What began more than 80 years ago with one woman's devotion to orphaned children has evolved into a mission-driven organization that creates hope, happiness and success for children and families. The newest addition to Lena Pope Home is the Early Learning Center where teachers, parents and students partner to shape the learning experience.
According to the Texas Education Agency, children who attend a quality pre-kindergarten program have better reading and writing skills, and have better social skills, behavior and conduct in and out of the classroom.
Research has uncovered risk factors or attributes that often contribute to child abuse or neglect. "We can't take an impoverished family and make them upper middle class," said Susanne Luebke, director at the Early Learning Center. "What we can do is make risk factors less powerful."
One of the most impactful ways of building protective factors in children is by engaging families in the learning experience early on, she said. One way of encouraging interaction between families and teachers is visiting the home. "When you go to a family's home, you might find out things you wouldn't find out if they were on your turf," said Luebke. It opens up a different kind of discussion surrounding a child's development and family dynamic.
"Parents feel like they are part of what's going on and their kid has the same opportunity as anyone else." Parental involvement in early education helps create a buffer against risk factors that a child might encounter.
Outside the classroom, kitchen manager Allison Bayse introduces children to new and nutritious foods. One experiment involved hiding red bell pepper in omelets that were baked in muffin tins. "Stinking adorable," said Luebke. Parents and teachers said, "Wow! This is amazing." The students" felt otherwise. "Eggs are supposed to be yellow, not red," said Luebke. Lesson learned.
