Very young children who are talked to, sung to, and read to have a much higher academic success rate in elementary school.
- Incoming kindergartens who can’t print their name - 53%
- Kids who will end up in jail or on welfare by the end of the 3rd grade – 66%
- Percentage of homeless children – 30%
- Number of kids who have trouble reading and writing will dropout of high school in the next year – 1,000
- State prison inmates who are high school dropouts – 75%
The numbers show there is huge epidemic in Lake County with early childhood illiteracy. The epidemic doesn’t stop there. The early childhood illiteracy problem leads to many other problems like more people on welfare, crime, violence, teen pregnancy, and the worst the continued cycle of all these societal issues.
The hope and solution lies in addressing these challenges early in a child’s life. It all starts at the beginning. If we can increase the early childhood literacy skills among the Lake County children, especially for at risk families, we can significantly change the next generation.
If a child has the skills to be ready to read and write by the time they enter kindergarten, they will be more confident in school. Confidence is school leads to better students. More enthusiastic students lead to more high school graduates. More high school graduates lead to more college students. More college students leads to less welfare and less crime.
That’s the hope. Start in the beginning to impact the much bigger picture.
With your help and that of many other organization we can influence what we all wish for - a better world for our children. We can influence levels of poverty, we can influence levels of crime, We can support an increased standard of living. Today is the day we all need to make a difference.
