Head Start teachers maximize seasonal changes to create learning opportunities.
Favorite fall activities include exploring and decorating pumpkins, studying and painting with apples and taking nature walks to find crafting materials. Students exercise their creativity, reasoning and motor skills.
This year, both Central Plaza and South Elyria hosted fall festivals for Head Start families.
LCCAA Head Start families enjoyed getting wild about language and literacy at two events last month.
Activities, food, door prizes and more were enjoyed at both Griswold and Hopkins-Locke centers. All Head Start families were invited to the programs’ two largest centers for the events.
The events were held on the same day as the national Read for the Record event. Head Start students joined hundreds of others across the country reading Piper Chen Sings
Teachers also welcomed parents as guest readers for the book by Phillipa Soo.
LCCAA Head Start families have access to INFOhio, a free online digital library full of materials for children and parents from preschool to high school.
It’s never too early to help children learn to love to read. Some kids may think books are boring compared to cartoons or video games, but that just means they haven’t found a book that really draws them in.
Finding books on BookFlix when
you log into INFOhio, is the perfect bridge because it is filled with animated books.
Wild About Books by Judy Sierra is
a silly story about a lost bookmobile that stops at the zoo where animals decide to read books.
BookFlix pairs it with Welcome to the Library by Alyse Sweeney. Both books feature the joy of checking out library books to read.
Ask your family service assistant to learn more about INFOhio. This engaging resource will help early readers develop and practice reading skills.
LCCAA Head
Start’s newest center in south Elyria is now led by an experienced administrator new to the area.
Diana Rush relocated to Ohio, near one of her six children, after several New York Head Start centers closed following the creation of free, universal preschool in the state.
“I love what Head Start stands for,” she said. “I love that we help with the families and not just the children.”
After homeschooling her children for nearly three decades, Rush started as the Head Start center’s cook. She was promoted to a family advocate role and then center director. Meanwhile, she continued to cook.
In addition to vastly different state-based regulations, Rush said LCCAA’s use of Conscious Discipline is new to her.
“I love to learn too and I love Conscious Discipline and how well it is integrated,” she said. “It’s changing the way I speak. I love going into the classroom.”
Rush earned her Child Development Associate, Family Development Specialist and Children’s Program Administrator credentials all within the past year. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s of fine arts in creative writing.
Believe it or not, not all children are born knowing how to play pretend. Unfortunately, many toys have a right way and a wrong way to play that doesn’t allow for kids to develop creativity and problem solving.
LCCAA Head Start recommends open-ended toys like those listed below. Many can be used by either boys or girls or siblings playing together. The number one recommendation is to find time to play together as a family.
Fill Dentist, Wheels Tractor
Best toys for 3 to 5 year old girls
X Pretend food, dishes, kitchen appliances
X Play-Doh sets like Drill and Fill Dentist, Rainbow Swirl Ice Cream, Swirlin’ Smoothies
X Dress up clothes/costumes such as veterinarian, princess, chef
X Simple games like Count Your Chickens, Noodle Knockout, Soggy Doggy
X Art Supplies like Do a Dot Art Markers, washi tape, sidewalk chalk, stickers
X Baby dolls, diaper bag, bottles, baby seat
X Books such as Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson, This is a Ball or This Book is Red by Beck and Matt Stanton
Best toys for 3 to 5 year old boys
X Fort construction kit or other pop-up structure like circus tent or fire truck
X Play-Doh sets like Volcano Treasure Adventure, Drill and
X Dress up clothes and tools such as fire fighter, mechanic, super hero
X Simple games like Hungry Hungry Hippos, Zingo!, Let’s Go Fishin’
X Hands on materials like instruments, magnets, magnetic board and magnetic letters
X Train tracks to construct or gears set
X Books such as Press Here or Tap! Tap! Tap! by Herve Tullet, Don’t Push the Button by Bill Cotter
Don’t be afraid to buy children things that need adult supervision, like paint, scissors, or games with lots of pieces. Find a safe place to keep these things, like on top of the refrigerator or top shelf of a closet. Explain to children that these things are not for everyday and need to be used with a grown up.
Make sure that the time you spend with your children is quality time together, especially if the quantity of time may be limited. And lastly, have fun together!
Firelands Head Start’s newest student has a bright future in milk production. Peony also weighs about three times as much as the average preschooler even though she is the youngest member of the class.
The class has adopted Peony the dairy calf through the free Discover Dairy Program.
“The program is so fun and educational, Discover Dairy will send out emails to the teachers giving them activities and virtual tours to learn more about cows,” said Stacy Hall, the class’s Early Childhood Service Worker who learned about the program in her previous position at Norwalk Head Start.
Peony is a Holstein heifer born on Sept. 8 weighing 100 pounds. She lives at Four Pines Farm, owned by the Deetz Family, in Sugarcreek, Ohio. The dairy farm has been in operation since 1898. Mackenzie Deetz, who grew up on the farm, is
Peony’s primary caretaker.
One goal of the program is to teach children where milk comes from since it’s a key component of daily nutrition at school. Students also get regular updates on Peony’s growth and Hall has created a growth chart where they can compare her growth to their own.
“I think our kids are really enjoying knowing that they have a cow that we adopted in the classroom,” Hall said. “They get to hear updates about the cow growing just like them every day and see videos and photos of the cow.”
Hall has also created a book of photos of Peony, her caretakers and her home. Virtual tours and an app for parents are also available through the program. Discover Daily loves to hear updates on what the children are doing, Hall added.
In all, 81 cows were adopted out to schools for the 2024-25 year, according to Hall. Lesson plans, fact sheets and farm field trip grants are also available through the program. Learn more about Discover Dairy at www.discoverdairy.com.
Out of the Box is back!
LCCAA Head Start Nutrition Staff has returned with its popular virtual cooking lessons just in time for cold weather.
The Dec. 4 demonstration featured vegetable barley soup. On Dec. 11, an easy no-knead bread will be shared. Both sessions are at 1 p.m.
The online sessions feature dieti-
Scan this code to register for Out of the Box and access the recipes.
cian Marge Robison from Pisanick Partners who will be available to answer questions.
Registered participants will then receive all the ingredients and everything else they need to recreate the recipe at home.
See your family service assistant if you have questions. Scan the code below to register.
Scan this code to see the latest menu for most of our Head Start Centers.
Tiered levels are now available in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administered by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The program is designed to eliminate the Benefits Cliff many clients fear in the program. Eligibility for SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), has long been for households living at or below 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Lower income levels receive more benefits. The new system allows clients to retain some benefits as their income
increases up to 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
“Fear of losing food benefits can be a deterrent to taking a new job, working more hours, or even accepting a promotion,” said Matt Damschroder, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “Instead of an all-or-nothing approach, we are creating a sliding scale that encourages people to earn more by slowly reducing their benefits as their income grows.”
Learn more at benefits.ohio.gov.
Protecting children from exposure to lead is important to lifelong good health and school readiness.
LCCAA Head Start screens every child for lead exposure and provides referrals when needed.
Screenings have been conducted at all LCCAA centers and make up screenings are planned for Dec. 10. Contact your family service assistant if you have questions.
New federal rules also require utili-
ties to replace all water service lines made of lead within the next decade.
For Ohio, that includes nearly 750,000 lines, the third highest number of any state. Experts say the large number of lines is due to Ohio growing rapidly when lead was the commonly used material.
Lead exposure at a young age can impact a person for their entire life. A young child with lead poisoning may not develop new skills at the
same speed as other children. Even low levels have been shown to affect a child’s IQ, attention span and academic achievement. Other potential issues include anemia, behavior and learning problems, hearing problems, hyperactivity, ADHD and slowed growth.
Learn more about how to prevent exposure: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/11312-lead-poisoning.
Preschoolers’ hands need lots of time to develop. The many small muscles need time to strengthen and patience is critical to building strong pencil grip and scissors skills.
LCCAA Head Start teachers take every opportunity to exercise those small muscles with a variety of activities that increase fine-motor skills. Most of these activities also promote other skills at the same time.
Play-Doh is a popular choice for preschoolers in all our centers. Kneading and shaping the dough helps work all those little muscles while they exercise creativity and have fun. Using Play-Doh to form letters helps with development and letter recognition at the same time.
One class at Hopkins-Locke expanded the lesson recently into making their own Play-Doh. This added measuring and cooperation to the “mix” of learning.
At Wellington, students threaded beads onto pipecleaners. The pipe cleaner is easier to hold than string and retains its shape during threading. This activity involves concentration and encourages the use of the pincer grasp between the thumb and forefinger. Repetition of this movement is another way to prepare for proper pencil grip.
Additionally, Wellington students learned math principles by sorting and matching beads by color and they had a chance to be creative making new creations from the combined materials.
Play-Doh can also be used to practice scissors skills. Cutting it is a great first step before moving on to thicker papers like old greeting cards.
X Dec. 6: Socialization, Hopkins-Locke, 10 a.m.
X Dec. 20: Socialization, Hopkins-Locke, 10 a.m.
X Jan. 17: Socialization, Hopkins-Locke, 10 a.m.
X Jan. 31: Socialization, Hopkins-Locke, 10 a.m.
Teachers also use Handwriting Without Tears, a research-based, developmentally-appropriate curriculum that uses a multi-sensory approach to engage children in writing.
At the beginning of the year, lessons begin with special small crayons to help students develop a three-point grip for writing. At home, parents can practice with smaller or even broken crayons.
Patience is critical! Correct grip and skills develop overtime in a series of steps. The mature tripod grip –the goal – may not happen until your child is five or six years old. Keep practicing and don’t worry!
X Dec. 13: Griswold Parents, 8:45 a.m.
X Dec. 13: Hopkins-Locke Parents, 8:45 a.m.
X Jan. 14: Wellington Parents, 10:30 a.m.
X Jan. 16: Hopkins-Locke Parents, 9 a.m.
X Jan. 16: Firelands Parents, 8:45 a.m.
X Jan. 17: Griswold Parents, 8:45 a.m.
X Jan. 17: LaGrange Parents, 9:30 a.m. X Jan. 23: Policy Council, Central Plaza, 5:30 p.m. X Jan. 30: Education Advisory, Central Plaza, 9 a.m.
LCCAA’s Lorain County Pathways HUB has new staff members well known in the Head Start family.
Melissa Carroll was named director of the LCPHUB in late September. Last month, Teresa Pagan was named Community Health Worker Coordinator, the job Carroll held beginning in January.
Carroll previously created the Pregnancy Support Services program which operated under Head Start in 2023. Pagan was a long-time employee of the program before she became a Community Health Worker with the Lorain County Urban League, one of the partners in the LCPHUB.
“Community Health Workers (CHWs) create a bridge between women and their health care providers,” Carroll said. “Many women don’t know what questions to ask and they get a lot of information they don’t understand.”
The LCPHUB is a free program seeking to reduce infant mortality and improve the health of at-risk moms and infants in Lorain County. In Lorain County, 13 out of every 1,000 Black or African American infants die in
their first year of life. The rate for white infants is 4.5.
Pagan now coordinates nine CHWs who are working with more than 300 mothers and babies. She and Carroll work to keep clients and CHWs alike up to date on the latest research and development in maternal and infant care. They provide regular training and a variety of resources CHWs can pass along to their clients.
A parent of four Head Start graduates, Pagan began working at LCCAA as an assistant teacher in 2007. She then worked as a home visitor for 12 years. She completed her CHW certification in only six weeks at Cleveland Community College. The program normally takes up to six months. Carroll has worked with pregnant and new mothers since the early 1990s. She is both a Certified CHW and a doula, holding several certificates.
In 2020, Carroll earned her associate’s degree from Lorain County Community College in social services and women’s studies. This year she completed her bachelor’s degree through Cleveland State University. Learn more and make a referral to the LCPHUB on our website.
Residents throughout Lorain County can take advantage of the LCCAA Produce Center every week.
Households living at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($60,000 annually for a family of four) are eligible to order from the center.
Ordering windows are open from 8 a.m. Monday to 11 p.m. Sunday or until all appointments are full. Pickups are the following Wednesday and Thursday.
Appointments must be made via the online system and honoring
appointments is critical. Those picking up are also asked to approach the Produce Center using Reid Avenue and West 10th Street and not cut through the parking lot at 936 Broadway Ave. Please follow all signs and staff instructions. Staff
will bring food orders to your car.
LCCAA operates the Produce Center in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio and Food Forward Lorain. The center has also benefited from extra produce grown in Lorain by Solidarity Farms.
The Produce Center is staffed by youth assigned to LCCAA’s Youth Services program.
Visit our website for more information or to place your order. Contact Center Manager Deirdre Paynter at 440-457-0327.
LCCAA and the State of Ohio have multiple programs to help you heat your home this coming winter. Each program has a slightly different set of requirements and procedures. Here’s what you need to know. Emergencies only. Appointment required.
The Winter Crisis Program will help you if your primary heating source is disconnected, a disconnec-
tion notice has been received, or you have less than a 10-day supply of bulk fuel.
Appointments for Winter Crisis can be made only online. All appointments will be conducted over the phone.
If you receive a disconnect notice during the crisis period, make an appointment right away. If you make an appointment for at least 48 hours before your scheduled disconnection AND you enter your utility account number, the utility will put a hold on the disconnect while you are waiting for your appointment.
If you miss or reschedule your appointment, the hold is removed and you may lose service.
Winter Crisis will operate through March 31, 2025. Apply online. No appointment needed.
HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) helps you pay to heat your home during the winter.
PIPP (Percentage of Income Payment Plan) reduces your utility bills to a percentage of your income.
For more details on all these programs, please visit our website. You don’t need an
Head Start families are invited to visit classrooms on Dec. 20 for Winterfest.
Children and parents will decorate cookies, enjoy activities and hear a story.
Ask your child’s teacher for exact time and more details.