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Children who are not provided with quality learning opportunities before entering kindergarten are not only more likely to repeat a grade or quit school, they are up to five times more likely to become chronic lawbreakers as adults, studies show.
“It is always more effective and less costly to catch these things in the children’s early years,” state Kiwanis Executive Director Kevin Thomas told East Hills Kiwanis members and guests Tuesday.
“We are asking Kiwanis clubs to become advocates for children age zero to five.”
Thomas presented statistics and showed developmental charts explaining the importance of interactive learning in children beginning at birth.
Unfortunately, children from lower socioeconomic families are missing those opportunities. Studies show those children’s vocabulary averages just under 400 words by age 3, compared with around
1,100 words for their high income counterparts.
Kiwanis and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association have joined forces with the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission, a group of business leaders focused on improving and expanding preschool learning programs.
For businesses, the future of the state’s work force is at stake, Thomas stressed.
A looming 25-million worker shortage projected by 2018 will be aggravated by poor scholastic achievement among today’s students. Out of 100 of today’s ninth grade students, 32 won’t graduate and just 16 are likely to complete any post-secondary education programs, the commission says. Meanwhile, a growing need for skilled workers will require that 63 percent of the workforce have some post-secondary education to qualify for jobs.
“There are three things we can do: We can import talent, we can export jobs or we can try to grow the talent here,” Thomas said. “What we really want to do is grow the talent here in Cambria County and Somerset County.”
It is even affecting national defense. A Pentagon report estimates just one in four young Americans is eligible to serve in the military. The rest either quit school, have health issues or have criminal records.
Children from lower socioeconomic families will be the focus of increased attention by Kiwanis clubs and state advocates, Thomas said.
Higher-income parents have more time to spend with their preschoolers and have access to more educational resources.
Reading readiness is crucial, he added, noting that children spend the first three years of elementary learning to read and the rest of their educational lives reading to learn.
“Children who lack the language skills after third grade, don’t catch up,” Thomas said.
Kiwanis and the commission are campaigning to increase public funding to preschool programs at a time when the state Legislature seems determined to cut education funding, Thomas admitted.
But the venerated Perry Preschool Project showed major economic benefits for individuals and society. Scientists followed successful preschool students from at-risk families in suburban Detroit for
40 years.
They found increased lifetime earnings and reduced cost for prison, special education and welfare returned $16.14 for every dollar spent on the preschool.
Richland schools Superintendent Thomas Fleming, Director of Education Services Brandon Bailey, elementary Principal Ed Moran and representatives from Westwood Kiwanis Club attended Tuesday’s meeting.
Local News
Related Photos
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Kevin Thomas, state Kiwanis executive director, points to a chart showing that 44 of 50 first-graders with reading problems will continue to have problems by fourth grade. Randy Griffith
Discussion
Kiwanis clubs push reading
Early opportunities prevent problems for older children, state director tells local gathering
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