[UPI]
Head Start intervention helps child behavior, lowers parental stress. Children from the Goddard Riverside Head Start program look at a holiday tree decorated with origami ornaments which is on display at the American Museum of Natural History (UPI Photo/Monika Graff)
EUGENE, Ore., July 2 (UPI) – An intervention involving a Head Start program produced significant improvements in the children’s behavior and parental stress, U.S. researchers say.
University of Oregon neuroscientists said the new university initiative was designed as an addition to the regular Head Start program.
Head Start began by the federal government in 1965 to enhance the education, health, nutrition and parental involvement for families living under the poverty line.
Study leader Helen Neville, the Robert and Beverly Lewis Endowed Chair in Psychology and head the Brain Development Lab, said the intervention involved learning exercises, including games, appropriate for kids ages 3-5. Study co-author Scott Klein said the exercises require clear focus from the children.