Eta: �what I've heard about headstart is that it's not really educational, it's mostly to teach needy kids to wash their hands and say please and thank you, things the parents usually teach. �My mom told me that about head start when I was a kid and asked about it.
This is not an accurate description of the Head Start classrooms where I've spent time. Yes, students are taught to wash hands before snack and after using the bathroom just like they are in any preschool. I don't think you'll find that groups of three and four year olds (no matter the socioeconomic status of their parents) will necessarily have their own orderly practices for handwashing in an unfamiliar environment.
Head Start centers vary in the curriculum they use but you will find many of the preschool standards - reading stories and nursery rhymes, hands on sensory play, learning the alphabet and numbers, movement to music, centers for art activities, learning to play cooperatively with other kids, building with blocks, etc. I'm not suggesting it would be intellectually stimulating to your child but I don't think it is at all accurate to suggest that HeadStart is just about teaching low income kids to wash their hands because their parents didn't.
