Disadvantaged and displaced children oftentimes experience unique barriers that hinder their academic success. Children are able to submit a scholarship application to help cover the costs of necessary tools for school such as scientific calculators, books and computers, required items for technical or trade schools like steel-toed boots, resources for public bus transportation to and from school and fees for activities such as field trips, SAT/ACT tests, educational programs and tutoring.

For many of the families A Precious Child serves, these resources simply break the monthly budget, yet they are necessary for a child’s educational advancement, empowering each child to move forward in their education.

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 14.7 million, or nearly 20% of children under the age of 18, live below the poverty line (that means a household income of less than $24,600 a year for a family of four).

Children living in poverty bring the devastating effects of this hardship with them to school every single day. Without the same access to the educational resources their peers are receiving, such as tutoring or a home computer, these children fall behind.

By the time children living in poverty are 4 years old, they lag 18 months below the typical cognitive development threshold for their age group. By third grade, their vocabulary is one-third that of their middle-income peers, about 4,000 words to their peers’ 12,000 (The American Federation of Teachers).

Edussentials bridges the gap in a child’s education by providing opportunities and resources to children in need. If each child is given the tools they truly need to succeed academically, the cycle of poverty has a better chance of being broken.