Pearl River Valley | Mississippi
(601) 736 - 9564

Head Start Philosphy

Pearl River Valley Opportunity, Inc. Head Start/Early Head Start believes in providing high quality services to meet the needs of children, families, communities and staff. Services will be comprehensive and will include child health services, education, child safety, nutrition, family and community services, mental health and disabilities. Our program provides an enriching environment with a variety of developmentally appropriate activities to enhance and advance the child’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive abilities.

Curriculum For
Head Start/Early Head Start

They agency utilizes the Creative Curriculum 5thEdition in our Head Start classrooms. This curriculum is based on a firm foundation of research and responds to new requirements to address how we prepare children for kindergarten. All classrooms are designed based on the Creative Curriculum Interest Areas (Learning Centers) to include a minimum of eight (8) and maximum (11) areas (centers) to expand children’s learning in all developmental and domain areas. Activities are documented on Weekly Lesson Plans. Early Head Start classrooms utilize The Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers and Twos, 2nd Edition, a research based curriculum for children ages 0-3. This curriculum focuses on creating a responsive environment, providing meaningful routines and experiences, and building relationships with parents. The Partners for a Healthy Baby Curriculum is used by home visits to provide developmentally appropriate information for parents whose children are enrolled in the home based option. This curriculum is also used by family advocates to educate pregnant women on topics such as breastfeeding, maternal depression, prenatal/postnatal care and the effects of alcohol/drugs during pregnancy. Teachers use the curriculum to plan individualized activities for each child. Activities selected are based on observations, information provided by parents, and assessment results.

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School Readiness Brochure

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Contact Us

PO Box 188 | Columbia, MS 39429
756 Hwy 98 Bypass
    Columbia, MS 39429
(601) 736-9564
EMAIL

Approach To School Readiness

Pearl River Valley Opportunity, Inc. developed school readiness goals based on the five essential domains of school readiness identified by the National Education and Goals Panel that are included in the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework. Our goals are evidence based, measurable and were developed based on collaborations with local public schools, The Infant/Toddler Framework, the Mississippi Early Learning Standards, Common Core State Standards, the Creative Curriculum for Preschoolers, the Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers and Two’s, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and LAP-D Assessment. Input from staff and parents were also considered in the development of the school readiness goals. Our identified school readiness goals are for all enrollees (birth to five). Our goals were developed by a team of professionals with broad backgrounds and experiences.

Staff received training on topics that promote school readiness such as CLASS, Common Core, The Creative Curriculum and LAP-D. Time was allotted during 60% staff development, every Wednesday beginning April 2012, for teacher training as well as teacher and teacher assistant planning time. Teachers used planning time to plan for individual children as well as groups of children based on observations and ongoing assessments.