TOLEDO, Ohio — The Great Lakes Community Action Partnership is a Fremont-based organization that provides a multitude of services to people across various northwest Ohio counties.
The center on McCord Road provides preschool for free, helping families that struggle financially educate their children.
The program teaches children ages 3-5 years old valuable skills to help them transition to kindergarten and beyond.
"It gives them that jump start to just learning how to get along with kids, how to share, how to take turns, working on those social emotional skills," said Donna Hanson, GLCAP lead teacher.
Hanson has been a lead teacher with GLCAP for the past seven years and says preschool is imperative to a child's development.
"Just by giving kids that opportunity to learn by playing. That's what important in school, is for these kids to just come in and play and have fun and get along with kids," Hanson said.
Throughout her career, the most important thing she's learned is that children learn in different ways.
"Even though the kids are just playing, they are still learning and they are having fun and engaging in all those fun activities that we do at school," Hanson said.
Toledo Public Schools shared a similar sentiment about the benefits of children receiving an education before entering kindergarten or above.
"The benefits of Head Start (TPS' early childhood education program) or any preschool program is when kids get to kindergarten, we ask a lot of them," said Amy Allen, TPS chief of student support. "Coming to preschool gives those kids the opportunity to learn some of the skills that are necessary for them to be able to learn."
Preschool can be a stepping stone. While Head Start helps students, there are a variety of resources that offer something for the whole family, Allen said.
"The benefits of our preschool program, specifically the Head Start model, is that it has services for the family in general. It's not just for children. It is for parents," she said. "We help with goal setting, we do nutrition education, we do health clinics, and making sure that children have their health needs because education is really more than just learning ABCs and 123's."
Headstart programs can offer more than just education, Allen said.
"We also work a lot on independence. We want to make sure that kids are able to take care of their needs the best they can. Separating from parents can be a difficult thing, so, we do a lot of that in preschool," she said. "We also look to make sure that students are building confidence. Being able to take risks and try new things is a huge component of any learning program, so, preschool is a great place to be able to try new things and practice some skills that may not be comfortable."
Allen said preschool is an opportunity for children to learn independence before moving on to kindergarten and that it helps prepare children for learning beyond home.
GLCAP also offers workforce training, homeless assistance and home repair and weatherization, among other services.