So a few months ago I heard about this foundation that will send your child (if under the age of 5) a free book every month. I first thought, okay, what's the gimmick. So I got online and registered and sure enough Maeve has been receiving a book every month and they're good books! It's great! She'll receive one every month until she's 5! The founder has a really neat story. The foundation raises money to help support and promote literacy in Georgia. You wouldn't believe the number of students who come through my classroom and don't have a single book at home! I plan on using the books Maeve receives to help build my classroom library, allowing those students to take them home with them. If you have a child go check it out, how exciting for them to get mail (and it be a book!) every month!
http://www.ferstfoundation.org/
As a teacher I am aware of the number of households that lack a print rich environment, but to see the statistics is alarming....the following are just a few....
Literacy in Georgia
1 in 5 of our children lives in poverty
Approximately 61 percent of low-income
families do not have a single piece of
reading material suitable for a child
A third of our children come to school
unprepared to learn
Only 28% of Georgia 4th graders read
at or above proficiency
We have the nations third highest rate
of high school dropouts
One in four adults in Georgia operates
at a low literacy level
Illiteracy and low literate workers
cost Atlanta $4.26 billion and Georgia
businesses $7 billion each year
Several states plan how many jail
cells they will build in the future by
how many children are not reading on
grade level by third grade
