Educating children ought to be easy and guaranteed especially in the United States.
Yet, why is it that in communities across this nation a parent has to mortgage a home to put their children through private school or hope that their child is picked via a lottery system to ensure a good education? Shouldn’t educating children be a priority?
September House
Private schools are big business where I now live and parents/grandparents will do what ever they can to ensure their children receive a good education. The fact that any children of this country have to go to private school or hope to be picked in a lottery to attend a good school angers me to no end.
I find it disheartening that in all of the political fighting about the economy I do not hear people say that in order to improve communities you have to educate children. Educating children ought to be a priority and not the thing that gets axed. There are schools that cannot afford to purchase school or library books and they hope for donations. Getting books for children is a part of a child’s success and the success of the community. The vast majority of those living in poverty are less likely to have books at home which many in education feel is related to later success or failure in school. We can argue about what creates a bad school or why children in the United States of America are failing but the fact remains that if a child does not have books they will not be able to read.
If you have read Project Embrace then you know how I feel about giving back and making a difference in the life of even one person. I am so excited by the success of one public school in our area that I want to collect 30 books geared toward pre-k students and 34 for kindergarten kids and to give them out in May. Most of the kids are considered to be economically disadvantaged (aren’t many of us in this economy?) but this is mostly about promoting these children that are reading and working hard!
To make sure you understand how special this school is I need to share that this is a public school but it is also a charter. This means that they do not receive funding from the government like other school districts. They only receive a portion of what districts receive and they receive nothing to improve facilities which means no multimillion dollar stadium, no football team, or state of the art administration building. They operate on a shoestring budget and when the kids graduate many of them have two years of college credit under their belt (for free to the student as part of a partnership with a local college). Read that last part again please.
The first Project Embrace project was Cards for Children. I know that was easier to deal with but I am making Books for Children the second Project Embrace ‘challenge.’ Let me know what you think and please pray that I will be able to meet my goals for these kids!
I will be linking up with Jenny Matlock for letter O.
16 Responses to Educating Children by Overcoming Obstacles
Leave a Reply
Welcome
Create. Inspire. Change the World. Embrace your passion and live out your dream. Whether it is with a business, a more fulfilling relationship, or simply a desire to experience self growth, at the end of the day it is about your giving and how you answer these questions: How will I be remembered? Did I matter? Did I live with purpose? Join the conversation & embrace the project!
Newsletter
Creative inspiration, tips, & free ebook in a weekly Newsletter. Follow your passion & change your world. Every Monday receive your goodies and your inspiration prompt. Click the heart for more information & to start receiving goodness.
Connect
things to see
<
Grab It!
Shop Artful Rising!
stay connected
I also believe education must be accessible to all children, not just the privileged. Anything else is a disgrace.
Good luck!!
It definitely upsets me, too, that so many people feel like they have to go in debt or be privy to a lottery system so their kids can get the education they deserve. When we have kids, we want to send our kids to private school, but I always wonder about the costs. I’m sure that you can relate with the fact that as a trained teacher, I know that no matter what kind of school it is, I’d always have a lot of questions about curriculum, teaching style, etc…the worry never ends, right?
It saddens me that not all kids have access to books. My earliest memories include books and I love them still today. I think it’s wonderful you are going to give out books to children! What can we do to help?
That’s a great cause. I can’t imagine not having access to proper reading materials as a kid; I couldn’t stop reading when I was little. I hope that you can collect all the books you need.
I sounds like a wonderful school. I will be praying for your project.
What bothers me the most is the waste of funds when it comes to education (and anything governmental, for that matter). If they could pay teachers what they earn instead of what a union says they deserve, the quality of teachers would go up drastically, and so would the level of our education.
Great post.
I don’t understand people who don’t understand the value of educating our children…every one of them. I say good for you and everyone who helps to further this cause in whatever way they can!
I am not a proponent of private school, because values should mainly be taught at home and not at school. Yes, it takes for the parents to be there for the kids!! I’ve also seen in the counseling room that kids in private schools are over-protected. and have a shock when they’re confronted with society as a whole. I’ll get off my soapbox now! but it does have to do with books – it should be included into the parent’s value system. So many times I’ve seen that a signature brand pair of shoes seems to be more important than books (these are well to do parents).
This is a wonderful cause Erika! Let us know how we can help you reach your goal…I’m in!
that is too bad when there’s not books in the schools for children to use. Hopefully they are taught how to use their public library! I remember as a child, being so happy to get my library card! At least that’s open to everyone… {:-D
I agree. I have two daughters that both teach in public schools with disadvantaged children. They do it because they feel every child deserves a chance to an education. It broke my heart when I learned the middle school kids had no books to read and were routinely borrowing books my daughters books brought into the classroom.I now donate as much as I can. Books shouldn’t be just for the privileged.
This sounds like a great project.
We do need books, and I support you 100%, but I wish we could also figure out how to get the parents invested in the schools and the schools invested in the community.
We’ve lost something precious here, something we used to have, and we need to get it back.
“/
You are right. The great thing about this school is that parents actually sign a contract and they have to participate and volunteer. I love seeing it.
Say it sister! Couldn’t agree more…but then you are preaching to the choir here as a former teacher (who left for many reasons, but one of them being disgust & frustration with admin. of schools). Looking forward to hearing more details as this project unfolds!
I agree with you about the importance of books–not only books that kids read, but also books that they create. When my son was in grade school, a group of moms got together to create a Publishing Center. They met multiple times a week with every child in the school, who wrote and illustrated a story. The pages all got laminated and comb bound into books that were put in the library for all to read. Yeah, I participated, and it was a great project!
Books are such a passion of mine. In the process of moving we donated almost 500 books to a school library and I wish we could do more.
I read to my children every night until they were in their teens and my husband actually reads to me sometimes when I am exhausted.
We are kind of an anti-electronic house…in fact, the movers told us they haven’t moved anyone without a flat screen TV in forever.
Thanks for a thoughtful and thought provoking post!
Thank you for linking to Alphabe-Thursday’s letter “O”.
A+