Activate: National Early Childhood Advocacy Network

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Stephanie Harmon                                                          Diamond Miles

 

In November, Stephanie Harmon and Diamond Miles were selected to represent the Read Muskegon Literacy Collaborative as part of a new initiative launched by the National Center for Families Learning (NCLF).  Activate: National Early Childhood Advocacy Network is bringing together teams of parents and early childhood practitioners from 10 communities throughout the country to reimagine and reform equitable systems for families.  Stephanie and Diamond travelled to Dallas for the program kick-off and returned full of energy, ideas and connections. They will each be a part of a national cohort of other parents and practitioners that are working on the same focus area and will also meet monthly with NCFL and Read Muskegon staff for support.  Diamond will be participating in a group looking at the connections between mental and physical health as related to early literacy and childhood racial inequities. Stephanie’s group will be focused on the school to prison pipeline.  We are so thankful to both of these women for stepping up to take on this work and excited to support them in their efforts.

 

Expanding Early Literacy Classes for 2022

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For the last five years, Read Muskegon’s ABCs of Cooking class has been providing parents a fun, easy and delicious way to incorporate early literacy skill building into daily life with their 0-5 year olds. With the goal of helping to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn, families in this class learn letter shapes and sounds as they create toddler-friendly recipes.  Based on the success of this program, Read Muskegon is expanding the concept to include two new classes for 2022.  The ABCs of Art will help parents learn how to build early literacy skills through simple art projects. The ABCs of Song and Sounds will be for those families who have completed the cooking or art class and will use music to dig deeper into foundational literacy skills.  Classes will be offered at various venues throughout Muskegon County beginning in February.  Look for a calendar and registration information coming soon.

Thank you to the Great Start Collaborative and United Way of the Lakeshore for making these classes possible.

National Model Program Coming to Muskegon Heights

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Beginning in early 2022, Read Muskegon, in partnership with the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL), will bring the researched-based Family Service Learning program to Muskegon Heights.  This program is a national model focused on project based learning through community-led service. It has been shown to engage families in building content knowledge, work-based skills, leadership skills, and in increasing self-efficacy and social networks.  After piloting the program for 8 weeks with 10 families in Muskegon Heights, Read Muskegon hopes to expand to a year round program offered throughout Muskegon County.

Thank you to the Community Foundation for Muskegon County for their support in bringing this innovative literacy program to our community.