Head Start Awareness Month is observed in October, and its purpose is to spread the news about the importance of the Head Start program in the United States. These programs provide a learning environment that supports children’s growth in literacy, language, emotion, and social development.

Although parents are recognized as the child’s first and most important teachers, the program provides an educational foundation that leads to the child having a more successful academic career. According to the latest research, children who participate in Head Start are 12% less likely to live in poverty as adults than children who haven’t participated in the program.

And that’s only one benefit of a myriad of benefits that children receive when they attend this program, and that’s why it’s important that parents know about what it provides so they’re more likely to enroll their children in it.

The History of Head Start Awareness Month

In 1965, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson created the Head Start Program to provide educational opportunities for children all across the U.S. Seventeen years later, in 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan would proclaim October as Head Start Awareness Month. This month has since served as a reminder of everything that the Head Start program stands for and its importance to American families.

Important Facts About Head Start

In order to highlight the importance of the Head Start program, we thought that it would be appropriate to list some of the facts that we’ve learned about it through our research. The following bulleted points should prove to everyone just how important this program is to millions of American children.

• Early Head Start children show better language, social, emotional, and cognitive development than children who don’t attend the program.
• Children in foster care who attend Head Start are more ready for school when they finish the program.
• Head Start children are more likely to have healthy eating patterns than non-participants.
• Children in Head Start are more likely to graduate from college and attend college.
• Children in Head Start are more likely to receive a secondary license, degree, or certification.

Observing Head Start Awareness Month

During this month, all Americans are encouraged to show their support for the Head Start program, regardless of whether they have young children or not. There’s plenty of research that outlines the importance of Head Start to American children.

This program gives children a better chance at academic success than they would ordinarily have, so it’s an important program to support. And supporting this program can be as easy as using the hashtag #HeadStartAwarenessMonth on social media.