CM Training Companion –
Required Content
Section 1: Jumpstart Basics
1) The Story of Jumpstart
2
Section 2: Working with Young Children
1) Ensuring Children’s Safety
2
Section 3: Supporting Kindergarten Readiness
1) Jumpstart’s Focus on Language and Literacy
2) Basic Child Development
3) Language and Literacy Development
4) Adult-Child Interactions
5) Classroom Management
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9
11
16
24
Section 4: Supporting Family Involvement
1) Jumpstart’s Work with Families
2) Welcoming Families to Jumpstart
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38
Please note: All bibliographic references are included in the Corps Members Training Companion – Supplemental
Content.
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SECTION 1: JUMPSTART BASICS
1) The Story of Jumpstart
In 1993, two Yale University students founded Jumpstart based on the belief that young children need to
receive specialized, individualized attention. Aaron Lieberman, Jumpstart’s co-founder, spent the
summer of 1993 working as a children’s camp counselor at Ramapo Anchorage Camp in Rhinebeck, New
York. The children at Ramapo had experienced difficult starts to their lives, and social service agencies
had intervened in many of their families. However, by developing personalized relationships with the
camp counselors, the children positively progressed and developed over the course of the summer.
Lieberman wanted to build on his experience that summer, and he began to explore ways to provide
children with similar one-to-one relationships all year long, involving families as partners throughout the
process.
When Lieberman returned to school that fall, he worked with another Yale University student to create
Jumpstart. Working out of their dorm room, the co-founders developed the Jumpstart’s first mission
statement, which was recently updated to guide the organization’s work today:
Jumpstart is working toward the day every child in America
enters kindergarten prepared to succeed.
In January 1994 Jumpstart began with 15 Yale students working with 15 young children who were falling
behind their peers at Zigler Head Start in New Haven, Connecticut. The Jumpstart Corps members
worked one-to-one with their assigned children to reinforce the basic literacy skills and social-emotional
competencies all children need to succeed in preschool and beyond. At the end of the year, every teacher
reported that the children referred to the Jumpstart program had made significant progress. Based on this
success, Lieberman and two friends from Ramapo worked to expand the program to Boston for the 1994–
1995 program year.
Since that time, Jumpstart has grown significantly. Lieberman explains Jumpstart’s growth and success:
‚The same thing that helped us start Jumpstart in the first place has helped us at each step along the way
as we’ve grown: the belief that if we were able to create a program that has a positive impact on children
and families, champions would emerge to help us along. Our first real champion, Ruth Turner, the
director of New Haven Head Start, read a two-page description of what we wanted to do and said, ‘Our
families need this program — we have to figure out a way to make it work!’ From that point forward,
we’ve grown based on the support of others who have seen the value of our work.‛ During the 2013-2014
program year, over 4,300 Jumpstart Corps members served over 11,300 children through partnerships
with higher education partners and early childhood centers across the country. Jumpstart’s current
theory of change – the ‚big idea‛ that forms the basis of the organization’s work – will be introduced
during pre-service training.
SECTION 2: WORKING WITH YOUNG CHILDREN
1) Ensuring Children’s Safety
Providing a safe environment for children is crucial to their learning. While children’s safety is ultimately
ensured and monitored by the preschools that host Jumpstart, Corps members should be aware of
strategies to prevent injuries, create healthy environments for children and recognize child abuse and
neglect.
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There are many ways to prevent injuries as part of the Jumpstart session routine. Checking the
environment for hazards is one important strategy. Being aware of the dangers of everyday objects is
another. For instance, items such as latex balloons, strings in hooded jackets or sweatshirts and small play
objects are all items that can cause children to choke. Placement of furniture and materials in classrooms
can also pose injury risks for young children. It can be easier to identify hazards and prevent injuries by
looking at the classroom from the child’s view – by literally getting down on their level and looking
around.
The best way to protect the health of children and Corps members is to establish policies that prevent the
spread of disease. The most highly recommended way to reduce illness and disease is to encourage hand
washing. In addition, Corps members should avoid activities that bring them in contact with bodily
fluids in the preschool environment. Teachers or other program partner staff are responsible for helping
children use the restroom, wipe noses and care for cuts and scrapes. All classrooms should have
disposable gloves that should be worn if Corps members are helping serve snack to children or
participating in other activities in which their germs could be transmitted to children.
Jumpstart has created a support structure for Corps members who have legitimate concerns about the
safety of a child in his or her home called the Child Abuse Prevention and Protection Policy. This
resource is provided to Corps members during pre-service training. It is also important for Corps
members to understand what constitutes child abuse and neglect and how to recognize any signs.
What are Child Abuse and Neglect?
Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect
Jumpstart considers ‚abuse‛ to include all forms of physical abuse, emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse
and exploitation, neglect or negligent treatment, commercial or other exploitation of a child, and any
actions that result in actual or potential harm to a child. Abuse consists of anything that individuals,
institutions, or processes do or fail to do, intentionally or unintentionally, which harms a child or
damages his or her prospect of safe and healthy development into adulthood.
Child abuse and neglect are also defined by both Federal and State law. The Child Abuse Prevention and
Treatment Act (CAPTA) is a federal legislation that provides minimum standards for the definition of
child abuse and neglect that States must incorporate into their statutory definition. The following
information was adapted from Child Welfare Information Gateway’s 2011 Definitions of Child Abuse and
Neglect, available at http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/define.cfm.
Under CAPTA, child abuse and neglect means, at a minimum:
‚Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious
physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an
imminent risk of serious harm.‛fn1 (42 U.S.C.A. § 5106g(2) (2010))
The term sexual abuse includes:
‚The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or
assist any other person to engage in, any sexually explicit conduct or simulation of such conduct for the
purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct; or the rape, and in cases of caretaker or
interfamilial relationships, statutory rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation
of children, or incest with children.‛fn2 (42 U.S.C.A. § 5106g(4) (2010))
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Types of Abuse
Nearly every State, U.S. territory and the District of Columbia provides its own definitions of child abuse
and neglect. Definitions vary. For example, some States define child abuse and neglect as a single
concept, while others provide separate definitions for physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and/or
emotional abuse.
Physical Abuse
All States and territories provide definitions for physical abuse. The term is generally defined as any nonaccidental physical injury to the child and can include striking, kicking, burning or biting the child, or
any action that results in a physical impairment of the child. In 38 states ‚the definition of abuse also
includes acts or circumstances that threaten the child with harm or create a substantial risk of harm to the
child's health or welfare.‛ States frequently amend their laws, so the number of states defining physical
abuse in this way may vary at any point in time.
Neglect
Neglect is addressed in the statutes of all States and territories, either in a separate definition or as a type
of abuse. Neglect is frequently defined in terms of deprivation of adequate food, clothing, shelter,
medical care or supervision such that the child's health, safety and well-being are threatened with harm.
Several States distinguish between failure to provide based on the financial inability to do so and the
failure to provide for no apparent financial reason. The latter constitutes neglect.
Sexual Abuse/Exploitation
All States include sexual abuse in their definitions. Some States refer in general terms to sexual abuse,
while others specify various acts as sexual abuse. Sexual exploitation is an element of the definition of
sexual abuse in most jurisdictions. Sexual exploitation includes allowing the child to engage in
prostitution or in the production of child pornography.
Emotional Abuse
Almost all states and territories include emotional maltreatment as part of their definitions of abuse or
neglect. Typical language used in definitions of emotional abuse or mental injury to a child is ‚injury to
the psychological capacity or emotional stability of the child as evidenced by an observable or substantial
change in behavior, emotional response or cognition,‛ or as evidenced by ‚anxiety, depression,
withdrawal or aggressive behavior.‛
Recognizing Signs of Child Abuse
Appearance of a single sign does not prove child abuse, but signs noted repeatedly or in combination
warrants a closer look at the situation by those trained to determine the possibility of child abuse. The
table below outlines common signs that may suggest different types of abuse, as well as neglect.
Signs That May Suggest Physical
Abuse
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Signs of Possible Sexual Abuse
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Multiple bruising to different parts of the body
Bruising of different colors indicating repeated injuries
Fingertip bruising to the chest, back, arms or legs
Burns of any shape or size
An injury for which there is no adequate explanation
Something a child has told you
Something a child has told someone else
A child who shows worrying sexualized behavior in their play or with
other children
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Signs Which May Suggest
Emotional Harm
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Signs Which May Suggest
Neglect
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A child who seems to have inappropriate sexual knowledge for their
age
A child who may be visiting or being looked after by a known or
suspected sexual offender
Children whose behavior is excessive. For example, excessive
bedwetting, overeating, rocking, head banging
Children who self-harm. For example, they may cut or scratch
themselves
Children who attempt suicide
Children who persistently run away from home
Children who show high levels of anxiety, unhappiness or withdrawal
Children who usually seek out or avoid affection
Squalid, unhygienic or dangerous home conditions
Parents who fail to attend to their children's health or development
needs
Children who appear persistently undersized or underweight
Children who continually appear tired or lacking in energy
Children who suffer frequent injuries due to lack of supervision
Any Corps member who suspects that a Jumpstart child is being abused should follow the process
outlined in the Child Abuse Prevention and Protection Policy, available in the Corps Member Handbook
and on file at the site manager’s office. Anyone with questions about this policy should speak with their
site manager.
SECTION 3: SUPPORTING KINDERGARTEN READINESS
1) Jumpstart’s Focus on Language and Literacy
Jumpstart’s curriculum provides deep focus on key areas of language and literacy development that were
selected based on recent literature demonstrating their importance in the development of emergent or
early language and literacy skills among preschool-age children. Because Jumpstart is a supplemental
early literacy program that works in conjunction with comprehensive preschool programs, Corps
members seek to enhance existing curricula and spend focused time on a subset of key literacy skills.
The Jumpstart curriculum is the definitive road map that provides specific strategies for Corps members
to maximize time with children to ensure development of skills that are critical to future school success
and build relationships that have powerful impact on children’s social-emotional development and
motivation for learning. The curriculum is based on the developmental sequence of three key language
and literacy domains.
Language and Literacy Domain
Oral language
Books and print knowledge
Phonological awareness
Skills
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Alphabet knowledge
Meaning and use of print
Phonemic awareness
Rhyme awareness
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Domain: Oral Language
 Language skills needed to express and understand ideas
 Includes receptive vocabulary (words children understand) and expressive vocabulary (words
children use), knowledge of the language structure and word uses, memory, comprehension and
storytelling skills
Skill: Vocabulary
 Demonstrated by the number, variety and complexity of words the child understands and uses
 There are two types of vocabulary skills —expressive (words children use) and receptive (words
children understand when someone else used them)
Skill: Comprehension
 Comprehension refers to understanding spoken language and written language
 It is demonstrated by the ability to engage in effective back-and-forth exchanges of experiences,
ideas and opinions, to give a coherent and accurate recounting of past events or personal stories,
to learn new information and to learn new ways of doing things from language
Domain: Books and Print Knowledge
 Demonstrated by children’s interest and awareness that print is a way to convey meaning and
their interest in and ability to attend to different kinds of books
Skill: Alphabet knowledge
 Demonstrated by the knowledge of the shapes and names of letters and the understanding that
there is a relationship between letters and sounds (e.g., the letter b stands for the /b/ sound)
Skill: Meaning and use of print
 Demonstrated by children’s understanding that print conveys meaning and the varied uses of
print (e.g., children use scribble writing to represent their stories, children know that some books
are stories while others have information)
Domain: Phonological Awareness
 An understanding of how the individual sounds of speech are combined, manipulated and
segmented
Skill: Phonemic awareness
 Demonstrated by the ability to hear, isolate and manipulate the individual sounds that make up
words (e.g., recognizing that ‚happy‛ and ‚hands‛ start with the same sound /h/, breaking ‚bat‛
into sounds /b/-/a/-/t/, replacing /b/ in ‚bingo‛ with /t/ to make ‚tingo‛)
Skill: Rhyme awareness
 Demonstrated by the ability to hear, recognize and generate words that rhyme. Rhyming words
have the same ending sounds (e.g., c-at, h-at; y-ou, t-o, S-ue; r-ing, s-ing)
All of these skills are developed through children’s participation in the Jumpstart session. For more
information on the Jumpstart session, please see the Corps Member Training Companion – Supplemental
Content or review a Jumpstart session plan.
The Importance of Reading
Reading is a critical element of the Jumpstart session routine. Research shows that the early learning gap
is clearly demonstrated by the difference in the vocabularies of children from low-income backgrounds
and children from upper-income backgrounds. A 3-year-old child from a family with a low income will
likely know 600 fewer words than her more affluent peer, and this difference will likely increase to 4,000
words by the time she is in second grade. Reading with children in Jumpstart sessions using the strategies
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outlined in Read for Enjoyment and Read to Reconstruct guidance in each session plan helps to build
children’s vocabulary and comprehension —valuable skills they will need for later school success.
Shared reading experiences in session play a special role in fostering early language and literacy
development by building content knowledge about the world, the vocabulary related to that knowledge
and concepts about books and print. The quality, amount and diversity of early literacy experiences have
a profound impact on how well children succeed or the extent of their struggle in their later school
success. Children who fall behind in reading at a young age are likely to continue to fall behind in their
academic achievement throughout the primary grades and beyond. When adults read aloud to young
children, children are motivated to become readers themselves (Sulzby & Teale 2003, p. 167). Storybooks
and informational books introduce children to different kinds of vocabulary, which has an impact on
their reading comprehension and later school success.
During Reading, Corps members will use two different read strategies to engage children in Jumpstart’s
core storybooks: Read for Enjoyment and Read to Reconstruct. In the Jumpstart session plan, the purpose
of each read strategy remains the same throughout the entire year:
 Read for Enjoyment —Takes place the first time a session plan is implemented.
o Purpose: Children develop an interest in and enjoyment of stories, develop initial
understanding of selected vocabulary and develop comprehension of the story and
related content knowledge.
 Read to Reconstruct —Takes place during the second implementation of a session plan.
o Purpose: Children develop an interest in and enjoyment of stories, deepen understanding
of selected vocabulary and develop comprehension of the story and related content
knowledge.
During pre-service training, all Corps members have the opportunity to learn more about what Reading
should look like and the strategies they will use during each Reading. They will view videos or live
demonstrations of each read strategy and practice these strategies in groups.
The information in the following table offers additional things for Corps members to think about as they
prepare for Reading with small groups of children. It highlights strategies that contribute to the
deepening of children’s vocabulary knowledge and comprehension through reading of Jumpstart’s core
storybooks.
Enhancing Reading
Read for Enjoyment
Introducing Vocabulary
 Prior to Reading, script out the definitions and explanations you will use to introduce four to six
vocabulary words to children. You may need to modify the definition provided in the session
plan to ensure that your presentation of each word sounds natural and does not interrupt the
flow of the reading.
 Think about using your expression, tone of voice, gestures and/or references to illustrations to
enhance your definition of each word and support children's understanding.
Anticipating Children's Comprehension Challenges
 Based on what you know about how young children think and learn, as well as your reading
experience with your partner children, make a list of things in the core storybook that may be
confusing to children. Remember that children may be confused by:
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
 Concepts
 Story events
 Illustrations
Draft possible responses, explanations and support strategies that you will use to help children
overcome the comprehension challenges you outlined.
Supporting Children's Comprehension of Higher Level Concepts
 Think about prompts, questions and observations you can use to help your partner children
understand higher level concepts presented in the story more completely. Consider prompts that
will help children:
o Recognize and understand character's feelings
o Link character's feelings to their actions and story events
o Make predictions about what might happen next
o Summarize chunks of the story
 If children are not yet able to make the connections listed above in response to your prompts, be
prepared to model this thinking out loud for children.
o Example: ‚Peter is frowning. I think he is sad because his parents are giving some of his
things to his new baby sister. He may not want to share.‛
 Use a balance of questions and ‚I’m thinking<‛ or ‚I wonder<‛ statements to keep the reading
experience from feeling like a quiz to children.
o Example: ‚I see here that Peter is looking at his blue chair. I wonder what will happen now.‛
 Use illustrations, observations and references to the text to confirm or clarify children’s
understanding.
Engaging Children in Discussion After Reading
 If time allows, wrap up your Read for Enjoyment by engaging children in conversation that
deepens their comprehension and knowledge of the story by:
o Making connections to the unit theme
o Clarifying the moral of the story
o Clarifying specific story events and concepts
o Making connections to children's lives, other books they have read or related concepts
Read to Reconstruct
Supporting Children's Reconstruction
 Prior to the Reading, complete a strong preparation of the core storybook —preparing for Read to
Reconstruct is just as important as preparing for Read for Enjoyment. Identify portions of the core
storybook that you will retell, portions you will refer to or reinforce and portions that will be the
focus of prompts that you will use to invite your partner children to guide the reconstruction.
 Use a variety of prompts, like:
o ‚Then what happened?‛
o ‚I wonder<‛, ‚I remember<‛
o ‚Do you remember why that happened?‛
o ‚Why do you think _______ (character name) did that?‛
 Try to anticipate how your partner children might respond to your prompt or question. Consider
possible responses and language you can use to deepen and extend what children have said. This
gets easier as you get to know children better.
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Key Illustrations to Support Comprehension
 As you prepare the book, look for key illustrations that will support children's understanding
and ability to reconstruct the story. Make a list of these key illustrations or flag them with sticky
notes.
 Prepare comments and descriptions you will use to highlight the importance of these illustrations
and the story concepts or events they represent.
Additional Questions to Deepen Children's Understanding
 Draft two or three open-ended questions that challenge children to think and give responses
beyond the literal details of the story. As in Read for Enjoyment, these questions can be related to
character's feelings, linking character's motivations to actions and events in the story, making
predications and summarizing key events and concepts.
 Be prepared to extend children’s responses or model the thinking for children in a way that
clarifies misunderstandings and expands comprehension.
Wrapping up the Read to Reconstruct
 Use your knowledge of how young children think and learn and how your partner children
generally respond during Read to Reconstruct to anticipate the content or sections of the book
you may need to revisit in order to ensure that children have a clear understanding of the story.
Think about how you can clarify these things for children.
 Clear up or expand anything that children have been brief or incomplete in reconstructing.
Revisit any key points that they missed before ending the reading.
2) Basic Child Development
Even within the ever-changing body of knowledge about child development, there is wide agreement
about a few principles that help explain how children develop and learn. The six basic principles of child
development in the table below guide Jumpstart’s work in the classroom.
Basic Principles of Child Development
1) Development and learning are characterized by individual variation. This principle is the
foundation of any theory of development. Children have different genetic makeups, come from
different home environments, have different experiences and will grow and learn at different rates
and in different ways. Even children raised by the same parents in the same home are often vastly
dissimilar in their dispositions and development.
2) Development occurs in a fairly predictable sequence. Some say that development moves from
awareness to exploration to inquiry to utilization (NAEYC, 1997a). Others describe the progression as
moving from simple to complex, whether it is physical development or cognitive development. The
progression has also been described as moving from general to specific. However, the word
predictable does not mean that children do not move through the sequence in individual ways.
3) Children learn and develop well when their needs are met. Those needs include physical and
emotional needs as well as social needs. Ideally, children’s needs would be met consistently at home
and in schools or other programs, but we live in a society that does not assure that those basic needs
are being met for all children. Consequently, those of us in the early childhood profession must often
take care of hunger, fears and loneliness in children before we can begin to teach or facilitate
development.
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4) Children learn from interacting with the environment and with other children and adults. The
physical interactions children have as they touch, explore, manipulate and experiment with the
physical world around them promote their physical and cognitive development. The social
interactions children have as they watch, play and work with others and as they gradually cooperate
with others, promote their cognitive, social and emotional development. All the toys and materials
you see in a preschool contribute to each child’s development. The adults and the child’s peers are
major contributors to development.
5) Children learn from play. Children’s play, sometimes called ‚work‛ by them, promotes
development in all aspects of growth. Play is the best context for children’s learning and
development in that it comes naturally to children; it is open-ended and free; children have control
over it; it can be alone or with others; it can even occur without any materials or equipment; and it
can take place in many settings.
6) Children construct their own knowledge. This idea is a fairly recent one. Rather than learning
passively, children develop and grow through making discoveries as they play and interact with
others. This is similar to how adults often prefer to learn as well.
Excerpted from Early Childhood Education: Birth-8: The World of Children, Families, and Educators, A. Driscoll and N.G. Nagel, 2002. pp.
44-45.
How Preschoolers Think
In working with preschoolers, it is crucial for Jumpstart Corps members to be aware of how children
think at this age and how that differs from the ways adults process information. There are some
guidelines to keep in mind when interacting with children and planning for Jumpstart sessions.
How Preschoolers’ Thinking Differs from Adults’ Thinking
1) Egocentrism (self-centered thinking): Young children see the world from one point of view – their own.
The little girl who answers ‚a bunny or a doll‛ when asked what she thinks her mother would like
for her birthday is showing her inability to take another person’s perspective. So is the child who
can’t see the back of his block building from where he is sitting and therefore is certain that his friend
can’t see it either – even though his friend is sitting on the other side of the structure.
2) ‚It’s alive!‛ (animism): The distinction between living and non-living things, while clearly apparent to
adults, is not at all obvious to young children. Basically, they reason, if something moves (like water
or bubbling soup or clothes flapping in the breeze) or if it somehow looks alive (like the headlights of
a car at night), it must be alive. That’s what is going on when Erin says, ‚Look, the water is running
to get my shoes!‛ as the water trickles down the hill toward her feet.
3) Concrete definitions (literalness): ‚I was so happy I was beside myself with joy,‛ Mrs. Cantu said to
3-year-old James. James asked, ‚How do you do that?‛ ‚How do I do what?‛ Mrs. Cantu responded.
‚You know, get you beside you,‛ James said. Young children are learning to put their observations,
thoughts, and feelings into words. This is a serious business and for them, words have very concrete,
literal meanings related to actions or things they have directly experienced. For James, therefore,
‚beside‛ means ‚next to.‛ To make sense out of Mrs. Cantu’s statement, he is trying to figure out
how she can be next to herself.
4) One thing at a time (pre-class-inclusion thinking): Most preschoolers can sort things by category but
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cannot grasp the idea that something can belong to two categories simultaneously. For example, a
child may call apples and oranges by their names, but cannot understand that they can also be called
fruit. The child does not understand that an apple can be called an ‚apple‛ and also belong to a larger
class called fruit. Another example of this is when a child says she lives in a house but not in a town.
5) Judging by appearances (pre-conservation thinking): Most preschoolers tend to base judgments about
number and amount completely on appearance. For example, Alicia and Monica both took the same
size cracker from the basket, but Alicia broke hers into two pieces and Monica broke hers into many
smaller ones. Alicia is upset because Monica has ‚more crackers.‛ Alicia cannot understand that they
have the same number of crackers because their crackers now look different. This type of confusion
demonstrates the child’s inability to conserve number. Similarly, when a child takes a tall, narrow
glass of water and pours it into a wide glass, he believes there is less water because the water line
does not come as high on the wide glass as it does on the narrow one. The child’s confusion here is an
example of his inability to conserve quantity.
6) Focus on the here and now (pre-reversibility thinking): Preschoolers’ thinking processes are not yet
organized into systems of mental transformations. They cannot see the relationship between the
previous state and the transformation. A child may watch a neighbor, whom she knows well, put on
a scary mask. The child then shows fear of the ‚monster‛ because she cannot make a connection
between the neighbor and the ‚monster.‛ The child focuses on only one state at a time; she can’t play
the ‚videotape‛ in her mind in reverse.
7) Blending intuitive and scientific thought (incorporating newly-learned scientific information with the
child’s own perceptions): For example, Melanie’s mother wakes her up, saying ‚It’s morning.‛ Melanie
replies, ‚No, it’s dark, it’s night.‛ She goes to the window and pulls open the curtain. ‚Now it’s light,
and I made it morning.‛ Similarly, Billy is playing with magnets and notices that the ‚silver‛ objects,
like nails, ‚stick‛ to the magnet. He says, ‚The silver stuff sticks to the magnet ’cause they got the
power. But this wood stuff don’t stick ’cause it don’t got the power.‛
Excerpted from High/Scope Approach to Preschool Education: Active Learning Participant guide, High/Scope Educational Research
Foundation, 1996, pp. 42-43.
3) Language and Literacy Development
All learning is a developmental process for children – they grow through a number of stages or steps in
their physical, social-emotional and cognitive development. To learn to read and write, children need
many opportunities to practice new knowledge and skills. Children move along a literacy continuum as
they explore a literacy-rich environment that is supported by nurturing relationships with adults.
During the preschool years, children show rapid growth in language and literacy. Their vocabularies
expand. They begin to ‚read‛ and ‚write‛ in a variety of developmentally appropriate ways. Adults
support children’s early literacy efforts by reading aloud, engaging in conversation, and initiating
activities that call children’s attention to sounds and print. Children’s social interactions with each other
also support literacy development (McGee & Richgels, 2000). While young children may use lots of
words and understand conversations and books read to them, letters may not yet have meaning. Adults
help give children context for print and code-related skills by sharing reading experiences with them,
emphasizing how sounds and letters correspond, and talking about print and letters we see in books and
in the environment. Letters may just look like ‚gibberish‛ to young children.
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What We Know About Language and Early Literacy Development
Over the past few decades, educators and researchers have learned a lot about how young children
acquire language and develop literacy. There is still much to learn about this amazing process, but there
are a few things we know (Ranweiler, 2004; Roskos, Tabors & Lenhart, 2009):
 Language and literacy development begins at birth and continues over one’s lifetime.
 Acquiring language and developing literacy are developmental. Children go through various
stages as they learn to listen, speak, write and read.
 The developmental path and rate of development of individual children varies widely. Not all
children of the same age will be at the same developmental stage at one time.
 Listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills develop simultaneously, with development in
one area supporting development of the other areas of language and literacy. Exposure to
language and literacy experiences that are understandable to children are needed to develop all
of these areas.
 All typically developing children will acquire language. Literacy development requires
intentional support from adults in an environment that allows for explicit connections between
children’s developing oral language and emergent literacy skills. In addition, children need to
construct knowledge and practice their developing language and literacy skills in meaningful
activities and interactions with adults and peers.
 Some children will pick up various literacy-related skills quickly and easily, and other children
will need more help.
 Young children may enter preschool with many differences in their home languages and
cultures. Effective literacy instruction must respect, understand and build on diversity.
Language and Literacy Domains and Skills In Action
Children’s oral language skills provide a basis for children to draw from as they develop the
phonological awareness, books and print knowledge, and beginning writing skills associated with
emergent literacy. Without oral language, the other skills will not develop. In turn, exposure to activities
that develop those other skills support and expand children’s oral language. This is why Jumpstart
focuses on the language and literacy domains and skills presented in Section 3: Supporting School
Success. Take a look back at this section to refresh your memory. Below are some examples of the ways
children will exhibit these skills in the classroom, including children at different levels of development in
each skill.
Domain: Oral Language
Skill: Vocabulary
 When reading One Dark Night, a story about a mother cat who saves her kittens from a storm,
Jonas points to the illustration of a kitten and says, ‚Toy?‛ Corps member Ponam says, ‚That’s a
kitten,‛ and Jonas repeats ‚kitten.‛
 In an Art activity involving giving Dog new spots, Nevea uses words to say that a blue popsicle
left a ‚stain‛ on Dog’s coat, explaining that the stain will not wash off if Dog takes a bath.
Skill: Comprehension
 Corps member Ted approaches Mikelys and says, ‚It’s time for Welcome. Let’s go to our group’s
Welcome spot to look at our name cards.‛ Mikelys looks up at Ted but does not respond. Ted
says, ‚It’s time to look at our names (holds up name cards). Let’s go to our Welcome spot (points
to the corner where his group meets for Welcome).‛ Mikelys smiles and walks with Ted to start
Welcome.
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In Writing, Monique ‚reads‛ the story she is writing, saying, ‚Then I gave the baby a bottle to
stop her from crying, like Grandma did in our book today.‛
Domain: Books and Print Knowledge
Skill: Alphabet knowledge
 Damien recognizes the letters of his name when looking at his name card in Welcome. Later, he
sees as lowercase d on a poster in the classroom and asks a Corps member, ‚What’s that letter?‛
 In Dramatic Play, Alejandro makes a grocery list. He sounds out the word ‚pizza‛ and writes
‚pz‛ on his list.
Skill: Meaning and use of print
 Standing in front of a friend’s cubby with a name take including the friend’s photo and name,
Markelle points to the photo and says, ‚That’s my friend Jazzy.‛ Then she points to the print and
says, ‚That says ‘Jazzy’.‛
 When Anthony asks what kind of bug he should put in his story, Lui runs to Books, grabs an
informational book about insects, and says, ‚We can look in here to find out what bugs to use.‛
She points to the text as she says different insect names, even though she is not really reading the
names in print.
Domain: Phonological Awareness
Skill: Phonemic awareness
 After reading ‚Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling‛ in Circle Time, Hakim turns to Corps member Anna
and says, ‚Just like ‘dad’!‛
 When the group plays a game involving ending sounds, Jill tells her Corps member, ‚My name
ends with the /l/ sound.‛
Skill: Rhyme awareness
 When team leader Maria reads ‚Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling‛ with the group for the second time,
she pauses at the end of each line. Three children chime in with ‚John‛ and ‚on‛ to complete the
rhymes.
 Corps member Nathan says, ‚It’s time to clean up. Let’s put the black crayon back in the box.‛
Carmen says, ‚Hey, black and back rhyme! I think pack rhymes too.‛
Stages of Emergent Writing
Elizabeth Sulzby, a researcher specializing in early or emergent writing, measured literacy skills by
asking preschool children to write stories and read what they had written (Sulzby, 1985). Based on this
work, Sulzby identified seven broad categories of early writing: drawing as writing, scribble writing,
letter-like units, nonphonetic letter strings, copying from environmental print, invented spelling and
conventional writing (Vukelich, Christie & Enz, 2002). Examples of these stages are included below.
Drawing as writing – Pictures represent writing.
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Context:
Text:
Angela (age 4), who is playing in the housekeeping center, makes a shopping list for a
trip to the supermarket.
‚Hamburgers *the two bottom circles+ and chocolate chip cookies *the two top circles+‛
Scribble writing – Continuous lines represent writing.
Context:
Text:
Rimmert Jr. (age 6) writes a thank-you letter to a family friend.
‚Thank you for your letter from America.‛
Letter-like units – The child makes a series of separate marks that have some letter-like characteristics.
Context:
Text:
Lauren (age 4) writes a story about a recent experience.
‚I buy the food at the store. I baked it, and I washed it and ate it.‛
Nonphonetic letter strings – The child writes strings of letters that show no evidence of letter-sound
relationships. These can be random groups of letters or repeated clusters of letters.
Context:
Text:
Debbie (age 4) writes in her journal about a recent school experience.
‚We play together, and Bobby fought with us. We fight with him, then we play again.‛
Copying from environmental print – The child copies print found in the environment.
Context:
Text:
Pierce (age 4), in the role of a veterinarian, writes a prescription for a sick teddy bear. He
copies the words ‚apple juice‛ from a can he has retrieved from a nearby garbage can.
‚Penicillin‛ *invented spelling+
‚Apple juice‛ *copying+
Invented spelling – The child creates his own spelling using letter-sound relationships. This can range
from using one letter per word to using a letter for every sound in each word (as in the example below).
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Context:
Text:
Chris (age 5) writes in his journal.
‚I like dinosaurs. They are neat.‛
Conventional —The child uses correct spelling for most of the words
Context:
Text:
Johnny (age 5) writes in his journal.
‚This is a dog jumping over a box.‛
Excerpted from Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy, Carol Vukelich, James Christie, and Billie Enz, 2000, pp. 73-75.
Guiding Children’s Language and Literacy Development
Jumpstart’s curriculum provides a place for child-initiated learning and also aims for Corps members and
team leaders to instill specific skills in children over the course of the program year. As Epstein notes,
‚An effective early childhood program combines both child-guided and adult-guided educational
experiences. The terms ‘child-guided experiences’ and ‘adult-guided experiences’ do not refer to
extremes —that is, they are not highly child-controlled or adult-controlled. Rather, adults play intentional
roles in child-guided experience, and children have significant, active roles in adult-guided experience.
Each takes advantage of planned or spontaneous learning opportunities‛ (Epstein, 2007, p.3). Epstein
suggests that language and literacy learning should happen both through child- and adult-initiated
activities. Research shows that ‚child-guided experience seems particularly important in acquiring sound
awareness and production, as well as conversation skills.‛ In comparison, ‚adult-guided experience
seems especially significant in gaining phonological awareness, vocabulary and knowledge of
narrative/comprehension‛ (Epstein, 2007, p. 26). Some activities that children might initiate in Jumpstart
sessions are role-playing and exploring print materials and inventive writing. Activities adults initiate in
sessions are: book reading, letter identification practice, reciting songs and poems and using alliteration
and rhyming. In line with research, the adult-initiated activities in Jumpstart’s curriculum foster the
development of Jumpstart children’s oral language, phonological awareness and books and print
knowledge skills. Additionally the curriculum affords many opportunities for children to practice
targeted skills based on their interests and curiosity.
Having frequent, meaningful conversations with children also supports their language and literacy
development. Through conversations, children experiment with the structure of language, hear and use a
wide range of vocabulary and exercise comprehension skills as they make meaning of what others are
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saying. Conversations also offer opportunities to encourage and extend children’s play and to reinforce
key vocabulary and concepts related to Jumpstart themes and core storybooks. It is important to share
conversations with children, as you would with other adults, and to make conversational interactions
meaningful.
Children’s literacy skills and general interest in reading and writing also flourish in literacy-rich
environments. That is, environments in which reading materials, environmental print, and drawing and
writing tools are plentiful and directly accessible to children. Many materials that support a literacy-rich
environment have been addressed in the context of emergent reading and writing. Jumpstart teams will
use many types of materials, including ones that Corps members and teams will create.
4) Adult-Child Interactions
Children’s development and learning flourish when children have positive and caring relationships with
adults and peers, receive intentional support and guidance from adults and have opportunities to explore
interesting environments. The adult-child interactions through which support and guidance are delivered
play a critical role in children’s learning and development and are the primary vehicle through which
children become engaged in Jumpstart. Adult-child interactions involving ‚adult support‛ go far beyond
adults helping children tie their shoes or write their names—they are much deeper. In their efforts to
support children, Corps members should strive for ‚powerful interactions‛ with children. Powerful
interactions are intentional, purposeful exchanges between adults and children ‚that can have a
significant and highly positive impact on learning‛ (Dombro, Jablon & Stetson, 2011, p.4). Powerful
interactions include three crucial steps, with various strategies supporting each step. Much of the
following content is excepted or adapted from Powerful Interactions: How to Connect with Children to Extend
Their Learning by Amy Dombro, Judy Jablon, and Charlotte Stetson (2011), with permission from the
National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Powerful Interactions Framework
Step 1 – Be Present:
 Pause to quiet your static
 Think and prepare before approaching
children
 Adjust yourself to connect with children
based on their temperament, interests,
culture and language
Step 2 - Connect:
 Put yourself in the moment
 Keep learning about children
 Listen to children
 Personalize your interactions
 Show respect
 Guide children’s behavior
 Keep trust growing
Step 3 – Extend Learning:
 Help children see themselves as thinkers
 Respond to curiosity
 Use mirror talk
 Have conversations
 Inspire imaginative play
 Solve problems together
 Use rich vocabulary
 Laugh with children
 Ask questions
 Link the new to the familiar
Striving for powerful interactions with children can strengthen adult-child relationships, increase
children’s motivation to learn and openness to learning opportunities, and support children’s positive
images of themselves as learners. In the beginning of the year, Corps members may need to focus on the
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Be Present and Connect strategies. As they learn more about children, they will be better able to
personalize interactions with children in ways that open opportunities to Extend Learning.
Step 1: Be Present
Being present is about pausing to quiet your mind, disconnect from any mental static, and focusing.
Doing these things makes it possible to engage with and respond to children with intention, rather than
just reacting.
 Pause to quiet your static – Plant yourself in the here and now. Disconnect from what you were
doing a moment ago and anything that might be distracting you – physically or mentally. Let go
of anything outside the moment you are about to have with a child.
Example: Doing a ‚me check‛ to quiet the static
Tanesha just arrived for session, a few minutes late due to bus delays. She is feeling frazzled and
bogged down with backpack and bin of Jumpstart materials for her team. She needs to meet her
partner children in their usual spot for Welcome and Reading, but she keeps thinking about the
argument she had with her roommate this morning. Tanesha stops to ask herself, ‚Can I quiet
my static?‛ Before approaching her partner children, she takes a moment to:
o Take a few deep breaths.
o Release the tension in her body.
o Relax her face and smile.
o Remind herself that anything that happened before session and anything that might
happen after does not matter right now. She lets go of her distractions and plants
herself in the classroom and Jumpstart session.
Now she can focus on being intentional and purposeful with her partner children.
 Think and prepare before approaching children – Consider the relationship and experience you
have had with children. Use your knowledge of yourself and the children you will be interacting
with to prepare for an interaction that will fit ‚just right‛ for you and children. Be honest with
yourself about past experiences with children and your feelings in prior interactions. Use this
knowledge to figure out how you will approach children and truly connect with them.
Example: Doing a ‚me check‛ to prepare
Tanesha wants to approach children and connect in a way that is ‚just right.‛ She takes a moment
to ask herself, ‚What do I know about these children and my interactions with them?‛ She
considers:
o Approaches and strategies that have worked will with the child(ren) in the past
o Things that have gotten in the way in interactions with the child(ren) in the past
o Feelings or preconceived notions about the child(ren)
After asking herself this question, she realizes a few useful things: Her previous Welcome
experience with her partner children was successful because she engaged all three children in
looking at each others’ name cards. One of the children, DeShawn, is often distracted by activities
going on with other groups. Tanesha has gotten upset with DeShawn for ‚not paying attention‛
in the past, but she’s seen DeShawn hold his attention during other session elements when Corps
members or teachers set clear limits for him or engaged him in a helping role. Now that she
recognizes and acknowledges these things, Tanesha can adjust her own behavior and approach
to ‚fit‛ better with DeShawn and the rest of the group.
 Adjust yourself to connect with children based on their temperament, interests, culture and
language – Each person has a specific way of approaching things that is unique to them. Adults
usually adjust their approach to meet the expectations of specific relationships, social situations,
levels of formality, or performance goals. Children are still learning and developing the ability to
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do this. It is the adult’s responsibility to adjust their approach to meet children’s needs in an
interaction. There are a few key things to consider when adjusting your approach for children:
o Temperament – Temperament is someone’s nature or ‚way of being‛. It affects their
behavior in everyday situations. Adult and child temperaments may mesh well and
support powerful interactions, or they may not mesh very well and may get in the
way of powerful interactions. Adults need to consider the match or mis-match
between their temperaments and children’s as they prepare for interactions.
Remember that temperaments can be easygoing or flexible, slow to warm or
cautious, or intense or feisty. None of these temperament types are ‚good‛ or ‚bad‛
– they just are!
o Preferences and Interests – We all have things we like to do or experience, regardless
of age. Your preferences and interests may impact how you react to children and
how and when you engage in activities with them. Think about your own
preferences and interests and how these might affect your interactions with children
in Jumpstart. Are you missing opportunities to connect with certain children because
you prefer to support Art during Center Time but they spend most of their time in
Dramatic Play? Do children disengage in Reading because they sense that you are
not interested in the books? Is your love of singing drowning out children during
Circle Time?
o Culture and language – Language and cultural backgrounds influence our beliefs
about ourselves, as well as our attitudes, expectations, and assumptions of others.
These factors contribute to communication style, personal judgments, and responses
to others and things. This goes for children and adults. When Corps members’ and
children’s backgrounds don’t mesh, Corps members should consider how to ‚meet‛
the child based on what is known of their language and culture. Some questions to
consider: Do I have expectations for communication that fit/don’t fit with this child’s
cultural experience? Am I comfortable with any similarities or differences? How can
I alter my approach to meet this child in interactions that are in keeping with their
expectations for interactions between children and adults?
Example: Doing a ‚me check‛ to adjust
Tanesha recognizes that she may need to adjust her approach and behavior to make the most of
the interaction with her partner children, especially DeShawn. She asks herself, ‚Do I need to
adjust to connect with this child. If so, how?‛ She acknowledges that she is naturally reserved,
while DeShawn is intense and seeks a high level of excitement in every activity. She recognizes
that she and DeShawn rarely like the same books – she often sees him express enthusiasm for the
books that she thinks will be less fun to share with children. She has also observed that
DeShawn’s family encourages him to be curious but can be directive when they need to focus his
energy, like when they need him to gather his things to go home. Based on all of this information
and Tanesha’s previous experience, she’s decided to adjust her approach in Welcome and
Reading. She will be intentional by:
o Expressing more outward excitement for Welcome activities.
o Setting clear limits for DeShawn and other children’s participation in Welcome and
Reading.
o Engaging DeShawn as a ‚helper‛ in reviewing name cards and reading core
storybooks.
o Showing more enthusiasm for core storybooks DeShawn likes in order to create a
connection point around reading.
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o
Taking a deep breath and reminding herself to see DeShawn’s behavior as a result of
his enthusiastic and exuberant temperament.
The adjustments adults make to meet children where they are and support them through powerful
interactions will be different for each adult-child interaction and each situation because preschool
children exhibit such a wide range of abilities, interests and personalities. It is important for Corps
members to have reasonable expectations for individual children. Jumpstart and other developmentally
appropriate programs recognize that broader goals and expectations can be set for children based on
what is known about the behaviors and abilities that are typical of a particular age range but that more
specific goals and expectations must also take into consideration each child’s unique strengths and
characteristics. Each child’s trajectory and pace toward achieving goals or meeting expectations will vary,
as will the adult support and interaction strategies needed to help children get there. This applies to all
children, including Dual language learners and children on the younger end of the preschool spectrum.
As Corps members get to know individual children, they will be better able to understand each child’s
strengths and interests and to establish reasonable expectations for individual children. This information
should be used to meet children where they are and provide the right support to help them make the next
step in their development.
Step 2: Connect
‚Connecting means observing what is interesting and significant about what the child is doing, saying,
and thinking. It means letting the child know that you see her, are interested in what she is doing, and
want to spend some time with her‛ (Dombro, Jablon & Stetson, 2011, p.27). This is where adults really
‚launch‛ a powerful interaction. Connecting leverages the relationship you have or are developing with a
child, creating a secure environment for children to take risks and explore. Connecting also allows adults
to build meaningful knowledge of children – connecting what is known from past experience and
understanding of children’s personalities and interests to what the child is doing in that moment, in a
specific educational setting. Adults invite a connection by approaching in a way that meets children
where they are. Children may accept your invitation to connect in a variety of ways, including looking at
you and smiling, reaching out to you, continuing their play with extra enthusiasm or attention, involving
you in their play, showing or telling you something, or asking you a question.
Here are a handful of strategies for connecting:
 Slow down, stay in the moment. Get on the child’s level and get comfortable. Then watch and
listen to really understand what the child is doing. Slowing down to put yourself in the moment
allows you to tune in and enjoy your interactions with children. Children also relax and enjoy the
learning experience because they see that you are interested and want to spend time with them.
 Keep learning about children. Look at what is interesting or significant about what the child is
doing. Work alongside children and use mirror talk to acknowledge what they are doing.
Example: ‚You are writing a lot. You are filling up every page of your book.‛ Sometimes, you can
create an opportunity to learn about children by posing a small challenge or introducing a new
material and observing how the child responds. Invite children to talk about things you observed
or learned about them before: ‚I really enjoyed playing the alphabet matching game with you on
Tuesday. Can you tell me more about how you made the matches?‛ Focusing on children in
ways that support but do not direct their interactions and choices reinforces your interest in
them. It also allows you to learn more about each child and how they approach activities and
relationships.
 Listen to children. Stay on the child’s physical level while you listen to the child’s words and
tone of voce and observe their body language. Use facial expressions and body language that
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show you are listening. Acknowledge feelings with statements like, ‚You look excited to try this
activity‛ or ‚Your voice sounds angry right now.‛ Allow children time to respond without
finishing sentences for them or letting other children interrupt. When you actively listen, children
will share more, and you will learn about their individual characteristics – which will help you
connect with them later on.
Personalize your interactions. Treat each child as an individual. Use their name during
interactions. Learn a few words from the child’s home language to support conversations. Adjust
your tone of voice, volume, and speaking speed to match the child’s needs and the tone of the
situation. Use language, including words and length of sentences that fit the child’s current
language development. Incorporating gestures into the conversations will support children’s
understanding as well. If you start too fast or at a language level that is too advanced for the
child, take a moment for another ‚me check‛ and try again.
Show respect. Use a calm, warm, and natural tone when speaking to children. ‚Talk with
children, rather than at them or about them‛ (Dombro, Jablon & Stetson, 2011). Listen when
children are talking to you. Avoid teasing, sarcasm, and statements that may seem as though you
are putting children down. Ask children’s permission before touching them, rather than
assuming that physical contact is okay. If you need to guide a child’s behavior, do this privately.
Consider each time you enter the classroom a fresh start and remind yourself to check past
frustrations at the door.
Guide children’s behavior. Guiding children’s behavior is about helping children behave in
positive ways all the time, not just when problems arise. This involves setting clear and realistic
limits for children and modeling positive behavior by treating children the way you want them to
treat others. You will also need to do a ‚me check‛ at times in order to manage your own
emotions when children’s behavior is not what you expected. In preparing to guide children’s
behavior, be realistic about what you can expect from young children as a group and from
individual children, based on their situations and experiences. If there is a problem, make it clear
that it is about the behavior, not the child. You may not like it when a child is hitting, but children
need to know that you still like them.
Keep trust growing. Let children know that Jumpstart sessions and their interactions with you
are ‚safe places‛ to try new things, make mistake, and celebrate successes, by paying attention to
children and acknowledging what you see and hear. Respond to children in caring ways.
Acknowledge children’s emotions, and accept those emotions – there are no ‚right‛ or ‚wrong‛
feelings. Most importantly, keep the promises you make (and don’t make any promises you can’t
keep). Children learn quickly who they can depend on and who they can’t.
Sometimes children will not want to connect. They will have their own reasons for deciding that ‚right
now‛ is not the time to engage with you. Corps members can still respond in positive, nurturing ways by
respecting children’s choice not to connect.
Example: Gil accepts Huiming’s choice not to connect
Gil is supporting the Bottle Shakers activity in Let’s Find Out About It. As he helps children make
their bottle shakers, he is observing Huiming lining up a collection of stickers. He decided to
connect with Huiming in order to support her vocabulary as she works. After a ‚me check‛, Gil
says, ‚Huiming, I see that you are picking out some stickers to decorate your bottle shaker.‛
Huiming does not respond. She keeps working with her stickers, holding one up to her plastic
bottle. Gil shows respect for Huiming’s choice by asking, ‚Would you like to keep working on
your own for a while?‛ Huiming nods. Gil responds, ‚I appreciate that. I’ll see how you are
doing in a few minutes. I’ll be right here if you need me.‛ Gil keeps an eye on Huiming for a
moment, then takes the opportunity to connect with another child near him. He checks back in
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with Huiming later, and she decides to talk about the music she will make with her bottle shaker
this time.
Step 3: Extend Learning
Extending learning is about using the connection you’ve made with children and the positive relationship
you are continuously developing to model learning for children and to stretch their thinking and
knowledge a little. Extending learning is not about making a huge jump in children’s accomplishment in
Jumpstart – it is about supporting small steps in learning and development over time, starting at the
point that is ‚just right‛ for each child in the moment. In a powerful interaction, adults turn everyday
experiences into teachable moments. In this step, adults stay tuned in to children by focusing on their
actions and language. Then they consider three key questions to decide how to extend learning in the
right way for children:
 What’s the right content to focus on in this moment? In Step 2: Connect, you saw what was
interesting or significant about the child’s activity. Now you can use your observations to decide
what is right to introduce to extend learning. ‚Is the child talking? If so, you might decide to
introduce a new vocabulary word. Perhaps the child is working on cause-and-effect thinking. If
so, you might ask, ‘Why do you think that happened?’ < Or the child might be trying to sound
out a word, and you could decide to help with the sound a certain letter makes,‛ explain
Dombro, Jablon, and Stetson (2011). During Jumpstart sessions, the purpose statement in the
session plan guidance for each activity also provides a hit about content to focus on as you extend
children’s learning in a specific session activity.
 What’s the next step in this child’s learning? Once you have the content you will support in
mind, it’s important to decide what the ‚next step‛ in this area looks like for this child. What can
this child already do? What does this child already know? Think about the skills, knowledge, and
accomplishments you have seen this child demonstrate in other activities. Settle on a small step to
move them forward – moving too far, too fast can overwhelm children and make them unsure
about the trust they’ve felt in their relationship with you.
 How do I make learning meaningful for this child? When learning is related to children’s prior
experiences or things they are interested in, learning will be more meaningful. Use what you
know about a child’s experience, prior knowledge, interests, and the activity the child is doing
right now. You are using what you know about the child and what you can see them doing to
enhance their learning experience in the moment, not to distract or redirect the child from the
learning activity they have already chosen.
Several strategies can be used to extend children’s learning:
 Help children see themselves as thinkers. Use think and thinking during conversations and
activities with children, and use a gesture, like pointing to your forehead, to indicate thinking.
Ask children what they are thinking. Once children are comfortable with you, ask them some
questions that require thinking, but prepare them first by saying, ‚I’m going to ask you a
question, so put on your thinking cap‛. Be sure to give the child time to think and respond.
Thinking aloud with children helps children become aware of their own thinking, models new
ways of thinking, and helps children appreciate how others think. It can also put children’s
thoughts into words, providing language that children may use later to describe their own ideas.
 Respond to curiosity. Use curious and curiosity to describe what you see children doing: ‚You’re
curious about that picture, aren’t you? Let’s take a closer look together.‛ Show enthusiasm for
children’s curiosity by joining in and showing your own curiosity. Discuss details, and connect
children’s discoveries to prior learning. Ask an open-ended question related to the activity at
hand to extend children’s curiosity.
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
Use mirror talk. Reflecting back in words what you see and hear children doing provides
children with feedback that let’s them know their work is acknowledged and valued. It helps
children become aware of their own actions, the way they think, and the language they might use
to describe their thinking and ideas. Even a statement like ‚You are spreading that glitter paint
with both hands - you look like an artist‛ shows children that you are paying attention,
encourages their continued motivation and interest in learning activities, and introduces new
vocabulary.
Have conversations. Listen well, and use interesting language and specific vocabulary in your
responses. Repeat and clarify what children have said, recasting children’s statements with
proper grammar and pronunciation without correcting children. Use open-ended prompts, like
‚Tell me more about that‛, to keep the conversation going, and invite other children to join
conversations as well. Conversations extend children’s awareness of language, comprehension of
concepts, and thinking.
Inspire imaginative play. Join children’s play to show that you are interested. Reflect children’s
words and actions back to them. Stretch children’s play, taking their ideas to a more sophisticated
level, by introducing new props, language, and ideas. If play takes an inappropriate turn, steer it
back in the right direction with words or ideas: ‚The customers at the ice cream shop are hitting
each other. They must not know how to wait their turn for ice cream. We need to show them how
to wait patiently, with hands on their own bodies.‛ Imaginative play supports children’s
development of symbolic thinking, or thinking about things that aren’t right in front of them. It
supports their ability to envisions things from text when they begin reading on their own.
Solve problems together. Modeling a problem-solving approach and collaborating with children
to solve problems promotes a positive attitude about problem-solving. It helps children learn that
one problem may be solved in more than one way, and often more than one strategy is needed.
When problems arise, use the word problem, and be prepared to help children brainstorm ways to
solve the problem, try different approaches, connect experiences and solutions to other problems
to the situation at hand, and ask others for help if needed.
Use rich vocabulary. Using many different words, including novel and complex words, increases
children’s vocabulary over time. Connect activities and conversations to vocabulary from
previous stories and learning experiences. Use visual cues, gestures, and expression to help
children understand new words
Laugh with children. When something is fun, funny, or exciting, laugh about it!
Ask questions. In interactions with children, alternate silent time, commentary about what you
observe, and questions. Use ‚I wonder‛ statements to prepare children for a question. Be
intentional about the type of questions you ask – it can help to start with an easier question, then
work higher level questions into the conversation throughout the interaction. Acknowledge
children’s responses to questions, even if those responses are non-verbal or inaccurate. Use any
response as an opportunity to extend and clarify ideas for children. Example: ‚You’re nodding. It
looks like you agree that the foil will reflect the light from this flashlight. What else might reflect
the light?‛
Link the new to the familiar. Help children make connections to support learning. Have
conversations and ask questions that build links between core storybooks and children’s own
experiences. Make connections between new and familiar materials. Build links between familiar
words or phrases and new words. Example: ‚When Peter stretched, when he reached his arm up
toward the top of his block tower, he looked really tall.‛
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A Powerful Interaction in Practice
‚Jose, I see you matched the lowercase
letter ‘h’ with the uppercase letter ‘H.’
You’ve matched almost all of the letter
tiles.‛
First, I’m going to
pause to be present
and consider how
best to connect with
Jose.
I feel proud because
she noticed what I
was doing. Now I
know that this letter
is called ‚H.‛
Tips for Extending Learning in Jumpstart Sessions.
The activities during Jumpstart sessions are designed to provide opportunities for Corps members to
model learning for children and to stretch their thinking and knowledge. Here are some suggestions you
can use to focus on extending learning during Jumpstart sessions:
During conversations:
 Be a good listener. Alternate between silence, commentary and questions. Show respect for
children’s verbal and nonverbal contributions.
 Use interesting language and vocabulary. The more complex and different words you use with
children, the bigger their vocabularies grow.
 Clarify, repeat, and extend what the child says. Don’t worry about correcting a child’s
pronunciation or grammar. Simply re-phrase what the child says and add a comment or question
to keep the conversation going.
 Use open-ended prompts to keep the conversation going. Take time to talk and think together.
‚What happened next?‛ ‚Tell me more about that.‛ ‚What else did you see?‛
 Be patient: Give the child time to think and respond. If the child has a hard time responding to
your question, offer some help – a choice of responses, a hint or clue, a word, or a simpler
question.
Example: Using Conversations to Extend Learning
Jamilla: Hi Andres, You’ve found something interesting to watch at Science today. Nia is using
the eyedropper to drop colors of water onto a paper towel. (Jamilla is quiet for another minute,
and Andres leans closer to her. She points to the paper towel.) ‚Look at how the red and blue
water is mixing to make purple. I wonder if Nia will try using another color.‛ They watch
together in silence. Suddenly Andres’ eyes open wide and he points to Nia.
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Jamilla: ‚You noticed that the paper towel is soaked with water now. What is Nia getting ready
to do?‛
Andres: ‚Dump it!‛
Jamilla: ‚I think your prediction is right. Nia is going to shake off the excess water and let her
towel dry. What color is the paper towel now?
Andres: ‚All mixed up.‛
During play:
 Be a player. Play as a partner with children. Pick up a paint brush, put on a hat, play the game, or
listen to the story. You’ll connect with the child and communicate some important messages:
‚You are doing something interesting‛ < ‚I want to be part of what you are doing.‛
 Be a mirror. Let children know you see and hear them. Reflect their actions and language back to
them. Example: ‚That baby looks very comfy in the cradle. You gave him a pillow, a bottle, and
his blanky,‛
 Be a rubber band. Stretch the child’s play to foster learning. Examples:
o Introduce a new prop: ‚I brought an apron for you to wear while you’re cooking. Now
you look just like the Little Red Hen when she made a pizza. What kind of food are you
going to make?‛
o Use new and interesting vocabulary: ‚You’re the doctor and you’re going to give me
some medicine? I think you need to write me a prescription that I can take to the
pharmacy to get my medicine.‛
o Add a new idea: ‚I would like to order some ice cream but I don’t know what
flavor you have. The last time I went to the ice cream parlor near my house,
they had a big menu, a sign that told me what the flavor choices are. Let’s make a menu
of the flavors you have.‛
 Be a steering wheel: If imaginative play goes in a direction that may not be appropriate, take on a
role that allows you to redirect the play toward the activity’s intended purpose. Offer a new
challenge or problem to solve.
Example: Using Imaginative Play to Extend Learning
Kailee: ‚We’re playing grocery store.‛
Jessica: ‚I can see you have a well-stocked grocery store with all sorts of food items here on the
shelf: a box of cereal, some vegetables, and some cartons of yogurt. I brought my list with me
because I need to pick up a few things for dinner.‛
Kailee: ‚Ok. Let me see it. You want some apples?‛
Jessica: ‚Well, I want to make a pizza with mozzarella cheese, sausage, and tomato sauce. Can
you help me find those things in your store? Let’s ask Jaxon to bring over the basket so we can
start shopping.‛
5) Classroom Management
Classroom management means creating a warm, positive learning environment for children by
organizing physical and social structures in the classroom in a manner that allows children to feel safe
and secure because they know what is expected of them and the choices they can make in interacting
with the classroom environment and the members of their classroom community. This definition of
classroom management stresses organization and structures that adults prepare to support children’s
participation in the classroom and children’s social-emotional development. Children’s cognitive and
social-emotional development are so intertwined that one feeds the other – that is why social-emotional
development is important to Jumpstart’s mission. Because social-emotional development also relates to
relationship skills, it is important to have certain classroom structures in place to support children and to
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develop authentic relationships between children and adults and among children as peers. Classroom
management includes the steps adults take to prevent challenging behavior from children and how
adults respond when children encounter problems or act in challenging ways.
It is important that all Corps members agree to take Jumpstart’s positive approach to managing the
preschool classroom in their practice. It is also important for the members of each team to set expectations
together and strive to be as consistent with children as possible. Good classroom management supports
children’s participation and learning in Jumpstart sessions.
Several classroom management strategies have been built into the Jumpstart session plan. Take a look at
Session Plan 1 to see if you can identify the classroom management strategies that are built in. Then check
the list below to see if you found all of the strategies. Corps members may discover or develop additional
strategies for managing the classroom and supporting children’s participation in session as they become
familiar with the session plan.
Classroom Management Strategies in Session Plan 1
Welcome
 Set-up each small group’s name cards in a consistent meeting space
 Spread groups out around the classroom
 Welcome children and support the transition into their small groups
 Place cards so children can see them easily
Transition
o Announce ‚It’s time for Reading‛
o Stay seated in the same place
o Review elements of Jumpstart session
o Collect children’s name cards (team leader)
Reading
 Since children and Corps members are in the same space/groups as Welcome, strategies carry
over
 Some of the strategies for Reading support management of a group of children. For example:
o Reading the story expressively
o Being responsive to children’s comments
Transition
o One minute warning
o Short transition song, consistent from session to session
o Corps members bring children to Circle Time area
Circle Time
 Participate on children’s level
 Pace, variance in tone and Corps member volume to engage children
 Start right away as soon as majority of children are there; avoid waiting
 Explain to children what will happen during Circle Time
 Consistent turn-taking strategy: name sticks
 Children who have already had a turn will not be selected again until all children have their
turns
Introduction of Center Time Activities
o Let’s Find Out About It chart
o Dismiss children in groups - first Let’s Find Out About It group, then others
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o Corps members talk to children to support them in making their first Center Time choice
Center Time
 When children appear to be ready to move to a new activity help them decide
 Explain other activities to children
 Observe children
Let’s Find Out About It
o Start right away as soon as the majority of the group has assembled; avoid waiting
o Use a consistent strategy to transition the second group to Let’s Find Out About It
Transition
o Warning signal
o Short transition song or chant, consistent from session to session
Sharing & Goodbye
 Start as soon as the majority of the group is gathered; avoid waiting
 Explain what happens during Sharing & Goodbye
 Plan ahead for only four children to share
 If children are not engaged, move on
 Share what will happen next session
 Goodbye song to signal end

Support children out of session as needed
Classroom Environment & Example Preschool Classroom Floor Plan
From Skills for Preschool Teachers, Fifth Edition, J.J. Beaty, 2002, Pearson Prentice Hall.
In addition to Corps members’ influence on a preschool classroom, the classroom environment can have a
large impact on the flow of the Jumpstart sessions, children’s ability to navigate the classroom without
difficulty and a team’s ability to successfully manage the classroom. It is important to consider the
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classroom set-up when planning preventive classroom management strategies. See the sample preschool
classroom floor plan above. While Jumpstart teams work in partnership with classroom teachers and will
not have full control of the classroom set-up, they should take the classroom layout into consideration
when deciding where session elements will take place, how specific activities and materials will be
arranged and how children can best move through the classroom without distractions.
Setting Expectations for Children and Preventing Conflict
Occasionally, children will be disruptive during the Jumpstart session. The more prepared the team of
Corps members is, the less frequent these disruptions will become. Many disruptive behaviors can be
prevented. The focus should always be on being proactive and trying to prevent problems before they
occur. One effective way of doing this is to set appropriate expectations and boundaries for children from
the very first session. Adults need expectations and boundaries to feel comfortable, safe and to make
choices within a given process; children need boundaries and expectations for those same reasons. Adults
have the luxury of experience —they have the ability to sense the expectations and boundaries of most
situations because they have experienced similar situations before. Young children need clearly stated
expectations and routines to feel safe and understand and anticipate what will happen and to become
active participants in classroom activities. If Corps members help children understand the expectations
from the beginning, their sessions will be more successful.
Reasonable Expectations
Expectations for young children will vary from center to center but the following ideas are important:
1) Team members have agreed on a common set of expectations.
2) These expectations remain the same from day to day and from adult to adult.
3) The expectations are well within the realm of things that a 3-to-4-year-old can do.
Excerpted from Educating Young Children, Mary Hohmann and David Weikart, 2002, p. 390.
Children and Corps members need a list of classroom expectations that everyone understands and can
buy into. One of the best places to start is by asking the classroom teachers to share their expectations.
Corps members can build off these and can provide continuity for children. Here are some examples of
reasonable, routine expectations:
 Children are asked to use ‚walking feet.‛
 Children are asked to use ‚inside voices.‛
 Children are asked to keep their hands on their own bodies.
Most importantly, Corps members should not be asking children to do things they are not capable of
doing. For example, children should not be expected to stand in lines, to wait or to sit still for longer than
10 minutes without a change in activity. Corps members should always keep in mind that children learn
differently from adults and that the five ingredients of active learning need to be integrated throughout
the Jumpstart session.
Limit Setting with Positives: Say What You Do Want
Negative limit setting
Positive limit setting
 ‚No throwing the toys!‛
 ‚Toys need to stay in our hands.‛
 ‚You shouldn’t get mud on your pants.‛
 ‚Mud needs to stay on the ground.‛
 ‚No running in the classroom.‛
 ‚Walking in the classroom keeps everyone
 ‚Whining is driving me crazy.
safe.‛
 ‚You are being very bossy.‛
 ‚I understand you better when you speak
 ‚You are making a mess.‛
clearly.‛
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

‚You shouldn’t put that in your mouth‛
‚Don’t throw your food.‛




‚All the children want a chance to make
choices about<‛
‚The paint needs to stay on the paper.‛
‚The toys are for touching with hands.‛
‚Food stays clean on the plate. Are you
finished?‛
Excerpted from You Can’t Come to My Birthday Party!: Conflict Resolution With Young Children, Betsy Evans, 2002, p. 308.
The Problem-Solving Approach to Conflict
In the problem-solving approach to conflict, Corps members engage and support children in solving their
own problems when conflicts arise.
Children may encounter a range of problem-solving opportunities in Jumpstart sessions:
 Problems with materials. Children may struggle with opening jars of paint, pouring juice, etc. An
important component of active learning is for Corps members to engage children in solving
problems for themselves.
 An individual child’s conflict. On occasion, children may exhibit frustrations or challenges that have
nothing to do with a direct conflict with another person. Consider a child who does not want to
participate in the Reading part of the routine. The problem-solving approach to conflict, as well
as other elements of adult support, can be a useful framework for Corps members in dealing with
these situations.
 Conflicts between children. When conflicts arise between children (for example, over sharing
materials in play), Corps members should try to use the six steps in the problem-solving
approach to engage children in solving their own problems.
It is important to keep in mind that many things adults consider ‚misbehaviors‛ are really children’s
social mistakes. Just as every action has a natural consequence, problem-solving is a logical consequence
for a social mistake. Children are capable of solving problems but may need adult support to start or
work through the process.
6 Steps in the Problem-Solving Approach to Conflict
Using these guidelines to help children solve problems, Corps members listen more than they talk, allow
children the time to make mistakes and figure out solutions, and point out that a diversity of viewpoints
is natural, normal and workable.
1) Approach Calmly
 Use a calm voice and gentle touch
 Stop any aggressive behavior
 Place yourself between children, on their level
 If needed, neutralize the object of conflict by holding it yourself
2) Acknowledge Feelings
 ‚You look really upset.‛
 Offer no judgments, values or solutions
3) Gather Information
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


‚What’s the problem?‛
Draw out details; define problems
Don’t direct questions toward pinpointing blame
4) Restate the Problem
 ‚So the problem is<‛
5) Ask for ideas for solutions and choose one together
 ‚What can we do to solve this problem?‛
 Give children the job of thinking and figuring out the solution
 If any solution seems unsafe or grossly unfair, tell the children: ‚It is too dangerous for you both
to stand on this trampoline. What is another way you can agree?‛
 Try not to find a solution too quickly, give children the time to discuss their ideas and feelings
6) Follow-up support
 ‚You solved the problem.‛
 Stay near to offer follow-up support
Excerpted from High/Scope Approach to Preschool Education: Adult-Child Interaction Participant Guide, 1996, p. 55.
“I” Statements
‚I‛ statements are made when you are feeling too emotional to be a neutral problem-solver or too
emotional to hear the child’s point of view and you need to acknowledge and express your own feelings.
‚I‛ statements describe feelings and actions, and they avoid blaming and guilt (by leaving out ‚you made
me mad when you<‛), which can create communication barriers. When limited choices are added, they
give you additional time to calm down.
‚I feel ______________________ about _____________________.‛
(upset, sad, worried, etc.)
(actions)
Examples:
‚I’m feeling worried about running. Someone may get hurt. Let’s walk inside and run when we go out.‛
‚I feel frustrated about toys being broken! Your choices now are to go look at the fish or go find your bear
(soothing materials). When I feel calmer, we will problem-solve together.‛
Optional – if more time is needed for you to get calm:
‚Your choices now are to go to _________________________ or _________________________.‛
(safe, calming, quiet place or activity in classroom)
‚When I feel calmer, we will solve this problem together.‛
When the adult is calmer, it is very important to return to the child, or pause for a moment without
leaving the child, and engage in problem-solving dialogue. Listen carefully to the child’s side. It may be
different than what you think. Describe your concerns, and ask the child to offer a solution rather than
offering your solutions.
Adapted from www.Kidsandconflict.com, Betsy Evans, 2003.
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Research Supporting the Problem-Solving Approach to Conflict
The Problem-Solving Approach to Conflict and its Benefits
 ‚Cooperation, a type of social interaction that includes conflict and mutual respect, encourages
children to operate in terms of one another’s desires and ideas‛ (Devries and Kohlberg, 1987).
 ‚It is through repeated peer interactions that young children begin to develop a more ‘subjective’
view of rules as ‘changeable products of group consensus’. According to Piaget, children
gradually free themselves from egocentric thought and begin to consider others’ points of view
when they pass ‘from unilateral to mutual respect through cooperation’ (Hartup et al, 1988).‛.
 ‚Integrationist and cultural theorists and researchers emphasize the importance of constructive
peer conflict on children’s social understandings. Through interactions and disagreement with
peers, preschool children come to compare, adjust and modify their thinking; develop social
competence; work out problems and construct understandings of rules and values appropriate
within their culture. Their understanding of culturally appropriate skills and behaviors comes
from their active role in making sense of their world (Gittler and Bowen, 2001).
 ‚In review of the research literature < when the teacher intervenes about object possession
disputes, often the adult removes the object. When disputes erupt about group participation, the
conflictors are often directed to separate activities. Thus, teacher intervention often leads to less
conflict, but likewise, less opportunity to develop conflict resolution skills < If teacher
intervention results in removal of objects or separating of participants, then positive interactions
in the aftermath of conflict usually do not happen‛ (Hay, 1984).
Mediation and Young Children
 The use of mediation has demonstrated positive effects for sibling conflict and in school-based
programs (Siddiqui and Ross, 2004).
 Schools implementing mediation programs have shown decreases in the number of conflicts
referred to teachers and administration, an increase in lasting agreements, more favorable
attitudes toward conflict and higher academic achievement among those participating in the
program (Stevahn et al., 2002).
 Mediation in the family has resulted in improved reports of family functioning and higher rates
of success in settling disputes (Van Slyck, Stern and Newland, 1992).
 Parental use of mediation in sibling conflict increases the younger of the siblings’ sense of
empowerment, improves emotional understanding and reported improvements of conflict
processes (Siddiqui and Ross, 2004).
 When adults facilitate problem-solving, children are learning:
o To express strong emotions in non-hurting ways
o To appreciate one’s own views but also the views of others
o To make decisions intelligently and ethically
(Gartrell, 2004)
SECTION 4: SUPPORTING FAMILY INVOLVEMENT
1) Jumpstart’s Work with Families
The Importance of Family Involvement
Like any high-quality early childhood program, Jumpstart recognizes that families are children’s first and
most important teachers. Jumpstart seeks to involve families in our work to support their children’s
kindergarten readiness through ongoing, consistent communication related to children’s participation in
Jumpstart and by providing opportunities for families to extend learning from Jumpstart into the home
whenever possible. Jumpstart strives to communicate with families in ways that build families
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knowledge of Jumpstart and that informs them of their children’s interests and accomplishments in
Jumpstart sessions. Over time, this communication supports the foundation from which Jumpstart staff
and Corps members can provide information and resources that educate families and support their
engagement in their children’s education and development of kindergarten readiness skills.
Although Corps members may interact with their partner children’s families far less than they interact
with their children, Jumpstart recognizes the critical value of involving families in its vision to achieve
school success. Notice that the emphasis is on the involvement of families, rather than just parents. Corps
members may find that many of the family members they interact with are not parents, but older siblings,
grandparents, aunts or uncles who serve as primary or secondary caregivers. They deserve the same
recognition and information that a parent receives. It’s also important to recognize that communication
and interaction with families happens in a variety of ways, not all of which are in person or face-to-face.
Even families who cannot participate in Jumpstart activities are very involved and engaged in their
children’s regular care and education, and outreach and resources provided by Jumpstart support this
involvement.
Jumpstart’s family involvement framework and approach focuses on two areas: ongoing, consistent
communication and the Jumpstart-home learning connection. Corps members are the primary point of
contact with Jumpstart families. It is part of their role to maintain positive connections with families
through consistent outreach, share family resources provided by their site managers, and communicate
children’s interests and accomplishments in Jumpstart.
Ongoing, Consistent Communication
Ongoing, consistent communication with families allows Jumpstart to provide program information to
build families’ knowledge of Jumpstart and to inform them of their children’s interests and
accomplishments in Jumpstart sessions. This outreach supports families’ understanding of their
children’s educational experiences in Jumpstart and how those experiences support kindergarten
readiness, with specific focus on how Corps members support children’s language and literacy
development. Ongoing, consistent communication includes formal and informal means, both in person
and through distance strategies. At the beginning of the year, communication is the hallmark of Corps
members’ interaction with families. As the year progresses, regular communication builds families’ trust
in the Jumpstart program and the relationships developing between their children and Corps members. It
also supports the Jumpstart-home learning connection described below.
Jumpstart teams and Corps members maintain ongoing, consistent communication outreach to families in
a combination of formal and informal ways. Jumpstart offers family communication tools, which teams
get from their site managers or from www.myjumpstart.org. Corps members may also use site- or teamcreated tools, handwritten notes to children’s families, and written communication about Jumpstart in
program partner resources for families.
Tips for Communicating with Families
In-Person Communication with Families
While it will not be possible for all Corps members to have face-to-face interaction with their partner
children’s families, research highlights specific in-person strategies thought to make family members feel
valued and connected (Kakli, Kreider, Little, Buck, & Coffey, 2006), including:
 Welcome family members at the door when they arrive. Get up and approach your partner
children’s family members when they enter the classroom.
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



Greet family members warmly. Say hello, introduce yourself, and let family members know that it is
good to see them. Begin to develop common ground by asking family members how their day was,
inquiring about other children in the family, or referring to information shared in previous
conversations.
Smile! Smiling at family members projects a positive, caring tone. You should also speak clearly and
look at children’s family members while talking to them.
Use the family member’s name. Start by asking what family members prefer to be called. Say
something like, ‚It’s so nice to meet Javier’s aunt. My name’s Michael. What should I call you when
we see each other?‛ If the family member prefers to be address as ‚Mrs./Mr./Ms. _____‛, do that until
invited to do otherwise. If a family member introduces himself as ‚Lily’s grandfather,‛ ask what you
and other members of the team should call this family member when you see them.
Share positive news with each family member about their child. Sharing something that reflects
children’s interests and accomplishments in session in a positive way shows that you care about
children and want family members to know the good things going on in the child’s educational
experience. At the beginning of sessions, when you are just getting to know children, you can say
something like, ‚We read a book called Oonga Boonga. Later, Addison tried to keep the baby doll from
crying by rocking her – just like we saw in the book!‛ Later comments may focus more on children’s
accomplishments in Jumpstart’s language and literacy domains and skills.
Families will also want to get to know you! Share some basic information about yourself, like where you
go to school or what neighborhood you live in. For confidentiality reasons, Corps members should not
share their last names, phone numbers, or email addresses with families. Sites and teams might consider
providing the site phone number or a generic email address for the team as a way for families to contact
Corps members. Your site manager will provide further instruction about this.
There’s no need to struggle with conversation topics after you’ve met families. You can always try the
following:
 Tell families about what you and their child did that day. Give an objective report about something
that happened in session.
o ‚Today Kimmy and I played in Dramatic Play during Center Time. She pretended her baby
doll was crying, just like Baby Louise in the book Oonga Boonga we read today during
Reading. Darren played with Kimmy to try to make her baby doll happy again.‛
 Show family members materials that you and their child worked on.
o ‚I’m really excited that today Joey wrote the letter J during Writing!‛ Point out the J that Joey
wrote on his paper to his family members.
 Ask families if they have questions about what’s been happening during Jumpstart.
 Assure families that you are interested in hearing their input about their child’s participation in
Jumpstart and ask what family members see children doing at home. Find out information about
your partner children’s likes and dislikes.
 Seek suggestions from families if you are having difficulty engaging their child.
o ‚During Reading, Sam heads straight for the writing table. I know you said he likes to read
books at home. Would you be willing to share the titles of his favorite books with me so I can
try to get him interested in reading during session?‛
 If all else fails, go with ‚How was your day?‛
 Thank families for their participation, for remembering that it was a Jumpstart day, or for taking the
time to talk with you.
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Communicating with Families You Don’t See In Person
Sites across Jumpstart’s network use a variety of promising practices to support ongoing, consistent
communication, particularly with families that they don’t see much in person:
 Formal and informal written communication: Teams or individual Corps members send home
standard Jumpstart family resources on a regular basis. This includes newsletters and other
information provided by Jumpstart’s national office or your site manager, as well as personalized
notes. These notes may be about the activities children participated in, their interests and
accomplishments in Jumpstart, or a few words about how much you enjoy working with children
during Jumpstart. Even one or two sentences will do!
 Jumpstart folders: Teams place special folders – sometimes red ones to match their Jumpstart shirts –
in children’s cubbies. Formal and informal written communication is placed in these folders, allowing
family members to check for updates and leave notes for Corps members, if they want to.
 Classroom binders: Teams include notes, photos, and samples of activities children have experienced
in recent sessions in a binder at a prominent place in the classroom. Families can check the binder
when they sign children in or out for the day to see what children have been doing in Jumpstart
sessions.
 Recorded messages: Some teams have even used tape recorders to leave voice messages that families
can listen to when they are at the program partner.
 Technology use: A few sites have found that families prefer to receive Jumpstart information via
email. In these cases, site managers have collected email addresses and used them to send out (or
have program assistants send out) newsletters and other communication on behalf of their teams.
Getting to Know Families
As you communicate and interact with families throughout the year, even if you are communicating from
a distance, you’ll learn a lot about them and what is important to them. Make the most of these
opportunities by:
 Avoiding judgments about families: You may not understand all of the factors that influence
families’ decisions and actions. Even in tough situations, try to understand what’s going on rather
than judging.
 Approaching families respectfully and observe how family members communicate with one
another. Paying attention to how family members interact and communicate with one another, as
well as with program partner staff they are familiar with, will help you understand how each family
member is comfortable being approached and spoken to, as well as how they will likely approach
and react to you.
 Asking family members if they have questions about Jumpstart or what their child does in
session. This opens the door for families to communicate with you – in person, in writing, or through
questions passed on through teachers – and shows that you want to be a resource for them. You will
learn about their interests and goals for their children as you discuss their questions.
 Allow family members time to respond when you ask questions. Paying attention, making eye
contact as appropriate, and not rushing family members through conversations may result in family
members sharing more. If they recognize that you are investing time to listen and learn from them,
they will be more inclined to share.
Communicating About Problems
In most cases, you should bring problems children have been involved in that need to be addressed with
families to the classroom teachers. Many of Jumpstart’s preschool program partners have specific policies
about documenting and communicating problems, especially problems involving fighting or injuries, and
teachers will know how to handle these situations. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to
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communicate the problem to children’s family members, use these tips:
 Approach problems cautiously, but honestly, with family members.
 First share something positive and then talk about what happened.
 Avoid using judgmental words and describe the incident as objectively as possible. Example: ‚At the
beginning of Center Time, TJ was really excited to play in Puzzles and Manipulatives. We spent a
long time finding the right pieces and putting them together, but while we were working on it
another child pushed the puzzle and its pieces off the table. Then TJ threw a puzzle piece at the other
child. It did not hit the child and we talked about how throwing objects can hurt others. The other
child, TJ and I figured out a way to fix and finish the puzzle together.‛
 Assure family members that the situation was handled appropriately and inform them if anyone got
hurt.
 Be sure to use teachers or other program partner staff as resources in discussing problems with
families.
Jumpstart-Home Learning Connection
The Jumpstart-home learning connection supports families in extending children’s learning from
Jumpstart into the home. The Jumpstart-home learning connection starts with site managers and Corps
members informing families about how Jumpstart supports children’s kindergarten readiness through
development of language and literacy skills. This usually involves sending resources home to families. As
families begin to understand the importance of these skills and how they can extend children’s learning
from Jumpstart into the home, it becomes more important for Corps members to share information about
children’s interests and accomplishments in Jumpstart in ways that help families connect those things to
activities they can engage in with their children at home. Corps members don’t need to be early
childhood experts to do this! You can use Jumpstart-home learning connection resources, like Jumpstart’s
Family Calendar and family newsletters, to point out activities children may enjoy based on their
interests and accomplishments in sessions.
Working with Program Partners to Improve Family Involvement Efforts
Jumpstart may be one of many programs young children participate in. Many of these programs,
including the early childhood centers hosting Jumpstart sessions, provide outreach and engagement
opportunities to families. Program partners hold the primary relationships with families and provide a
connection for Jumpstart to reach families. It is important to work with program partners to leverage
their existing relationships with families, to complement family involvement activities they already offer,
and to integrate Jumpstart into existing family involvement efforts when possible in order to deliver the
family involvement activities that are specific to Jumpstart’s direct service model. In order to collaborate
with program partners to improve family involvement, Jumpstart teams can:
 Learn about the program partner’s philosophy of family involvement
 Use strategies that teachers and other program partner staff have found effective for outreach
and communication with families
 Know the calendar of family events already planned at the program partner
 Find out days and times when most families at the program partner are typically available
 Get input about how and when it is appropriate for Jumpstart staff and Corps members to
offer or participate in activities with families - For example, is it appropriate for Jumpstart to
join family events planned by the program partner? Can teams use existing opportunities,
like bulletin boards or regular newsletters from program partners to families, to
communicate information about Jumpstart?
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Team leaders and Corps members can learn a lot about family outreach and communication from
classroom teachers. Teachers usually know how and where most information is distributed to families,
where to post items to get family members’ attention, and what translation resources may be needed for
families to make use of information.
Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families
Jumpstart serves children and families from a broad diversity of cultural and language backgrounds.
Jumpstart respects all home languages and cultures represented by children and families across our
network and believes that involving families in Jumpstart is a key step in valuing their home language
and culture while strengthening a Jumpstart-home connection. Jumpstart teams should keep this in mind
when planning communication strategies, as special steps may need to be taken to ensure that plans –
and the tools used to implement those plans – are appropriate for families of various cultural and
language backgrounds.
Jumpstart provides written resources for families who speak a language other than English in select
languages, and site managers can provide teams with additional resources and guidance for
communicating with family members who do not speak English. Teams who need to communicate with
families who do not use English as their home language are encouraged to try the following, in
partnership with their site managers:
 Use pictures, objects or other visuals to support conversations with families. With or
without a translator, Corps members can engage family members in the excitement of
Jumpstart by showing – rather than simply telling – what their children have been doing in
Jumpstart sessions. Consider collecting children’s work samples or taking digital photos, if
appropriate permissions have been obtained, of children participating in session activities.
These visuals, as well as objects children used during Jumpstart, can help to anchor
conversations and increase understanding between Corps members and family members
who speak different languages.
 Seek translation support for in-person conversations. Use local resources, if available, to
provide live translation for Corps member-family interactions. Try the following:
o Plan for bilingual Corps members to translate conversations between their team
members and families, if they feel comfortable and capable of doing this. Just make sure
these Corps members aren’t missing opportunities to connect with their own partner
children’s families.
o Ask program partners for support from their translators or other staff who are fluent
speakers of children’s home languages. Some program partners are willing to translate
for Corps members during face-to-face meetings with families. If this is an option, it is
important to give program partners as much notice as possible when a translator is
needed.
o Look for other family members who can help. If a Jumpstart child’s primary caregiver
does not speak English, another relative or friend may speak English and may be able to
translate during face-to-face meetings.
 Provide translated written materials. Many of Jumpstart’s family communication and
Jumpstart-home learning connection resources are available in Spanish and Traditional
Chinese (for Mandarin and Cantonese speaking families). Teams may need family resources
in other languages. Teams should plan to work with their site managers and program
partners to translate materials. This can be done by:
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o
o
o
Asking program partners how they provide written translations for families. Ask them to
consider sharing their resources with Jumpstart. They may have staff who can translate
written documents or work with professional translation services.
Look for campus and community partnerships to support written translation.
Community-based organizations may be willing to translate written information if they
understand how it benefits families. Students or faculty in language departments on
college campuses, as well as campus or community language clubs, may be available to
translate documents.
Ask bilingual Corps members who are fluent in writing in both languages to help in
translating written resources for families.
Whether families use English as their primary language or not, they may subscribe to different cultural
values, beliefs and norms than the Corps members serving their children do. This impacts the way that
families communicate and how they view their children’s early childhood program, Jumpstart, and
strategies used to try to involve them. For example, some cultures stress oral storytelling over reading
books in children’s early years, while others view a clear division between the family’s responsibility for
moral upbringing and schools’ responsibility for academic education. In general, different cultures view
children’s development and family roles in that development differently. Jumpstart teams, with the
support of their site managers, can take this into consideration when preparing for interactions with
families and using specific strategies to engage families. Because these values and beliefs vary, teams
might consider taking the following steps:
 Identifying the major cultural groups represented at the program partner you serve. Some
neighborhoods are home to concentrated groups of families from similar cultural backgrounds.
 Learning about the values, norms and traditions of these cultures. Knowing what is common –
but not using that information to stereotype families or children – can help build understanding
about how families’ and preschools’ expectations for children are similar or different.
 Working with preschool teachers and staff to incorporate strategies that the program partner has
used to successfully engage families of diverse cultural backgrounds into family involvement and
communication efforts.
 Being mindful of cultural communication differences when interacting with families. In some
cultures, shaking hands, making direct eye contact and other gestures often used to greet people
and build relationships are not widely used or accepted. Knowing about basic differences can
help teams choose communication strategies carefully as they meet and begin to get comfortable
with families.
In many cases, Corps members may be (or appear to be) from the same cultural backgrounds as children
and their families. While this can support teams’ and Corps members’ efforts to connect and
communicate with families, no one should ever assume that they know families’ values, beliefs, or
interaction styles because of shared culture, ethnicity, or language. Within any cultural or linguistic
group, each family will have their own way of acting on the values and beliefs associated with those
groups. Many families will also represent a joining of multiple cultures, and their family values and
beliefs will be unique because of that.
Communicating Children’s Interests and Accomplishments
The following statements are designed to help Corps members share their Jumpstart partner children’s
interests and accomplishments with children’s families. For each of Jumpstart’s target language and
literacy domains and skills, examples of statements of children’s interests or accomplishments are listed.
These statements should serve as guidelines for communication, verbal and written, with families and as
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a resource for tailoring family communication based on the strengths of each Jumpstart child.
General Tips
 Be honest and straightforward. Describe what the child does in sessions and avoid judgmental
language.
 When discussing how you and other Corps members are helping a child grow in a specific area
or overcome a challenge, phrase your comments positively. Talk about what the child is capable
of now and what the next step is that they are working on in Jumpstart sessions.
 Explain the importance of accomplishments that may seem small. For example: ‚Knowing that
the words go left to right on the page is an important step in learning to read.‛
Oral Language
Vocabulary
 While we were playing in Dramatic Play, Maria pretended to mix a cake. She told me she needed
to get the ingredients for the cake. We had talked about ingredients earlier as we read The Little
Red Hen (Makes a Pizza).
 While we were reading Peter’s Chair, Kym explained to her friends what a cradle is.
 On Tuesday when we read Oonga Boonga, Mia pointed to the harmonica and said, ‚What’s that?‛
Today, as we were reading, she was excited to tell me, ‚Look, he’s making music with the
harmonica!‛
Comprehension
 As we were going to Center Time Joey told me he wanted to make pizza in Dramatic Play like in
the book we read during Reading.
 Today when we read a book about a boy who was afraid his friend wouldn’t come to his party,
Tyanne told me about her birthday party and how she was sad that one of her friends couldn’t
come because she was sick.
 After I read a book to Kara, she made up a fun story to tell back to me.
Books and Print Knowledge
Alphabet Knowledge
 Today in Circle Time Dana raised her hand quickly when we asked whose name starts with the
letter ‚D‛. She said, ‚That is a ‘D’ for Dana.‛
 During Center Time Manuel got the cards from our ‚Bingo‛ activity, held up the ‚G‛ card and
said, ‚This is ‘G’ from the Bingo song.‛ He is interested in learning about letters. We will have to
start watching for letters around the classroom.
 Navia was excited when she noticed her name started with the same letter as November.
Meaning and Use of Print
 Quentin has started pointing out the numbers ‚1, 2 and 4‛ and letters ‚Q, N and T‛ in the
classroom.
 Tina reads words she knows, such as her name and ‚exit.‛
 During Welcome, we have started sounding out our names and writing them. Today, Tyre was
able to help me sound out and write his name. He told me to write a ‚T‛ for the /t/ sounds and an
‚r‛ for the /r/ sounds. He is really starting to connect his letters and sounds!
Phonological Awareness
Phonemic Awareness
 Jacob says phrases like ‚munchy marshmallows‛ and tells me they both have the /m/ sound.
 Calia tells me words that start with the same sound as her name, like ‚cat‛ and ‚car.‛
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 Joelle breaks up a word like ‚fan‛ into three sounds—‚ffff aaa nnn.‛
Rhyme Awareness
 Tony has started rhyming words like cat and hat when we read books together.
 When we sing ‚Five Little Ducks,‛ Jack always says, ‚Quack sounds like Jack!‛
 Today, when we read Oonga Boonga, Prishonna was able to tell me which words rhymed.
2) Welcoming Families to Jumpstart
Welcoming and orienting families to Jumpstart is the initial step toward building a positive relationship
with children’s families. Family orientations may take place in a variety of ways, including orientation
packets sent home to children’s families, brief meetings or conversations with families at the beginning or
end of sessions or during formal orientation events. Jumpstart site managers will decide which type of
orientation is most appropriate and let teams know what their roles will be. Regardless of the type of
orientation being implemented, team leaders and Corps members will likely need to take on specific
responsibilities to ensure that families are warmly welcomed to Jumpstart and receive important
information about their children’s participation in Jumpstart sessions. Site managers and teams will talk
about specific tasks and roles as orientation activities are being planned.
Addressing Family Members’ Questions: Jumpstart FAQ
As Corps member welcome families to Jumpstart, they may find that family members have lots of
questions. They will definitely be interested to know about the program and people that their children
are spending so much time with. Here is a list of sample questions that Corps members have prepared to
answer for families. Even if families do not ask you one of these questions directly, they might be
interested in hearing you share some of this information.
1) Who are you?
o Biographical information (where are you from, are you a student or Community Corps
member, how many people are in your family?)
o Future/career plans or major
o How you became involved in Jumpstart
2) What does it mean to be a Jumpstart Corps member?
o Corps members are volunteers who are trained to support children’s learning during
Jumpstart sessions. Corps members are ‚learning partners‛ for children as they
experience lots of different language and literacy activities.
o Corps members build relationships with young children by singing songs, playing games,
and reading stories.
o Corps members help to increase the number of adults working with children in the
classroom during a time that is focused on early reading and writing skills.
o Corps members spend 10-15 hours per week in the preschool classroom.
3) What is Jumpstart?
o Jumpstart is a non-profit organization that partners with preschool centers. Jumpstart is
working toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed.
o Jumpstart was founded in 1993 in New Haven, Connecticut by Yale University students
and concerned families, teachers, and administrators.
o Jumpstart has grown from a campus-based program of 15 individuals working at one
Head Start center to a national organization with more than 3,600 Corps members
working with more than 8,000 children each year.
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o
4)
5)
6)
7)
Jumpstart uses a special curriculum that focuses on language and literacy of young
children. This curriculum adds on to the learning children are already doing in their
regular preschool day.
What are Jumpstart Sessions?
o Jumpstart sessions are the times when the entire Jumpstart team serves in the preschool
classroom at the same time. Each Corps member volunteer has two or three partner
children that they partner with for the whole year.
o Twice a week, the team delivers the Jumpstart session for two hours. During this time,
Corps members and children read books, play games, sing songs, and have choices of
center activities to attend.
Will my child learn to read and write in Jumpstart?
o During Jumpstart sessions, children do activities, including being read to that help them
develop the skills that will help them read and write later on.
o Preschool children need to develop special skills, like recognizing alphabet letters and
learning new words, before they can read and write on their own. Jumpstart helps
children with those special skills.
Why do I sometimes see Corps members here at times when there isn’t Jumpstart session?
o Corps members often serve Classroom Assistance Time. During this time, Corps members
work with all of the children in the Jumpstart classroom and are an assistant to the
classroom teacher.
Do not highlight that Jumpstart serves children in low-income communities; instead use the
communities’ name(s) to talk about the neighborhoods that Jumpstart is in.
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