As young children grow up, their first teachers are their own parents. This period of development is crucial in setting behavioral patterns and creating a healthy learning environment—one that will shape a child’s future. Home City Families recognizes this importance and supports families within the community through a network of parenting information, childcare and playgroups, and early literacy activities.

Home City Families, an organization funded by the Coordinated Family and Community Engagement, reaches out to families across Springfield, Massachusetts with learning resources and guidance for childcare. Following this goal, they recently joined other local organizations in the Lectio Institute training, a professional development program designed to promote early literacy and community outreach skills.

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.”

Jennifer Teehan-Sanford, the Grant Manager at Home City Families, acted as the program leader throughout the Lectio Institute training. She commented on the opportunity for growth, finding common goals as a community, and “encouraging active engagement” in the lives of children.

The Lectio Institute programming relies on analyzing data and research, refocusing strategy, and creating cohesive and realistic frameworks for promoting widespread outreach. Teehan-Sanford described the impact of this strategy: “The process that the Lectio Institute led us through allowed our team to focus and be much more intentional in the programming that we offer.”

“We all often fall into the mentality of ‘we do it because we have always done it this way,’” said Teehan-Sanford. “The Lectio Institute allowed us the time for self-reflection and better program development to shift this mindset.”

Home City Families’ current outreach initiatives are already helping families across the city develop parenting and academic skills. They provide information and referrals to connect families to early literacy resources and childcare services within the community. They also have an array of educational programs for both children and their parents: Ready! for Kindergarten, New Baby Outreach Visits, Active Parenting, and playgroups and story hours.

Through further outreach programming, professional development, and cooperation with other local organizations, the community can continue to reach families in need and support the widespread growth of literacy and success.

“Springfield has a strong community of professionals that are dedicated to moving the needle to strengthen our early literacy,” said Teehan-Sanford. “Moving forward, many of these providers will work together, participate in training and professional development and support one another in a variety of ways. With the support and guidance of Reading Success By 4th Grade we are confident to continue to move forward in a positive direction directly impacting the families we all serve.” 

Home City Families is a community organization that offers a network of information, support and programming for families in Springfield, Massachusetts and is funded by the Coordinated Family and Community Engagement. https://homecityfamilies.com Facebook: @HomeCityFamilies

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