriate setting.
Each week Smith leaves a packet of parent-child ac
tivities to work with until her return. The packet typical
ly includes board manipulation games with easy-to-rcad.
easy-to-follow instructions?"whatever I have or what
ever I think they need to work on," she says.
Also, parents receive a copy of their child's individual
education plan, a calendar with suggested activities they
can do together each week. Chapter I and pre-kinder
garten program newsletters and other resource materials.
Families are also enrolled in the Book-It program,
which encourages parents to read books aloud to their
children. In January students and parents who had read
their books were treated to a meal at a local restaurant.
"I have a really great group of parents," says Smith. "I
can count on them to do anything I ask for them to do
for the next week."
Parents also visit the Chapter I Parent Resource
Center at Supply Elementary School regularly to borrow
books and other materials they can use with their chil
dren, take their children to story hour at the library and
participate in periodic outings and workshops.
Chapter 1 Pre-kindergarten started last year with
school-based programs at Union Elementary and
Lincoln Primary schools, a response to concerns about
many area children not having the skills they need when
entering school for the first time.
"We feel the earlier we can reach the child, the more
we can reduce the remedial instruction needed later,"
said Chapter I Director Patricia W. Ward
"In February," she recall, "we still had so many chil
dren iin the waiting list we tried to come up with another
way of serving them, and we didn't have the space at
school. We started the first home-based program at
Lincoln last year, and parents loved it."
"We like the school-based model, but the home-based
allows us to work with the parent and child."
In addition to Smith's three-school home-based teach
ing circuit, 16 students each are being served again this
year through school programs at Lincoln and Union. At
Lincoln two teachers share responsibilities, offering a
school-based program Tuesday through Thursday and
working on Mondays w ith a different set of children in a
home-based program.
The program fills a gap in services. Before, if a parent
couldn't afford a private preschool program and didn't
qualify for Head Start or exceptional children's services,
"there was nothing for them," Smith said.
Early screening by the program also spots potential
hearing or speech problems. Smith has already referred
two students to the school system speech therapist?
great early help, she says, reinforcing the concept of pre
kindergarten.
Results of the early contacts with parent and child are
promising.
List year, the home-based program at Lincoln contin
ued from February through the end of the school year,
then they joined students in the school-based program
for for four weeks on the school campus in June for ad
ditional learning experiences.
The students had been tested before entering the pro
gram and were tested at the end.
"We didn't know what to expect," said Ward, when
we got results we were amazed. We could see a lot of
difference. We want to look at it again after an entire
year."
Spots are available now in the local program.
Interested parents of four-year-olds are encouraged to
contact Ward at 754-9282 or 457-5241 for information
about eligibility screening.
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