Education Gap

Throughout my busy day, I find myself constantly teaching my kids. Sometimes it’s just having conversations about their surroundings, kid tv shows, and games on their tablets. I try to take advantage of every moment and turn it into a learning conversation. Not to mention, their bedrooms are filled with vocabulary cards hanging up, numbers, and the alphabet. I’ve always wanted to create a learning environment for them so it’s overly familiar. I didn’t want pre-school to be the only exposure to learning that they had.  I’ve always had an interest in learning as a kid and now as an adult, I can see why it’s so vital to give my kids the same strong foundation. It's been proven that children who don't have any prior learning exposure already start school academically delayed. When studies were done in the past, it also showed that black children had less exposure to reading than white children at the start of kindergarten. Since these studies were done, programs like HeadStart was created and suppose to be helping children of minority groups become academically prepared and caught up with white counterparts. Unfortunately, it's been about 50 years and the education gap still remains barely improved. The reasons given are vast. Some feel that school funding is responsible and that schools in the inner urban areas have less resources. Others are blaming behavior reasons as to why children of color are behind. It's also been noted that black children are in more trouble and face harsher punishments than white classmates. Difference in parenting was also mentioned among reasons why the gap exists. It's not new information that parenting styles differ from family to family, but the difference in how children are interacted with or disciplined is considered a huge factor in how these children respond to their education. I encourage all parents to seek free resources online for their kids if you have access to the internet. There were many times, I'd write out worksheets from online or made up worksheets so my kids could practice basic math, writing practice, vocabulary fill in the blanks, made flash cards out of notebook paper, etc. Honestly, my kids couldn't tell the difference between alphabet cards I handmade and  those sold at the store. If you can get a free library card, it's a good way to read to them nightly. Some libraries even have audio books and kid dvds you can rent for free. Even if you can only read a few times a week, it's better than not at all.  Studies often show 46% of white children are reading avidly in 8th grade compared to 17 % of black children. Reading is vital because it strengthens children academically. The best time for literacy to be introduced at home is between ages 0-5. If you already do this with your children, then that's amazing! Encourage friends and family with children to do the same. 

Until Next Time,

Dx3

Sources:
theedadvocate.org
psychologytoday.org
stanford.edu



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