Through high-quality child care, educational programs, and social growth, children may develop and succeed throughout their lives. Family Child Care pursues this goal and serves the community as a SEIU Local 509 cohort of early literacy and child care providers. FCC recently joined other childhood literacy and care organizations in a training program through the Lectio Institute, a professional development program that creates programming for literacy outreach and community growth.

The Lectio Institute guides stakeholders through an intensive process focused on improving the quality and results of their early learning and literacy programming services. Reading Success by 4th Grade (RS4G) brought the Lectio Approach to the Springfield literacy ecosystem. RS4G invited community partners and literacy leaders with a footprint in the city to learn more about early literacy, improvement in science, and creating and refining the literacy landscape.

The Lectio Institute upholds that “it is critical that we, as a field, take on a new approach to promoting children’s early reading skills—one that ensures our efforts and that help our children reach their potential.” Through a different approach and analysis of goals, they work toward “unlocking the power of our collective commitment to America’s youngest readers.”

Jynai McDonald is the Family Child Care Coordinator and served as their team leader within the Lectio Institute training. She commented on the impact of the training from an administrative perspective, and reviewed how the framework and support affect local child care providers.

“I think this professional learning helped to shine a light on the great work that already exists within FCC programs and gave us a glimpse of how the broader community is being supported through their families enrollment in the program,” said McDonald.

The FCC department provides services and training for over 2,400 child care providers throughout the area. These providers instruct and care for children, teaching early literacy and academic skills, amid struggles like resource accessibility and language barriers.

“One of the foreseeable obstacles is needing more access to literacy materials for the children to use in the program and take home with them,” said McDonald. “Many of the providers that participated in our focus groups expressed wanting access to outside literacy professionals in their home-based programs.”

Lakisha Coppedge, a past family child care provider, educator, and consultant within the Family Child Care cohort, also commented on the importance of training programs and access to learning materials. “The literacy strategies shared in Lectio highlight the desire to be seen as viable learning programs complete with appropriate literacy materials, continued learning and a way to incorporate the literacy strategy in the family homes,” said Coppedge. 

McDonald acknowledged the value of sharing strategy and collaborating for greater growth within the area: “Having FCC providers share how they are implementing literacy and the frequency in which it happens creates evidence on their role in strengthening the community's literacy.”

Through participation in professional development programs like Lectio, cooperative approaches to literacy and child care, and continued devotion to helping children and families, Family Child Care and other local organizations can make a difference in the area and see marked success.

Family Child Care is a SEIU Local 509 cohort of early literacy and child care providers throughout Massachusetts dedicated to providing academic and family services to young children and their families.

Reading Success by 4th Grade is a community-wide initiative to get all of Springfield’s kids reading proficiently by the end of 3rd grade. Their projects bring people together to learn, share, and advocate for early literacy in Springfield, Massachusetts. www.readby4thgrade.com  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn: @ReadBy4thGrade

The Lectio Approach: Our mission is to unlock the power of our collective commitment to America’s youngest readers. We work to ensure that all children's literacy efforts and those they serve reach their potential, and that all stakeholders see the results and impacts they intended. www.lectioapproach.com