DATE: Sunday, April 20, 1997                TAG: 9704180216

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 18   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   74 lines

CHILDREN'S HARBOR DAY-CARE CENTER REACHES OUT TO PARENTS UNITED WAY-FUNDED PROGRAM IN SOUTH NORFOLK AIMS TO GIVE ITS KIDS A SOLID SCHOOL FOUNDATION.

For this teacher, going the extra mile is all part of her job.

Teresa Roseborough does not limit her parent-teacher conferences to the confines of her day-care center office. She takes her progress reports on the road.

With textbook and note pad in hand, Roseborough rides the buses home with children at the end of the day to meet their parents. If parents aren't home, she returns later in her car.

``For some parents, transportation is difficult,'' Roseborough said. Many parents work long hours or odd shifts. Others have trouble getting to the center on the bus.

Roseborough teachers at Children's Harbor, part of Places & Programs for Children, a United Way-funded agency that serves at-risk and low-income children. More than 300 Chesapeake families are on a waiting list for government assistance with child care, said center director Roberta Scott.

The day-care center, located in the Broadlawn section of South Norfolk, is one of five Children's Harbor facilities around Hampton Roads. The nationally accredited center serves kids as young as six weeks and as old as 12. Teachers aim to give pre-schoolers a solid foundation for learning, and to reinforce the skills of older students through after-school tutoring, Scott said.

Tuition is based on a sliding scale, and begins at as little as $22 a week for after-school tutoring. While some working parents leave their kids at Children Harbor for 12 hours at a time, others drop off their children for a few hours while they attend drug rehabilitation programs or job training.

Many parents face such daunting hurdles as substance abuse, unemployment and poverty, Scott said. Reaching out to these parents is especially important.

Children's Harbor often invites parents and older siblings into its classrooms, Scott said.

``Everything we do reinforces some kind of learning skill,'' she said. ``We want parents to know that the artwork that looks like scribbling is really preparing the child for writing.''

The center itself is built around child-size proportions. Each of its four pre-school classrooms has its own loft, from which children can peer down at adults. And beside every traditional, adult-sized door is an opening resembing a kid-sized mouse hole that leads into the children's coat room.

Classroom walls are lined with mirrors or painted in brilliant primary colors, dotted with childrens' handprints and neatly lined with rows of boots or backpacks.

Every jump rope, every hopscotch grid, every bird cage - however playful in appearance - contains a secret educational mission.

``With hopscotch, kids learn numbers and sequencing,'' Scott said. ``With water play, kids learn numbers by measuring water into cups and spoons.''

School-age children spend an hour and a half every day on homework, she said. Teachers discuss childrens' weak areas with parents or siblings at the end of the day.

Kids also have time to unwind after school. During their daily ``rap sessions,'' children learn to control their behavior while talking about their day.

Tony Archer, 11, recently talked about getting into a fight at school.

``They told me not to fight, because of all the things that could happen to me if I fight,'' said Archer, a fifth grader at Carver Intermediate School. ``If I start fighting, I could get hurt, or someone else could get hurt, or if I keep fighting, I could get suspended.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY

Teaching assistant Emma Parker works with D.J. Harris, 5, left, a

kindergartener at Rena B. Wright Primary School, and Ryan Boney, 8,

a second-grader at Portlock Primary, during the after-school program

at Children's Harbor.

Michael Sutton, 7, a second-grader at Rena B. Wright Primary, enjoys

a little free-play time during the after-school program.

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