Our speaker Rich Rosen is a member of the Wheeling Club. In his life he has not only run a business but also served on the District 21 School Board as well as been part of the advisory board for politicians like Bob Dole. When he heard the District was looking for someone to chair the Literacy Program, he jumped at the chance. His focus was on early childhood literacy. Early childhood literacy is a learning process starting at birth up until the time a child enters school. It is what a child knows about reading and writing before they actually learn to read or write. ECL lays a foundation so the preschooler has the necessary skills when he or she is ready to to start school. What is essential to this is parents reading to, talking to and playing with their preschoolers. This directly impacts their vocabulary growth, ability to read and gain confidence as they enter their schooling years. Basic components of this are print awareness - seeing the words when read to; print motivation - their interest in books; narrative skills - hearing stories and partaking in activities; vocabulary - learning words and the names of objects; and finally, letter acknowledgement. Early Childhood Literacy will save a child from a life of poverty and crime. There is a clear cause-to-effect relationship between literacy versus poverty and criminal activity. Those entering kindergarten with proficient literacy skills have a greater chance in later years of becoming productive, law abiding citizens thank those without those skills. It's not only good for the child but for our country overall. By the numbers: - In the U.S., 37% of kindergarteners grow up without necessary early literacy skills. This percentage is higher in lower income families;
- Half of children from low income families start first grade two years behind their peers - they only have a 12% chance of going to college;
- 61% of low income families have no age appropriate children's books in their homes;
- By the age of 5, a child from a low income family recognizes 9 letters in the alphabet compared to 22 letters for a child from a middle class family;
- In the U.S., only 48% of all children between birth and 5 years are read to every day. The percent is much lower among low income families.
- The average child of a professional family hears 215,000 words per week while from a working class, a child hears 125,000 words per week and from a family receiving welfare benefits, only 62,000 words per week.
Some factors in these numbers is that 14% of the adult population cannot read - - 25% of high school seniors were at or below basic reading levels.
- Research indicates children struggling with reading in first grade are 88% more likely to drop out of high school.
- Over 75% of juvenile crimes are committed by high school dropouts.
- Each dropout over the course of his or her lifetime cost the nation over $250,000.
- Two thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of fourth grade will end up in jail and/or on welfare
- 71% of 17-24 year-olds are not qualified to serve in our military. This is a national security issue, let alone our ability to compete in our international business environment.
Rich assured us despite these statistics, there is good news - No matter what income level, those who can read at fourth grade levels upon entering fifth grade, over 90% will graduate high school. Some ways we can help is to get appropriate books into the homes of low income families in English and Spanish. and helping them gain access to others means like libraries and computers. We should also find ways to educate parents who do understand the importance of early childhood literacy education. He shared resources we can use to help in the effort - one of them being Bernie's Books. This is certainly a community project our Club can get behind.. |