Mr. Ahmed Hashoosh sat down with our staff to talk about his daughter Ghadeer’s progress since enrolling in Head Start. Ghadeer is a dual language learner, learning Arabic and English.
Mr. Hashoosh says, “you can’t imagine my daughter before she came to this program.” Her parents had concerns about Ghadeer’s development and learning and the doctor referred her to Head Start in the winter of 2017. She started in the spring and within the first three weeks her parents saw a lot of improvement. Ghadeer started to feel more comfortable in school and around people. During the summer break, she asked her parents to bring her back to school. She had made friends and wanted to see them again.
Her father tells us, her “teachers treated my child as their child.” She started talking to her parents, she learned rules and routines. When her dad came to pick her up early, she told him he couldn’t pick her up yet because she was not finished with the school day. She liked to follow her routine.
“Day by day, week by week, we saw my daughter as somebody on the stairs. She progressed very well and faster than what we expected, Mr. Hashoosh tells us. “Now she talks to others and tries to play with other children. We don’t know what we would do if we didn’t have this program because when she was one and a half years, we notice she doesn’t like to talk, she likes to watch TV. I felt that my daughter didn’t care that I was her father, she didn’t pay attention when I left the house. My friend told me she needed to be around other children and people. I saw my daughter get better and better.”
Ahmed ends by telling us, “Because of your work and focus on my daughter I genuinely feel happy. Now I feel she has self-confidence and she trusts herself and she got that from this program. Her teacher doesn’t just teach her words or how to read only, she teaches her everything related to normal life: how to deal with people, how to have respect, how to eat, how to use the restroom, how to wash her hands, how to sign herself in and out, and how to share with others.
Thank you to Mr. Hashoosh and your family for sharing your story with us. We wish you all the best in years to come.