Parent Applauds Head Start Program

Head Start's Positive Impact
Presented on August 19, 2003 by LeAnna Buescher, parent of
a former enrolled child


Hello, my name is LeAnna Buescher. I am from Oakdale and I would like to tell you my family’s experience with the Head Start program. My story starts a long time ago with my son Shaun, when he was around 2 years old. He had passed all his milestones on time except he was very quiet and had no recognizable speech. When I asked advice from my family, everyone told me not to worry because late speech ran in the family. They all told me that when he turned 3 he would surprise me and one day he’d wake up speaking full sentences. So I put my worries on the back burner and tried to hope for the best.

When Shaun’s 3rd birthday came and went without any change in his speech I became very concerned. He had only 8 or so words and they were unrecognizable to people outside our family. Throughout this time, I was always taking him to the pediatrician for check ups and he had agreed that if his speech did not greatly improve by his 3rd birthday, that we would start doing some tests and get him evaluated. So we did all the medical tests possible including a hearing test, EKG and other neurological tests and everything came back normal, ...there was no medical reason he knew of why he had such a severe speech delay, but the Doctor said something was definitely wrong. I remember asking about Autism which I thought couldn’t be what was wrong with my son because he was very affectionate and that didn’t go along with Autism. But Shaun was fascinated with water and had no speech and that did point in that direction of Autism and I knew there were different types of Autism and that concerned me a great deal. The doctor couldn’t rule that out and basically told me that time would tell and to make sure I got him into speech therapy right away.

I telephoned around and found out that I could get Shaun evaluated by the Stanislaus County of Education for Early Intervention and they came out to the house and did the tests they needed to. Shaun qualified to go to the special school in Ceres called Margaret L. Annear that was a preschool for children with different handicaps and challenges. This also included a speech therapist that would come to his class once a week or more which was wonderful and great news to us.

Because Shaun had no speech, he relied on me to always be by his side and frankly I just wasn’t ready to just drop him off at school, so I went with him for a few months there and that was a wonderful thing because it was a beginning.





One very important thing I should mention is that because of Shaun’s speech problem he became more and more frustrated because he had no way to communicate his needs or feelings. Because of this his behavior became very volatile and he would often throw tantrums, and his self-esteem was almost nonexistent. He would see other children smaller than him speaking in sentences and he was very aware of his problem. He withdrew inward and became even more shy and had strained social skills with other children. Because I knew some of his tantrums came as a direct result of his frustration, I never punished him for them and Shaun was very “catered to” and babied. That did not improve our situation. In fact, Shaun began to think he was the “boss” in our family.

I had my eye on the Head Start program in Oakdale that would be starting that August and really wanted to get Shaun in there. He would be turning 4 that month and I knew that if there was any chance at all for him to start Kindergarten on time with the other children his age, he would need that year in Head Start. But many of the teachers and staff at his special school cautioned me that he may not be ready and they encouraged me to let Shaun stay another year or 2 at Margaret L. Annear. In his special class, all of the children had different challenges, some where in wheelchairs, some had severe learning disabilities, 1 little boy was deaf and none of the children were very verbal. I really wanted Shaun to be around verbal children but I knew there was a chance he would be overwhelmed and that it could backfire.

Shaun was accepted into the Head Start program and we decided to take a chance. I remember the first day; he did run underneath a table and refuse to come out. But I also noticed it wasn’t so easy for the other children either; they were scared on their first day too. Shaun slowly began playing with the other children and even though none of them could understand anything he said they accepted him and included him and he began to make his first little friends.

Shaun and I still had the attachment issue and after a few weeks I realized that he felt safe there because of his wonderful teacher Dora Torrez and the staff there were so kind and patient with him. In time he felt loved there and he loved those people, he still does, he asks to go see them all the time. Teacher Dora is the afternoon teacher there, but I also had experience with the AM teacher Cheryl Aquino who had my nephew in her class a few years before. Both the teachers there are wonderful and made such an impact both my family and my sister’s family, as well as helped our children during a difficult period.


To understand the complete relief this gave me and our family you have to realize that for 4 years I was not able to leave him with anyone, not even extended family because of his frustration at not being able to communicate his needs and also because I was worried that the second they didn’t understand him, he would throw a fit. So here, after 4 years I was able to leave him somewhere and I knew he was safe, and that was a wonderful thing.

That year Shaun had the most wonderful speech therapist, her name was Leslie Coolie and she worked so hard with him that year. Shaun’s speech began to improve. Leslie didn’t just help Shaun though, she helped give me ideas on how to handle times when I couldn’t understand Shaun’s speech. There was always the issue of what to do when Shaun was trying to tell us something and we couldn’t understand him. It was so frustrating for him and those times seem to take whatever little self-confidence he had and crush it. It was so hard to watch him go thru this every day. And I will never forget talking with Leslie about this one day and she told me that if I tell Shaun that there was something wrong with my ears that day and that he would have to keep trying to tell me until I understood, that it would take the pressure off of him and not keep damaging his little self esteem. That was the best single piece of advice I had ever gotten from anyone because it worked like a charm. Things changed immediately when I started that and I could see it in his eyes how it made him feel better about himself.

Another thing that happened that year was my husband had to change jobs. When that happened we lost our insurance and I didn’t think at the time that it was a big deal. But I was wrong. When we signed up for individual health insurance we found out that because of all the tests that Shaun had to take that our insurance would be astronomical and made it unaffordable to us. It was frustrating because there was a Healthy Families insurance program offered to low income families for a ridiculously low amount of money per month, but our income disqualified us from that program. Dental insurance was the last thing on my mind at the time because we were more worried about heath insurance. Well, that year Shaun’s teeth started rotting and he stopped eating because his teeth began to hurt. One big mistake I made as a mother was letting Shaun keep his bottle until he was 3. You can imagine how stupid I feel now for that, and how upset I am that my son had to pay for my mistake.

I took Shaun to the dentist and got a consultation and basically because Shaun was 4 and needed so much work, he would need dental surgery, and that meant anesthesia, to be put asleep to get the work done. The cost would be around $5000 and I didn’t have that kind of money. I asked them if they would accept payments and none of the dentists in Modesto would. I remember feeling so helpless and furious that the dentist did not care that my son was in pain and that he was refusing to eat. I remember also feeling tremendous guilt at the reasons he needed to have this dental surgery and the fact that I had no money to pay for it. I began to try to borrow money from family but was not having any luck. At the same time the Head Start nurse told me that his class had a dental check and that he was in major need of work. I told her my circumstances and a few days later she brought me into the office and told me that Head Start may be able to pay for it. I almost fell out of my chair! I couldn’t believe that Head Start could do that for us, I didn’t even know that help like that existed. Shaun got his teeth fixed and I am sure you could imagine how grateful my family and I were for Head Start.

Shaun thrived that year in Head Start and everyone noticed his tremendous growth. I feel so thankful that this program was available for my son and so thankful that he had such a wonderful teacher and so thankful to all the staff there that all took part in helping Shaun that year. Those people inspired me and I feel so lucky that they were a part of my son’s and my family’s life. They truly care about these children and they really know how to care for the children who have discouraged little hearts. Day by day, they fill these children with kindness, caring, structure and fun learning activities and slowly help each one build their self-esteem. They give these kids their first taste of what school is like and what a wonderful first experience that is for them!!

It was amazing that in the beginning of that year I was so worried that Shaun would not be able to start Kindergarten on time. Not only was he able to start Kindergarten, he had made so many little friends in Head Start, it wasn’t a stressful event like before. Some of those same children were in his Kindergarten class. In fact it was an exciting time for him and instead of running under the table the first day of Kindergarten, he immediately began playing with the other children and even though his speech was still very hard to understand they accepted him into the group.

One thing that happened during Shaun’s Kindergarten year was that I stayed very involved in his school; I would go every Friday just like I did in Head start. Sometimes I would bring my camera and take pictures of the children. I made a scrapbook for the class and I saw how the children loved it and how it made them feel special to see their picture and I saw how they felt important when I took their picture and that was a great feeling. At the end of the year I made a DVD-Slideshow for the class party and it was about 100 pictures with background music and some video of them singing songs. The children loved it, the parents loved it and I made copies for everyone. While I was doing that I realized that, WOW, maybe I could do this for a living. It is something I love to do and how lucky I would be to do what I love and make money for my family.

I never forgot how much of a difference the people at Head Start made on my son’s self esteem and I was inspired by that. I wanted to do something that I felt made a difference and something that helps children’s self esteem, and pictures do that. So I took a risk and started my own business and as of today I have 14 private schools signed up, and 1 public school that is my son’s elementary school. I don’t think this would have happened for me if it wasn’t for the time I spent in the Head Start Classroom because that is when I realized how much I loved being around children in the classroom environment and I witnessed first hand the power we have as adults to make a difference in their lives.

I am convinced that if it wasn’t for the Head Start Program that Shaun would be still going to the special school in Ceres and he would not be a thriving verbal 1rst grader that he is today. If there wasn’t that transitional place for Shaun I don’t think he would have made it into Kindergarten and if he would have had to stay at the special school a few years, the transition to public school, after attending a special school for those first years, would have been too hard for him.

For the teachers and administrators of Head Start in Oakdale, I will always be in debt. I hope that you realize the difference you make in these children’s lives and the lives of their families. Thank you!

If you want more information about Head Start, please contact Child/Family Services at 525-4937.  Additionally, you can click on the link below to get more information.

Head Start Bureau, Washington DC
http://www2.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/hsb/