Early Childhood Programs

Bucks IU Early Childhood Programs were fea­tured Monday, October 16, 2023, on the “Let’s Talk on WDVR” radio pro­gram. This show, host­ed by Andy Kin, Kelly Unger and Bill Tucker, spoke with Dr. Roseanna Mitsch, Bucks IU Director of Early Childhood Programs. Dr. Mitsch explained about the Bucks IU Head Start and Pre‑K Counts FREE Preschool through­out Bucks County. Robyn Gross, Bucks IU Marketing Lead, assist­ed with infor­ma­tion on the Bucks IU and their oth­er programs.

Listen to the seg­ment here: https://bit.ly/3M4g9Cs.

Learn more about these income-eligible preschool pro­grams below.

HEAD START, EARLY HEAD START, PRE‑K COUNTS

Head Start and Early Head Start are fed­er­al pro­grams designed to pro­mote school readi­ness by enhanc­ing the child’s cog­ni­tive, social and emo­tion­al devel­op­ment with a pos­i­tive learn­ing envi­ron­ment and a vari­ety of ser­vices, including:

Children’s readi­ness for school and beyond is fos­tered through indi­vid­u­al­ized learn­ing expe­ri­ences. Through rela­tion­ships with adults, pur­pose­ful play, and planned and spon­ta­neous instruc­tion, chil­dren grow in all aspects of devel­op­ment. Children progress in social skills and emo­tion­al well-being, along with lan­guage and lit­er­a­cy learn­ing, and con­cept development.

Each child’s per­cep­tu­al, motor, and phys­i­cal devel­op­ment is sup­port­ed to per­mit them to ful­ly explore and func­tion in their envi­ron­ment. All chil­dren receive health and devel­op­ment screen­ings, nutri­tious meals, oral health, and men­tal health sup­port. Programs con­nect fam­i­lies with med­ical, den­tal, and men­tal health ser­vices to ensure that chil­dren are receiv­ing the ser­vices they need.

Parents and fam­i­lies are sup­port­ed in achiev­ing their own goals, such as hous­ing sta­bil­i­ty, con­tin­ued edu­ca­tion, and finan­cial secu­ri­ty. These pro­grams empha­size the role of par­ents as their child’s first, and most impor­tant teacher, by help­ing to build rela­tion­ships with the fam­i­lies and encour­ag­ing their involve­ment. Programs sup­port and strength­en parent-child rela­tion­ships and engage fam­i­lies around children’s learn­ing and development.

Bucks County Head Start pro­grams are free to qual­i­fied fam­i­lies and chil­dren, as set by the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment. Eligibility may change year­ly and is based on income, or sta­tus with pro­grams such as: Social Security Insurance (SSI), Temporary Assistance of Needy Families (TANF) or fos­ter care; or oth­er con­sid­er­a­tions such as home­less­ness. Some chil­dren may also be eli­gi­ble for Pre‑K Counts.