Early Childhood Learning:

Empowering Parents to be Their Child's First Teacher

This program is offered to parents, caregivers and their young children ages 0 – 5. During these ten 2-hour sessions, parents discuss issues vital to parenting: brain development, the importance of play, the critical nature of the first five years in nurturing a child's optimal development and prepare their children for Kindergarten using the early education state standard. Each session includes the opportunity for each parent/caregiver to play and read to their children.

In 2007-08 The Learning Basket added new concepts and changed its name to the Readiness (Learning) Basket. Knowing that the parents wanted more information on how to prepare their toddlers, plus their older children, for a more successful entrance to Kindergarten, the program changed its name to the Readiness Basket and added an emphasis for school readiness. Changes were developed through a collaboration of Angelica Rodriguez, Raul Jorquera, and Dr. Marj Jones. Research evidence based materials developed through the Arizona Literacy & Learning Center's partnership's with the National Center for Learning Disabilities, The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and the Frank Porter Graham Early Child Institute (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) allowed for the implementation of parent training using the Get Ready to Read! Screening Tool and the Recognition and Response Model, Pathways for Successful School Entry.

For more information about this program, please contact: Angelica Rodriguez, (602)956-8465

Community

Our Community Capacity-Building Programs

Youth Development/Leadership:

Youth as Facilitative Leaders:

Learning group facilitations methods for an alternative mode of leadership (2-3 days)

Community Youth Forums:

Facilitated half-day events for youth to plan projects or campaigns around civic engagement

Civic Engagement/Service Learning Programs:

Custom designed with partners combining YFL Training and Community Youth Forums

School Community:

Parents Academy:

Builds confidence and know-how to link and collaborate with school personnel and students

Imaginal Education Training for Teachers:

Methods and approaches for shifting the images that young people live out of

Project-Based Learning:

Facilitator Guide and Training to prepare for, design, launch, implement and assess learning-rich projects with maximum involvement of students.

Leadership for Learning Academy:

Year-long development of a cadre of youth, parents, teachers/administrators and community members to catalyze school improvement

Multi-Generational Community Groups:

Facilitation of Community Planning events using the Technology of Participation (ToP®).

Neighborhood Academy:

12 weekly sessions to build new grassroots leadership (youth and adults) in a neighborhood

Community For All Ages Workshops:

Community Assessment and Action Planning to launch a CFAA initiative (2 days)

Youth-Adult Partnering Training:

Changing perceptions, attitudes and behaviors toward effective cross-generational interaction (1 day)

Community Development Workshop "Moving To Action":

Creating a common understanding and vision for a community and launch a plan for action (2 days)

Community Youth Development – Organizational Assessment:

One day event to assess the quality and extent of youth/adult partnering and develop strategies to intentionally move in that direction

Sharing Rallies:

4 – 6 hour events to share approaches that work and structure peer-to-peer learning around community building.