We hear from an organization that has recently launched a new LENA Start program and another that has shifted their existing program from in-person to virtual. What are their go-to strategies for effective family engagement in a virtual context?
Webinars (6)
LENA for Libraries
Learn more about how libraries can incorporate LENA programs into their offerings for patrons. How have our current library partners achieved positive results?
Introduction to LENA Start
Learn more about LENA Start — its effectiveness, its ease of implementation, and more. LENA Start is a parent group model designed to support increased early language development and interaction.
Integrating LENA Home into Early Head Start Programs
Learn how Early Head Start programs can integrate LENA into their supports for families. LENA Home, which embraces a trauma-informed approach, helps home visitors individualize their coaching and meet families where they are.
Family Resiliency and Early Language: Leveraging a Public Health Lens With Interactive-Talk Initiatives to Improve Child Outcomes
In this webinar, medical practitioners help us understand early language development through a public health lens. How does interactive talk build family resiliency?
Implementing a new community program: What we’ve learned in the first five years of LENA Start
Learn more about LENA Start, an evidence-based community program designed to engage families and help them learn how to increase conversation with their children during the first few years of life.
Blog Posts (24)
Engaging families in LENA Grow
Family engagement is one of the most important parts of any child care professional’s job. We’ve created a Family Engagement Toolkit to help our LENA Grow partners.
Inside Early Talk: Our point of greatest leverage for improving children’s futures
LENA has collected and analyzed its most expansive data set to date through the 10,000 children annually impacted by our programs for families and early childhood teachers.
Reflections honoring Black History Month
Two of our partners share their thoughts on the importance of Black History Month and how they integrate their personal beliefs into their professional work.
Parents on virtual LENA Start classes: “Now I know 10 families when I drop my kids off at school.”
The virtual format offered families a powerful opportunity to connect when they otherwise couldn’t during the pandemic.
Five best practices for parent recruitment and retention (virtually or in person)
Explore key learnings on how community programs can recruit and retain families.
Celebrate Good Times, Come On: Virtual Ways to Acknowledge Your Families, Teachers, and Teams
It can be easy to plug away at tasks and deadlines without taking time to pause and acknowledge accomplishments. Celebrating the small and big wins within your program is crucial to the health of your community.
Virginia Beach adapts to virtual programming to boost child outcomes, reduce caregiver stress
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the team in Virginia Beach knew that they couldn’t afford to wait to transition to virtual programming for families and teachers.
Virtual retention: Strategies for keeping families engaged in a community program
There are intentional methods you can integrate within your virtual communication to cultivate a space that welcomes vulnerability, trust, and collaborative participation.
Case study: Why three organizations pivoted to offer virtual LENA Start classes
When the pandemic hit, community organizations found their regular programming for families abruptly cut off. Learn why three pivoted to virtual.
Early Head Start centers in Tennessee use LENA programs to improve early literacy
Porter-Leath uses LENA programs to boost early literacy and connect teachers and families.
Study from University of Minnesota finds LENA Start fits well into community infrastructure
A new study on LENA Start from the University of Minnesota discovered that the program can be successfully implemented in community-based settings and that families enjoy participating.
Virtual LENA Start classes help parents and teachers to connect and collaborate
At Best Memories Academy in Orlando, parents and teachers are partnering together virtually to create rich early childhood language environments for children.
Results from parent survey confirm LENA Start is building stronger families
We analyzed data from 1,700 program participants and found that families report spending more time with children, talking more, and feeling more confident in their parenting abilities.
Q&A with Dr. Reem Khamis-Dakwar: Empowering families to reclaim minority languages with LENA Start
In New York City, LENA Start classes empowered Spanish- and Arabic-speaking families to value their native languages and maintain them across generations.
Q&A with Emma Quigan: How COMET Auckland is using LENA with indigenous families in New Zealand
In New Zealand, LENA is a tool to empower whānau (families) to connect to culture and each other.
Being culturally responsive to families during LENA Start classes and beyond
Pedro Mendez, birth to three program administrator at Denver Public Library, explains how his team prioritizes and responds to the needs of families in a culturally appropriate way.
Family child care provider used LENA Grow to connect with parents, children
For Pamela Robinson, a family child care provider in Georgia, using LENA Grow was an opportunity to show parents all the brain-building interaction that happens during the day in her home as she watches children.
What’s new in LENA Start 3.0
We’re excited to share that we’ve released a new version of our group program for parents and families.
Q&A with Dr. Jim Duggan: Why school districts should prioritize early childhood
Your questions on school readiness answered by the assistant superintendent of Bourbonnais 53 school district in Illinois.
Resources to help support your family and community during COVID-19
Amidst mounting pressures, we believe the core truths of LENA still apply: early talk is key, and caregivers are the secret sauce.
Q&A with Kai-ama Hamer: A discussion of family engagement and parent recruitment
Family engagement specialist Kai-ama Hamer shares strategies for involving parents in community and school-based programs.
Early Head Start programs use LENA Home to improve language and literacy outcomes
To help families and home visitors collaborate to improve language outcomes for children, many Early Head Start programs are using LENA technology in tandem with coaching during home visits.
Teachers and coaches share their experiences with LENA Grow
We’ve interviewed LENA Grow participants nationwide for an inside look at what it’s like to complete the professional development program for early childhood teachers.
Virginia Beach family increases two-generation, bilingual engagement with children through LENA Start
Taking LENA Start classes helped the Ochoa family learn to connect with their children in new ways.
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