“Our Honor Roll of Star Readers lists 29 children and the 48 parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who read with them,” she said.
Shamarria Gillespie, 3, and Jaylan Ingram, 4, got special recognition for having read and reported on the most books. All children received prize books in honor of their achievement.
With 30 parents attending, the day was truly a celebration. Each was presented with a family reading memory book— a compilation of weekly book reports the children had submitted. The Taylortown teachers did a readers’ theater presentation of “Wings, A Tale of Two Chickens,” while parents held children in their laps and followed along in their own copies. Afterward, everyone enjoyed eating strawberries and doughnuts and unwrapping gift books.
Literacy Program
Star Reader is a family literacy program organized by Katherine Stevenson, a volunteer with Moore County Literacy Council. Last year the Literacy Council offered Togetheread classes at all four Head Start centers in Moore County.
The classes use the nationally acclaimed Motheread curriculum to introduce parents to outstanding children’s literature and teach them ways to encourage reading aloud as a family.
Parents and teachers participated enthusiastically, and at the Taylortown center, teachers embraced the idea of building on that enthusiasm to motivate more parents to make reading aloud part of their daily routines.
Mini-Library
Wednesday is Mini-Library Day at Taylortown Head Start. Each week the children check out books to take home and share with their parents. When Pat Meldrum and her husband George moved to the Sandhills in 1980, they founded the Head Start lending library program.
Operating out of the trunk of their car, they made weekly visits to each Head Start center in Moore County. Pat Meldrum read a story aloud and the children checked out new books.
The program evolved and eventually the Meldrums developed individual collections to be housed at each center. George died in 1995, but his wife has carried on the lending library work, still reading and distributing books each week at the Vass and Southern Pines centers.
Friendly Reminder
For Taylortown Head Start, the librarian job has passed to Doris Ray. As the school’s bus monitor, she sees parents twice a day for pickup and dropoff, and is the perfect person to remind folks cheerfully, “It’s library day. Do you have your book?”
Starting last fall, Ray added another question: “Do you have your yellow card?” The yellow card is the Star Reader book report. Children rate each book by coloring in stars; a great book gets five. With the help of a parent, they also write something about the stories and sign their names. “Who reads with me” also signs.
During the celebration, Marie Brown warmly thanked all the volunteers who contribute to make the Star Reader program possible.
The Women of Sacred Heart Church in Pinehurst have donated books to replenish the Mini-Library collection and also contributed half the prize books. Tootsie Pops, a women’s golf group in Pinehurst, covered the rest of the prize books and contributed refreshments,” said Brown. “Taylortown Head Start has wonderful, loyal friends.”
