The 2019 Families Learning Conference is just four weeks away! With over 100 sessions to choose from, you’ll want to start planning your experience now. Content will be offered in the strands of Adult Education, Early Childhood Education, Funding and Sustainability, K-12 Education, Library, Research and Policy, and Parent Leadership. #NCFL19 will have a wide variety of featured sessions—keep reading to check them out!
All parents want their children to be ready for school, but it can be challenging to find educational resources to prepare them. This featured session explores the creation and execution of a community-wide collaboration for kindergarten readiness.
Harnessing Local Resources to Increase Access
Tues. 11/5 1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Every day is a Big Little Adventure. Conceived out of a unique community think-tank exercise, My Big Little Adventure (MBLA) was collaboratively designed to connect families with young children (age 0-5) to the educational resources that already exist within their home, neighborhood and broader community – but with the hook of themes, structure and incentive. The project ultimately materialized as a website that now serves as a resource and clearinghouse for (mostly free and low cost) events and activities. It organizes resources from lots of sources into one place and eliminates the clutter of commercial enterprise and the wide age ranges typically found in these kinds of event sites. The project also involves community outreach work to drive signups and family engagement and harnesses the voices and resources of multiple cultural and social service partners under the common interest of reaching more young children and caregivers with existing programs and services. Read full session description>>
GED® Testing Service has been a longstanding NCFL partner and will be back again this year! Attendees will have two opportunities to explore the GED®:
Finding GED®: Navigating the Search for Adult Literacy Services
Mon. 11/4 11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
How do you braid the adult literacy services into your program? GED Testing Service can help. Join us to explore the tools and resources to locate and engage your learners in adult literacy services.
All Things GED®: What You Know and What You WANT to Know About GED®
Tues. 11/5 9:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Many people know the name GED®, but what do you KNOW about today’s GED®? Join in a facilitated discussion to review what you know about the GED® program and ask questions to learn the things you WANT to know about the GED® program.
FEATURED RESEARCHERS
Through our partnership with the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy, attendees will have the chance to hear from leading researchers in family literacy.
‘Presencing’ the Field of Family Reentry Research and Practice
Mon. 11/4 9:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Given the conditions of mass incarceration in the U.S. today, what can be done to sustain family connections from afar? Where do connections happen? How does the perceived presence of loved ones affect the quality of “doing time?” William Muth, Ph.D. reports on empirical data from his book, Fathers, Prisons and Family Reentry: Presencing as a Framework and Method regarding: the lived experiences of families doing time, the hopelessness of future-oriented policy, and model approaches and programs in the US and Europe.
Native Families and Places of Indigenous Learning and Restorative Practices
Mon. 11/4 3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
In this presentation, Dr. Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz will share an overview of eight years of work across nine tribal colleges serving Native communities in developing systems of care and learning for children and families. At the center of this work are the discoveries and motivations for engaging families as full partners in curricular design, assessment and inquiry, and in the historical acts of implementing Indigenous learning and restorative practices, so that Native communities can thrive.
Family Literacy Behind Bars: The Read to Your Child Program in a Pennsylvania Prison
Tues. 11/5 9:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
This session presents findings from a qualitative study of fathers in the Read to Your Child family literacy program at a Pennsylvania prison. The presentation outlines the impacts of incarceration on families, the benefits of the program, and implications for practice.
Part of the Library strand includes an exciting live webcast on Monday morning featuring education and library experts who work to engage diverse community groups and how those programs can inform your work.
How Programs Can Recruit & Engage Culturally Diverse Families
Mon. 11/4 11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Families are more likely to become engaged in their children’s learning when school and library staff reach out to them. But often, culturally diverse families are isolated from schools, libraries, and other community resources. A long list of issues may be keeping families from crossing your threshold and helping them stay hidden from your outreach – mistrust of government entities, lack of experience with public institutions such as libraries in their homeland, language barriers and embarrassment about their own literacy or education levels, fear due to immigration status, and more. How can you better understand who you aren’t reaching and how can you help families access your resources?
Engaging Hard-to-Reach Families With Very Young Children, Sponsored by Bezos Family Foundation
Mon. 11/4 11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Technology brings many people together. Yet, families with very young children are among the most challenging to recruit and retain in community-based programs. This active-learning workshop features tools and techniques for learning new and adapted ways of engaging these families.
Flipgrid + Wonderopolis: Amplifying Student Voice and Inquiry
Mon. 11/4 1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Ignite wonder and curiosity in students and adults alike using Wonderopolis! Then elevate their voices as they collaborate the easiest way possible: with Flipgrid! Learn more about these free platforms, the synergy between them, and how they can spark excitement in the classroom, at home, and beyond!
WEDNESDAY DEEP DIVES
Again this year, we will offer extended, deep-dive sessions on Wednesday, Nov. 6 from 8:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. These in-depth sessions allow attendees to dive deeper into particular subjects relevant to the field of family education.
Figuring in Families: Family Math as a Path to Equity
Our nation’s educational system has historically denied children of color, those learning multiple languages, and those from low-income homes opportunities to become proficient in mathematics. At the same time that we work to change school systems to become equitable, we can mobilize families as positive influences on the early mathematics learning of their children, just as they are for reading. In this session we will learn about the elements of mathematics (it’s more than counting and shapes!) and look for math learning opportunities in everyday life. We will celebrate the strengths of families as they interact in mathematical ways with their children, and we will discuss initiatives to support families to do even more math with their children in joyful and natural ways. Participants will leave the session with concrete strategies and resources that they can share with the families they serve. Our ultimate goal is that every learner is empowered with the math confidence and skills required to thrive in school and to participate in the 21st century workforce.
Leveraging the Private Sector to Spur Social Mobility
Eliminate the guesswork of uncovering how corporations are thinking about funding your efforts. This session will dig into the strategy and rationale behind the investments of some of the nation’s most generous companies. In this deep dive session, you’ll hear from leaders at Dollar General, PNC, and Humana, on how they approach the important role of investing in some of the most pressing social causes of our time. They will offer their insights as to how new forms of philanthropy are shaping the future and will explore how traditional philanthropy can work within the evolving framework of giving required by an ever-changing world. The panel will be facilitated by NCFL Board Member Nicole Chestang, principal of The Chestang Group.
Reach Out and Read and NCFL: A Pediatric Perspective on Family Literacy
This orientation to the pediatric early literacy program Reach Out and Read includes an outline of the stages of language and literacy development from birth through age 5, their social context, and the caregiver’s role in supporting optimal development, and explores the potential for partnerships between pediatric primary care and family literacy providers.
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