Storytime is more than a gentle way to end the day.
A book shared with a child, along with other experiences that begin well before that child masters the power of speech, build a critical foundation for later literacy, said Dr. Katherine Delaney, an associate professor in the Judith Herb College of Education’s Department of Teacher Education.
Dr. Kate Delaney, an associate professor in the Department of Education, leads a community-partner meeting on Literacy Everywhere, a UToledo-led initiative to support early literacy in families experiencing housing instability.
University of Toledo faculty aim to secure that foundation for children across the state with a new project funded by $1.15 million from the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Whole Child Supports. The project, titled Literacy Everywhere, aims to teach families with young children experiencing housing instability simple and practical ways to support early literacy, while simultaneously linking those families to economic resources and support systems.
A secondary goal of the project is to create a resource toolkit for early childhood care professionals.
“Literacy is an important social determinant of health,” Delaney said. “It’s a foundational skill that children need to start developing well before they reach kindergarten.”
Delaney is joined on the project by colleagues in the Judith Herb College of Education and College of Health and Human Services: Dr. Susanna Hapgood, an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education, Dr. Christine Fox, a professor in the Department of Educational Studies, Dr. Heather Sloane Cleary, an associate professor in the Department of Social Work, and Dr. Michael Toland, professor and executive director of the Herb Innovation Center, which offers dedicated resources to support research development at the Judith Herb College of Education.
Ohio schools saw more than 24,000 homeless students during the 2022-23 school year, according to data provided by the Ohio Department of Education.
Literacy Everywhere assists families of infants to 5-year-olds experiencing housing instability. Delaney said they’re a particularly vulnerable demographic when it comes to early literacy.
“When families are facing homelessness or housing instability, there is a lot less attention available for children’s early learning experiences,” she said. “When a family has more resources, they’re more likely to engage in early reading practices with their children. But if they’re wondering where they’re going to sleep, as you can imagine, that falls down on the priority list.”
These early exposures come into play in the kindergarten classroom.
“If they have those foundational experiences, that supports their literacy acquisition,” Delaney said.
Literacy Everywhere is a one-year project with a human-centered design approach. That means the specifics of the materials and their delivery will take shape around the needs of the families.
The team is currently meeting with experts and stakeholders to complete a statewide needs assessment. This is their opportunity to learn from those who have experienced housing instability, and to parse out the unique challenges of a rural versus urban community, for example.
Locally the team has already met with representatives of Toledo Public Schools, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, Lucas County Juvenile Court, Cherry Street Mission and the Zepf Center’s Safety Net, among others.
They will incorporate this community feedback as they develop the project through the spring. The project will involve identifying and testing several responsive approaches to raising awareness of existing resources for families experiencing housing instability, while providing early literacy and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities for their young children.
Literacy Everywhere will be piloted in northwest Ohio.
“We are excited to receive this funding through the Ohio Department of Education, and to support family literacy practices that give a lifetime advantage to every child in Ohio,” Toland said.
