Field Observation

Clinch-Powell Educational Cooperative Head Start (Valley View) Field Observation

Gabrielle Bailey

Liberty University Online

Clinch-Powell Educational Cooperative Head Start (Valley View) Field Observation

On February 2, 2015 I was welcomed in to observe a Head Start program in Lafollette, Tennessee. The name of the Head Start program is Clinch-Powell Educational Cooperative Head Start, but the locals just refer to it as Valley View. I went into the school at 7:45 A.M. and did not leave until right around 1:20 P.M. To my surprise the building was rather small; it only holds two classrooms, a meeting room, front office, and bathrooms for the students. While the building was small, the environment was very welcoming and comfortable.

The Head Start Program covers ages three to five, but most of the students in Mrs. Necca’ s class are ages three and four. There are a total of 18 students enrolled in her class; however only 14 were present on the day I attended. The curriculum for this particular week was based on the different people of the world. Mrs. Necca used books, music, crafts, and pictures to help the children learn and understand what the term culture means. She also talked about some of the differences between the cultures such as food, houses, clothes, music, and language.

For each classroom there is one teach and an assistant present to help with the children. In this case Mrs. Necca is the lead teacher and Ms. Tina is the assistant. Both take on active roles with the kids. They read, ask questions, encourage answers, and take turns setting up activities for the kids. In order to keep to keep things going smooth in the classroom, they use the word “bubbles” to get the kids to get quiet, have names placed on the floor where students are to line up, give each student a job so they all get to participate in class, and have a set routine that the students are to follow each day.

One thing about the Head Start Program that I really enjoyed is...