This year will be the fourth year in our elementary school, with A&Z starting second grade. I definitely thought this year was going to be old hat, but of course something new pops up that wasn’t even on my radar.
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A few years ago, we did a Child(ish) Reads on a book called Thirty Million Words by Dana Suskind, M.D. Its core concept is based on the research by Betty Hart and Todd Risley who, in 1995, found that by the age of three, children from higher-income families hear about 30 million more words than those from lower-income families. This disparity plays a substantial role in shaping academic outcomes and long-term success.
This topic has become top of mind this year as our school board is aligning its priorities with Georgia’s Early Literacy Legislation, which aims to ensure all children become proficient readers by the end of third grade. So why third grade?
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The Georgia pre-k lottery is in full effect, but my husband and I have been dealing with the decision to redshirt our twin girls for a while. They are August babies, born very near the September 1 cutoff. I’m admittedly a little jealous of parents with September-June babies, because this is something that they most likely don’t even have to consider.
We have talked at length between ourselves and with friends/family, in addition to reading a bunch of research and studies, to figure out if giving the girls “the gift of time” is the best option for them. I’ll tell ya, even after all that data collection, the verdict was still not cut and dry.
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Child(ish) Advice 