Story time for keiki at the Capitol. - Photo: Liza Simon

By Liza Simon / Ka Wai Ola

Child's play used to be something just for children. Not nowadays. This much was obvious at an April 2 Capitol rotunda rally, where supporters of Native Hawaiian early education programs modeled so-called parent-child interaction, an approach to school instruction aimed at expanding learning capacity of kids by helping parents become skilled teachers at home.

Tammy Lorenzo sat cross-legged in rotunda plaza and guided her two preschool-aged youngsters through the steps of a crafts project – typical of the daily activities in the Tūtū and Me program in 'Ewa Beach, where Lorenzo and her children go to take advantage of storybook reading sessions and other lessons offered by kūpuna staff. “It's great for me as a stay-at-home mom to have a place to take the kids and share time with other families,” Lorenzo said.

The rally was intended as a show of support for a legislative measure that would bolster Tūtū and Me and similar early education programs. Should it pass, Senate Bill 2878, would establish the statewide Keiki First Steps early learning system.

“The research shows that investment in quality early education results in greater high school graduation rates and lower rates of special education, welfare dependency and incarceration rates,” said Danny Goya with the inter-agency nonprofit Partners in Development Foundation, or PID, which organized the rally.

Representatives of the foundation have been working with the governor's appointed Early Education Task Force, which was set up partly in response to reports showing that children in low-income communities reach kindergarten-age without skills necessary for learning. “This includes many communities where Native Hawaiians live in high concentration. To break the cycle of poverty we need to do more to connect Native Hawaiian parents with educational opportunities for children starting in early life,” said PID's Goya.

Hawai'i is one of only 10 states that lacks a publicly funded system for early education. In the meantime, the average cost of tuition at privately run preschools is $600 per month, an amount that middle-income parents may struggle to afford. The task force has been looking for ways to subsidize early education costs through private-public partnerships.

Those who work with PID say cost is only one of several barriers Native Hawaiian face in connecting with quality preschool programs. Some say what is needed is more culturally appropriate instruction that will engage parents who may have felt alienated by the lack of culture in DOE education a generation ago in Hawai'i. The increased emphasis on parent-child interaction is meant to build on the traditional importance of 'ohana in the Hawaiian culture. It is used by PID in designing programs with the help of collaborative funding that are less like drop-off site preschools and more akin to a community-friendly learning center.

Several PID success stories were highlighted at the Capitol rally. One was the new “traveling pre-school” known Ka Pa'alana, which began in 2007 with funding from OHA and Kamehameha Schools as a no-cost mobile outreach effort to homeless encampments on the leeward coast of O'ahu. Organizers say that at first no one came; slowly children were drawn in, curious about the portable setup of books, computers and other instructional materials. Parents began trickling in and soon the community was on board with local businesses like a nearby Starbucks making donations of food. Recently, nursing students from the University of Hawai'i began pitching in with basic health-care instruction for families. Now Ka Pa'alana operates at four sites on O'ahu.

Pohai Kealoha was at the Capitol to tell lawmakers that Ka Pa'alana has changed her life for the better. The program opened in Kalaeloa, where she lives with her four children in a homeless shelter. When her children showed interest in attending, she became involved. She enjoyed it so much that she landed a job as a teaching assistant for the program. “The program takes away the stress and normalizes life for my children. Now they get up in the morning and can't wait to go school,” she said, seated at a table in the rotunda where a new series of Hawaiian-themed keiki books were on display.