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Mar 1, 2018 I
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This National Reading Month, encourage parents to read aloud to children of all ages

As the calendar turns to March, there is much anticipation! Days are getting longer and warmer as spring nears. And at elementary schools across the United States, students and teachers will eat ...  Read more »

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Feb 26, 2018 I
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10 practices to build stronger families, stronger communities

In a previous Education Solutions blog post, we shared pearls of wisdom from teachers who had been selected as a Toyota Family Teacher of the Year. Over the past 20 years, professionals from across ...  Read more »

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Feb 9, 2018 I
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NCFL webinars to explore Family Service Learning, SNAP E&T, and WIOA career pathways

The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) is providing FREE virtual learning opportunities, and you're invited to attend. Going Deeper with Family Service Learning | Friday, February 16 at ...  Read more »

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Jan 31, 2018 I
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First book in curriculum series for American Indian preschool children released

The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) is proud to announce the release of the first book in a new curriculum series for teachers who work with American Indian preschool ...  Read more »

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Jan 19, 2018 I
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Building stronger families and stronger communities: Insights from Family Teachers of the Year

As a teacher working with children and parents, have you ever wished you could sit down with master teachers who came before you and ask them about their best practices? How would those conversations ...  Read more »

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Jan 4, 2018 I
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Fostering informal family mentoring relationships

Think back to when you first began your work in education and family literacy. Who were the people that supported you? Who did you turn to when you had a question that needed an answer? As ...  Read more »

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Dec 14, 2017 I
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Creating family-friendly schools—Seven communication practices

Communication between schools and families should be a two-way street. Too often parents miss the messages that come from school—whether written or verbal—and teachers miss messages from parents. ...  Read more »

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Nov 30, 2017 I
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Ten tips for supporting PACT Time® in the classroom

Parent and Child Together (PACT) Time® supports the strengthening of emotional bonds as parents and children work and play alongside one another. PACT Time in the classroom is an important way for ...  Read more »

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Nov 14, 2017 I
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Guest post: Four tips for partnering with schools to support your struggling reader

The following is the first in a series of regular guest posts by leaders in the field of literacy. This guest post is by Sarah Sayko, deputy director of the National Center on Improving Literacy ...  Read more »

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Oct 6, 2017 I
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21 technology resources for family learning programs

The Internet has revolutionized the way educators find lesson content and resources for their students. In fact, there’s so much content available, it can be difficult to decide what to use. The ...  Read more »

NCFL Partners

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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