Last year, we had a young boy that came into our preschool program as a three-year-old. He was a dual-language learner and didn’t speak much English. He was very shy and didn’t speak or engage with his classmates or teachers.
The teachers started by working with him on English words he would need to negotiate in the classroom and to make friends. It was at this time, his teachers noticed his pronunciation didn’t sound correct for a child his age. After talking with mom, who shared similar concerns with his home language, the teachers connected with the Kent School District’s Speech and Language Pathologist, who partners with our program, and had her conduct an observation. The pathologist gave the teachers and mom suggestions to work with him on to increase his language skills. He was also placed on an IEP for speech and started services by the end of his first school year.
The second year he came back to the same teachers and was talking, leading peer groups, and conducting child taught lessons for the new students that entered the program. Mom was very pleased with the progress he has made while in the Head Start program. She is very confident about him entering Kindergarten this coming fall. She is also very grateful to the staff of KYFS’ early learning program for working together to ensure he was screened for an IEP and our willingness to support her throughout the process.
-Kent Youth and Family Services
