1. Lack of preparation: Fewer low-income children have access to quality early childhood education so they enter kindergarten lacking basic skills such as letter recognition and counting skills.
2. Vocabulary: Study after study shows low-income children enter school having heard 30 million fewer words spoken than their middle-class peers. A limited vocabulary makes it difficult to learn to read when children have never been exposed to the words.
3. Poor nutrition: Children sometimes come to school hungry, which makes it difficult to concentrate. Many schools are able to combat that by offering free breakfast and lunch.
4. Lack of Medical Care: Low-income children may not see the doctor that often so vision problems, dental problems and mental health issues do not get addressed as quickly and make it harder for children to learn.
5. High mobility: Children of poor families tend to move frequently, which disrupts their education. When they move from one school to another there is a lack of continuity and they may miss learning entire concepts.
6. Dysfunctional families: Families of low-income children often have a myriad of issues that mean children come home to a chaotic rather than calm home. That puts additional strain on the children who may be handling adult problems and make it difficult to concentrate. In addition, children may little space to do homework and no help with it.
7. Lack of English: More poor children have the additional disadvantage that they and their parents are not fluent in English.
8. Lack of Enrichment: Low-income children often do not get the outside enrichment opportunities their peers have such as music, dance, art or sports lessons and trips to museums, historical site and other places.
Students at Christ The King School in Newark, NJ, do not expect any new tech devices when going back to school. To our kids September signals an end to searing stomach pangs, as 40% of them go without school provided meals during the summer months. Help us provide our underserved and struggling kids with 25 new Chromebook laptops this fall. Give the #KeysForSuccess.
