Video: Head Start is a Good Start

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LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- October is Head Start Awareness month.

Hundreds of children and families in our area are benefitting from the program at centers in five local counties: Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay, Noxubee, and Lafayesst.

WCBI visited the Anderson Grove center in Lowndes County where parents say head start is a good start for their children.

In addition to learning the basics like colors, numbers, and shapes, they students also benefit from an arts program that features a bell choir.

 Center director Anita Lockhart says the children have fun in the choir, but they’re also learning. “It helps them develop skills with eye hand coordination which is an early preschool skill. They get to use their colors in using the bells. And it helps develop their self-esteem.”

Lockhart says the teachers also focus on developing social skills promoting emotional and mental growth.

Tonya Avery, whose daughter attends the center says, “She will be well prepared. She knows all her letters. She knows her sounds. They’re even starting to form words, so she will be well prepared for kindergarten.”