NEW YORK — Loyal Harmoni Harris travels to Bronx-area high schools every day to learn emotional, motor and language skills. Loyal is slightly younger than other students in high school. In fact, she is only 2 years old.
That's because Loyal is part of a unique New York City program called LYFE (Life for Young Families through Education). LYFE provides free early childhood education to parents of students attending the city's public schools. Loyal's mother, Honesti Melendez, is 16 years old and attends the high school in the same building where her daughter learns.
LYFE is not new. The school, which is more than 30 years old, serves more than 300 early years students across 31 centers across the city. But LYFE, which started as a child care program for young mothers, has grown into a three-generation education program that officials and experts say can benefit not only student parents, but also children and families.
“We have become more than babysitters.” says Mignon Callender, parent of a former LYFE student and current LYFE teacher. “We know we are teaching more than just the kids in this program.”
Some of the benefits these programs provide to students' parents are clear. Free child care makes it easier for children to stay in school and be on track to graduate. LYFE Centers have expanded hours to allow students' parents to participate in extracurricular activities or pursue careers.
But LYFE also offers other services. Every student's parents are connected to a social worker who helps them plan their way forward and think about their future. Social workers also help other family members find jobs and solve other problems. Experienced educators help students learn parenting skills. Special workshops and excursions give students an idea of college and other graduate school opportunities.
And leaders say the program provides a judgment-free refuge for students who often face stigma.
“One thing we don’t do is have any preconceptions about why families are here,” says James Williams, principal of the LYFE program. “They were judged by a doctor. They were judged by bus drivers, friends, and parents. They are not judged by us.”
Loyal's mother, Melendez, said she sometimes feels judged by students her age, but the LYFE program has given her other priorities to focus on. Melendez said that at the time of her birth she did not know about the program and often missed school to care for her baby. Now her hope is not only to graduate, but to go to college and become a lawyer.
“I love being here. I love their support, not only for the baby but also for the parents,” says Melendez. “Honestly, I don’t think I would have been able to attend high school without the LYFE Center.”
For young children, the center is more than just a safe environment to play. The program aims to provide high-quality education to young children without income restrictions. (Programs like Early Head Start limit eligibility based on income and other factors, while New York City pre-kindergarten is open to children as young as 4.) Classrooms will feature a teacher-led, project-based curriculum called The Creative Curriculum, from the company Teaching Strategies. Use. , outline your goals and design a training plan.
Bronx Regional's rooms are colorful and well-equipped with learning tools such as water tables and sand tables, as well as interactive areas for play and books. Children learn how to place ornaments on a tree, or learn words about nature and camping.
“Across this school system, our work with children begins with the youngest learners,” says Kara Ahmed, current Vice-Chancellor for Education and former head of LYFE. “We were given an amazing opportunity to get started at LYFE in just six weeks.”
Teen mothers and their children often face negative consequences as they grow older. But this has less to do with the older parents are when they have children, and more with the fact that teenagers who do have children are particularly socially and economically disadvantaged, says Stefanie Mollborn, a professor at Stockholm University. It is an affiliate of the University of Colorado Boulder that studies adolescent health and development. For example, around 30% of LYFE's student parents live in temporary accommodation. And about half of the families in the program do not speak English as their primary language.
Teen parents begin to catch up with their peers during the first few years of their children's lives, but the children themselves tend to start falling behind in academic, cognitive, behavioral and health outcomes, Mollborn says.
“By the time these children enter kindergarten, there is already significant disadvantage, and when you look at the causes of that, chronic poverty is the biggest problem,” she says. “If you enter kindergarten and first grade at a serious disadvantage, it can almost be game over. These shortcomings tend to snowball.”
However, Mollborn's research shows that children of teenage parents who are able to stay in center-based child care have better developmental outcomes than children who are not able to do so. According to city officials, approximately 90% of children participating in the LYFE program meet or exceed developmental outcome goals.
“Teen moms and dads are very motivated to do the right thing for their children and give them a really good life,” says Mollborn. “These are people who can especially benefit from early education for their children.”
According to city officials, it costs about $14 million a year to maintain the LYFE program.
Ayanna Blount, whose young son is in the LYFE program, is a current student and intern. She wants to pursue her career as an ultrasound technician.
“Without this, I wouldn’t be in school the way I am now,” she said. “And I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish as much as I did.”