Ferst Foundation serves Greene Co.
Published 2:53 pm Monday, July 14, 2014
- Sam Carter of Glynn County reads to son John Michael Carter thanks to The Ferst Foundation's book donation program.
All across Georgia this fall, 30 percent of children entering kindergarten are behind their peers in learning preparedness. Most will never catch up. The Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy (FFCL) (www.ferstfoundation.org) is improving the odds through a program which mails a free book to Georgia children every month from birth to age five years.
Celebrating its 10th year, the FFCL has given two-million, high-quality, age-appropriate books to 100,000 children in 73 of 159 Georgia counties. Their goal is to make free books available for children from ages 0 to five in every county of the state by 2012.
Studies show that most children who enter kindergarten lacking basic early literacy skills do not catch up to their peers in subsequent years. In fact, the National Adult Literacy Survey found that children who have not already developed some basic literacy practices when they enter school are three to four times more likely to drop out in later years.
The situation in Georgia is worse than the national average:
— A third of our children come to school unprepared to learn.
— 75 percent of students who are poor readers in third grade will remain poor readers in high school.
— Georgia scored 47th of all states on SAT scores in 2009.
— Georgia has the nation’s third highest rate of high school dropouts.
— One of four adults in Georgia operates at a low literacy level.
Lack of school preparedness not only predicts a child’s academic success. It is also a predictor of teen pregnancy, welfare dependency and future incarceration rates. This costs Georgia businesses $7 billion a year.
“It is in our best interest to help provide a rich home literacy environment for all Georgia’s children because the return on investment is so great,” FFCL founder Robin Ferst said. “In fact, economic studies suggest that investments in quality child care and education for children in their preschool years provide a return of up to 20 percent.”
Children enrolled in the FFCL program show definite results:
— 85 percent of parents in the FFCL program read to their child daily.
— Kindergarten readiness test scores have increased as much as 44 percent from a pre-FFCL base of 46 percent to 90 percent readiness among FFCL children.
— FFCL students now in first grade had the highest post-test gains of all students who participated in all early learning programs state-wide.
Atlanta native Robin Ferst founded FFCL, which partners with business, civic associations and individuals to ship a free book every month to Georgia children up to age five, regardless of income. The cost of the program is $36 per child per year, paid by FFCL through donations from groups such as Dollar General, Rotary, Kiwanis, UPS and Waffle House. FFCL continues to seek additional donations from both individuals and corporations.
Here’s how you can help a child in Georgia:
—‚ Sponsor a child for $36/year at www.ferstfoundation.org.
— If your county does not have a FFCL chapter, start one by going to http://www.ferstfoundation.org/GettingStartedinYourCommunity.htm.
— If your county already has an FFCL team, join it and help us support more preschool children in your community.
— Visit Peachtree Publishers Booth #111 at the Decatur Book Festival on September 3rd – 5th. All proceeds from sales will benefit FFCL.
— Make a purchase at any Barnes & Noble on September 15th using bookfair voucher #10241040 and a percentage will be donated to the FFCL.
— Make a purchase online at www.bn.com from Sept. 15 to Sept. 20 by entering bookfair voucher #10241040 to donate to the FFCL.