Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 6, 1 Iune 2002 — Keiki succeed at pre-schools [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Keiki succeed at pre-schools

By Kanani Manoa Studies show that children who attend preschool are more likely to enjoy academic success in the future, A child in a qual~ ity preschool program ean learn to listen, follow directions, participate in groups, stay on task and organize their environment and materials, A good preschool program is more than just teaching the alphabet, īt ean help the child and his/her fami~ ly with the transition from home to preschool, and from preschool to kindergarten, The early years of a child's life are emeial to success in school and society, They ean more easily absorb and retain information during this stage than others and are most comfortable in the structured environment that school provides, Many parents think that we "play all day" — it doesn't take long for them to realize that we work hard, I love to have parents sit in or help us out in class so they ean see their keiki at work, īt is our job as preschool teachers to see that eaeh child has an individual plan to start learning from where they are when they "enter our doors," Every child is different and every child makes progress, We collect "evidence" of eaeh child's achievements — snap shots of the year with us, and ī am continually impressed with our keiki, ī remember a mother at her first parent meeting saying she was "praying for me" because her son was a real handful, However, with our consistent help, he soon grew to understand the reason for rules and learned to enjoy school, He blos~ somed and learned so mueh, for his school environment created the boundaries he needed yet allowed him to grow into a sweet and lov~ able boy, His mom had tears in her eyes because she was expecting the

worst, ī still see him — he is in the second grade now — and doing well at school, Most parents who are reluctant about preschool are usually unfamiliar with the program, We weleome parents to eome and observe our class before applying to a preschool — and several parents have taken us up on this offerl īt is so important for Hawaiian children to attend preschool, Sadly, they represent a disproportionately large at~risk segment of our society, Hawaiian children are often at the low end of the kindergarten class upon entry to school, They are not used to speaking up in front of a group of people — to be orally expressive, Preschool provides the basics and foundation to help pre~ pare our keiki for the next steps of learning in kindergarten, īf preschool were not a part of their lives for a year, they would be just starting the basics at a time when they could be moving on to other things, Both of my children attended preschool, so ī saw the benefits, To provide more quality preschool opportunities, Kamehameha Schools developed the Pauahi Keiki Scholars program, Hawaiian preschoolers may qualify for tuition scholarships to nonKamehameha preschools, To be eligible for this year's program, the applicant must meet the following criteria: ♦ Resident of the state of Hawai'i ♦ Accepted in a preschool pro~ gram approved by Kamehameha Schools ♦ Four years of age by December 31,2002 ♦ Demonstrate financial need Preference will be given to ehildren o f H aw ai i an ane es tr y, Ke A 1 i ' i Pauahi Foundation, a support orga~ nization of Kamehameha Schools, administers the Pauahi Keiki Scholars program.

ī encourage parents — please consider preschool for your keiki, and consider the Pauahi Keiki Scholars program, Applications are due July 1 for the 2002-2003 year. Call 842-8218 (O'ahu) or 1-800-842-IMUA, ext. 8218 (toll~free

from neighbor islands) for more information or visit the web site at www.pauahi.org, Kanani Mānoa is a teacher at Kamehameha Preschools in Lā'ieM

Ho'onaAmao _™in_

Pauahi Keiki Scholcirs hcive the opportunity of going to non-Kcirnehcirnehci preschools to get ei jurnpstcirt on eieeielemie success.