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Things to Know ... *Teachers are usually unavailable before class begins because they are teaching another class. Please stay with your child until your teacher is ready to begin class. *Once registration is received, $15 of the fee is non-refundable unless the cancellation is due to a full class. *Make-up classes are available if your child is unable to attend a class, however, make-ups must be scheduled during the same teaching week of the class that is missed. Please call our office at 281-897-9991 to see what class times are available for make-ups. When will registration for the Fall 2010 session begin? Drop-off and mail-in registrations will be accepted at the Main Location beginning August 17th. Online registration will be available Wednesday, April 18th at 10:00am. Any registration received before online registration begins will be placed in classes first. What will my child be doing in a typical Head Start to Reading class? Classes are designed with 4 and 5 year olds in mind so everything we do is activity based! Worksheets are not used in Head Start to Reading. Class times are only 55 minutes long to fit most children's attention spans. We usually start our class time with a short table top activity until everyone arrives. We then move to the floor for 10-15 minutes to learn our new words. Next we go to the table to do a short learning activity such as making a book with our new words or playing a game to practice our words. At the end of our session we go back to the floor to review what we learned and play another learning game! How do I know if my child is ready to learn to read? Your child does not need to know his letters or letter sounds for the Head Start to Reading class because all of our learning is based on looking at words as a whole. If your child is able to sit down and listen for 10-15 minutes, then your child is ready for this class! Can I make a reservation for a class by phone? No, registration is only accepted online or by mail. How will I know if my child got in the class that I chose? You will be contacted by email when your registration is received if you have email or by phone if you do not have email. My child is not old enough to start kindergarten in the Fall of 2012, but has a strong interest in reading. Could he enroll in the class? No, only children old enough to attend kindergarten in the Fall of '11 (5 years old by Sept. 1, 2011) are eligible to take this class. Although I know that younger children are able to learn to read, the activities that we do in the class were designed with the Pre-K age group in mind. However, enrollment for the following year starts in August! Be sure to check back then! Will I be attending class with my child? No, you do not need to attend the class with your child. There is a waiting area available for parents and siblings to wait in or you are welcome to drop your child off and come back when the class is over. I really want my child to learn phonics. Why isn't Head Start to Reading taught using phonics? I couldn't agree more that phonics is a VERY important part of reading. However, after working with this age group for 17 years, I've learned that they are simply more successful learning to read by sight first. This is usually the year that they are still learning their letters and letter sounds. To require a child to use those still unfamiliar letter sounds to figure out words becomes frustrating for them. Teaching them to read by sight gives them success from the very beginning. After they take Head Start to Reading, they can take Next Steps to Reading which is where we begin learning how to read phonetically. My child is in Kindergarten but has not taken the Head Start to Reading class. Can I still register for the Skill Builders class? Yes. It is not necessary to take the Head Start to Reading class before taking the Skill Builders class. Any child who is currently in Kindergarten can take Skill Builders. My Pre-K child is already beginning to read. Does he/she still need to take the Head Start to Reading class or can I request that my child be placed in Next Steps to Reading? All Pre-K children need to start out in Head Start to Reading because the Next Steps to Reading classes build on the vocabulary that was taught in Head Start to Reading. All children are assessed on the first day of classes. If there is a child who already knows a majority of the sight words that are going to be taught in Head Start to Reading, you will receive a phone call giving you the option to place your child in a Next Steps to Reading class. Will my child be able to make-up classes that are missed due to illness or being out of town? Yes, make-ups can be scheduled by calling 281-897-9991. The make-up must be for a class that is working on the same material your child missed however (which means it needs to be made up within the same teaching week.) Make ups are by reservation only and can be scheduled ahead of time if you know your child will be missing a particular class, or you can call after your child misses a class to see if there is a time available for a make-up. What happens if I mail my registration in and all of the classes I requested are full? If the two choices you indicated are full, you will receive a phone call letting you know that those classes are full, but your child's name will be placed on a waiting list for those classes. Your check will be held until the first week of classes just in case an opening becomes available. At that time, all checks will be voided out and destroyed. If you would prefer your check to be sent back to you, please indicate that when called. I missed the registration for this session. Will the classes be offered again? We offer 3 different sessions throughout the school year. Head Start to Reading is offered in the Fall. Registration for the Fall session begins at the end of August and the classes start in late September and run for 10 weeks through December. Head Start to Reading, Next Steps to Reading, and Skill Builders are all offered in the Spring. Registration for Spring begins in December and classes begin in February and run through the end of April. Head Start to Reading, Next Steps, Write-Track, and Reading Adventures are offered in the Summer. Registration for Summer begins in April. What if my plans change and my child cannot take the class we registered for due to travel? $15 is non-refundable after registration is received. 90% can be refunded after 1st scheduled class 75% can be refunded after 2nd scheduled class 60% can be refunded after 3rd scheduled class 45% can be refunded after 4th scheduled class 25% can be refunded after 5th scheduled class No refunds are given after your child's 6th scheduled class.
Still have a question!? If you have a question about our program that has not been covered in the Frequently Asked Questions, please feel free to email us at DMiller@HeadStartToReading.com. |
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