Submitted by Nancy A., a teacher with our program for 25 years.
2005-06 school year
Trevor had been in Head Start the previous year in the afternoon classroom. We shared the classroom with other staff and children. Trevor had numerous behavior issues: attending at group, tantrums, not following the rules, running away. He would just start screaming during group time, etc. There was a first year teacher in the class who really did not have the skills to deal with Trevor. I found it very difficult to sit in the office and try to do my work with this going on so I began to intervene. Through consistent reminders of the rules of group time, and consistent removal from group for noncompliance Trevor was able to sit through group with an adult for support. The teacher continued to struggle with his behavior all year.
The following year I noticed Trevor on my class list. I was not thrilled, as I had also heard how difficult this family was to work with. But he was in our class, so Rosa, our Teacher Asst/Family Advocate, and I decided we were just going to be consistent with him and we knew we could enact change.
There had been numerous issues with someone being available for Trevor at the bus stop and so we went on our first visit ready to address this to try to ward off any problems. Trevor's mom, Lisa, actually brought the issue up saying that she knows it was a problem last year but she doesn't think it will be an issue this year. Her youngest is no longer a baby trying to nap at the time the bus brought Trevor home. She no longer has a kindergartner so she is not meeting a bus 4 different times during the day, and she got a cell phone which she has set to call herself at the time she needs to go out for the bus. So I felt that we were off to a good start.
Trevor was not happy to be back at school saying he liked summer and camping better than school. I had to let him I know I agreed. His behavior at group time was difficult. Rosa and I decided that I would be the main one to work with Trevor on his behavior and she would tend to the rest of the class. Through numerous strategies we were able to improve Trevor’s behavior but never got to the point where we weren't always vigilant.
In talking with mom I found that his behavior was as out of control at home as it was at school. I began to discuss with mom my concerns about he fact that he already had a bad name for himself in the school because of issues with older siblings and teachers and what the staff had observed of Trevor's behavior. I started talking to her about intervention programs that were available to her. She was very hesitant, as her husband did not like to open his house and his parenting to outsiders; he is a very private man. After many conversations regarding Trevor's behavior and kindergarten mom finally agreed to be part of a program that Head Start provides in conjunction with the school district.
District personnel work with the teachers, Head Start through 3rd grade, on a behavior program in the classroom. It is called the red card/green card game. After they have spent a week in the classroom establishing the game and coaching the teacher the teaching staff take over the game and the Coach begins working at home with the family, parents and kids.
When we began the process to start this program with Lisa she had agreed on the condition that her husband not be involved and the meeting would not take place in her home. By the time of the first meeting she wanted it in her home with her husband in attendance. The coach informed me that actually the whole family was there, two middle school-age brothers, a first grade sister, Trevor and 2-year-old Christopher.
Trevor continues to show progress at school, finally getting to point where he was able to say, "I don't like it that big people are always telling me what I can and can't do." Mom reported that he will come up to her and apologize for what he said under his breath while he was walking away and that now she only has to ask one time for him to do something. The coach said that the family shows amazing progress seeing how they are not setting up steps to success at all for their kids nor themselves and adopt the program into all aspects of their lives.
On our transition conference Lisa looked at me and said, "I am so happy because of the four children I have sent to kindergarten I feel that Trevor is the only one who is ready, thanks to Head Start." The impact on this family of Head Start connecting them with the district program "Steps to Success" has been incredible, from Trevor being able to make friends and like coming to school, to dad admitting that he had an anger management issue he needed to work on, to mom admitting she was too lenient -- trying to overcompensate for dad. Although this started as the family we dreaded working with it ended up being one of our most rewarding.