Blog categories
NCFL Image
Apr 4, 2022 I
  No Comments

Webinar on April 14th focuses on strategies for creating a trauma-informed learning environment

Join NCFL on Thursday, April 14 at 3:00 p.m. ET  (2 CT / 1 MT / 12 PT) to learn strategies for creating a trauma-informed learning environment in adult education. When a person goes ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Mar 24, 2022 I
  No Comments

NCFL, USC Shoah Foundation develop resources to support Holocaust education and social-emotional learning

The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) and USC Shoah Foundation have partnered to develop resources that engage children and their families in literacy strategies while building empathy, ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Mar 18, 2022 I
  No Comments

The Wonderopolis® Explorer Program provides fun and engaging summer learning content

With spring break just around the corner, that means summer vacation will be here soon! While planning for family and student engagement during the summer months, consider using NCFL’s turnkey ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Mar 10, 2022 I
  No Comments

NCFL's upcoming webinar highlights the value of good evaluation for organizations, programs

Tune in Thursday, March 17, as NCFL's partner, First Light Education Project, explores community evaluation as a vehicle for learning and program improvement. Inquiry is all about being curious. ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Mar 1, 2022 I
  No Comments

Three ways to celebrate Women’s History Month with Wonderopolis®

This March, honor women who have changed the world with Wonders of the Day® for Women’s History Month. NCFL’s Wonderopolis® dives into the herstory questions kids are most curious about. Who ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Feb 11, 2022 I
  No Comments

Engage families with Wonders of the Day® for Black History Month

Just in time for Black History Month, Wonderopolis® has released a Black History Month page sure to engage families and students in learning about Black history and culture. With over 45 Wonders of ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Jan 31, 2022 I
  5 Comments

Webinar on February 17th explores activities for family engagement at home and school

Looking for tips and ideas for keeping parent engagement a rich component of your program? Join the team at NCFL on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. ET (1 CT /12 MT /11 PT) to learn how to keep ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Jan 14, 2022 I
  2 Comments

Join us January 20th for a webinar for instructors of adult ELL classrooms

While practicing speaking and listening skills in the ELL classroom can sometimes be frustrating for adult participants, these moments are unique opportunities to honor the lived experiences of each ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Dec 20, 2021 I
  No Comments

NCFL publishes two new resources for educators and program staff

NCFL has published two free resources for those working with families in family literacy, learning, and engagement settings. Our Recruitment & Retention Toolkit supports program staff throughout ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Oct 15, 2021 I
  No Comments

Free NCFL webinars for 2021-22 school year announced

Mark your calendars—we’ve just announced our next line up of webinars, the first of which airs next week, Thursday, October 21. Click the links to register today! Activating Family ...  Read more »

NCFL Partners

NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image

Toyota

Toyota, one of the nation's most successful corporations, began a partnership with NCFL in 1991. In addition to a commitment of more than $50 million, Toyota has also contributed a wealth of in-kind support — including advertising, planning and management expertise — to form one of the most progressive corporate/nonprofit partnerships in the nation.

Three major programs have been developed through the Toyota partnership based on the family literacy model of parents and children learning together. These models have influenced federal and state legislation, leveraged local dollars to support family literacy and led to successful programs being replicated across the country.

Read more about Toyota's commitment to communities

William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust

NCFL received its very first donation in 1989 from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust to promote and implement family literacy programming, first in Kentucky and North Carolina and later nationwide. The Kenan Family Literacy Model in part laid the groundwork for 30 years of subsequent family literacy and family learning programming developed by NCFL.

Kenan has continued to support NCFL’s place-based family literacy programs since our inception. Most recently, it has invested in our organization’s Sharon Darling Innovation Fund, which will launch emerging ideas and programmatic evolutions in the multigenerational learning space.

Learn more about the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust

Dollar General Literacy Foundation

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation began partnering with NCFL in 2006. A signature effort of this partnership is the National Literacy Directory, a resource that launched in 2010 and strives to guide potential students and volunteers to literacy services, community education programs, and testing centers in their communities.

The National Literacy Directory contains over 10,000 educational agencies located across the United States and has a dedicated toll-free number to help support those wanting to pursue educational opportunities in their communities.

Dollar General also provides support for development of NCFL’s innovative family learning resources centered on financial literacy and Parent and Child Together (PACT) Time®.

Learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation

PNC Grow Up Great

PNC Grow Up Great believes deeply in the power of high-quality early childhood education and provides innovative opportunities that assist families, educators and community organizations to enhance children's learning and development.

PNC Grow Up Great has partnered with NCFL since 1994, most recently in Louisville, Kentucky, to support Say & Play with Words, our pre-Kindergarten vocabulary-building initiative.

NCFL's work is also featured on the PNC Grow Up Great Lesson Center website. The Lesson Center includes over 100 free, high-quality preschool lesson plans and research-based instructional techniques and strategies. All lesson plans contain Home/School Connections printouts, in English and Spanish, to help families extend and reinforce the learning at home.

Learn more about PNC Grow Up Great

U.S. Department of Education

Initiated through the U.S. Department of Education in 2018, the Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) program provides 12 grantees and 13 states with five-year, $5 million grants to promote and implement systemic evidenced-based family engagement strategies. NCFL was selected to lead SFECs in two states, Arizona and Nebraska, and is a primary partner for two other SFECs in Kentucky and Maryland/Pennsylvania. 

The SFECs work to support family engagement through state- and local-level agencies while providing both professional development to school districts and direct services to families related to children’s academic outcomes and overall well-being.

Learn more about the U.S. Department of Education

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

NCFL was named a recipient of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s "Voices for Economic Opportunity Grand Challenge," which seeks to elevate diverse voices in order to broaden the conversation about the issues inhibiting economic mobility and generate deeper awareness along with actionable understanding. NCFL will develop and launch a podcast series that will highlight the remarkable stories of low-income, diverse families across the U.S. who have improved their communities through Family Service Learning.

Foundation Website