During her last year of college studying childhood education, Jennifer was on the lookout for her next step. When she learned AmeriCorps had an opportunity to apply her education and give back to the community, she knew it was the perfect fit. She was accepted into Early Learning Corps and joined a group of members serving in the new Infant and Toddler Initiative.
While Early Learning Corps focuses on preschool-age children and getting them ready for the crucial kindergarten and elementary school years, the Infant and Toddler Initiative reaches even younger children. Drawing on years of research into how young minds develop, members engage in play, songs, and other evidence-based learning techniques. Members provide support at Early Head Start and other childcare sites, helping children’s support cognitive and emotional development.
Serving Communities in Need
Jennifer was part of the first group of Early Learning Partners who got the program off the ground in January 2024. Serving in the Infant and Toddler Initiative turned out to be both a great step for Jennifer’s career and deeply fulfilling on a personal level.
“I saw the opportunity come up and thought it was something good to do to keep [my education] fresh in my mind while also learning,” she says. “Plus, I really looked forward to giving back to my community.”
Jennifer grew up in a small town where there weren’t a lot of other people of color, and very few educators of color. The childcare site where Jennifer serves is in the heart of one of St. Paul’s Promise Neighborhoods, diverse areas of concentrated poverty.
“I looked forward to the opportunity to be in the city with children who looked like me. I wanted to give back to them some of the advantages I’ve had.”
Making Reading More Interactive
Those educational advantages come in the form of dynamic forms of play and activities that build a strong foundation for learning. One activity that Jennifer has found incredible success with is interactive reading aloud. While reading books out loud has been shown to support literacy in young children, making the experience interactive helps even more.
Jennifer gathers kids for story time and gets them involved in whatever book she is reading that day: asking questions, highlighting new words, and getting children to engage in conversation about the plot. Even for the toddlers still learning to speak, interactive read-alouds help to grow language skills and build mental maps of different topics.
“The very first day of my service I met this little boy who was pretty nonverbal at the time. He had a favorite book and we’d go through it together,” she recalls. “There’s a button in the book here, so I would say, ‘OK buddy, I need you to push the button.’ And then we would talk all about what’s going on with the dragons there. And I’d ask, ‘What are they doing with the tacos?’ He loved the book so much it basically fell apart!”
After just a few months, the techniques Jennifer learned through the program helped the child immensely. She saw that same student over the summer, just after she had finished her first term of service in AmeriCorps. The progress he had made left her stunned.
“He ran up to me, telling me about everything he was learning! I thought, ‘How is this the same kid?’”
A Bright Future
Jennifer is back again for a second year in the Infant and Toddler Imitative at the same preschool, helping a new group of toddlers take their first educational steps. She plans on using her experience in the classroom to ultimately become an assistant teacher at an Early Head Start program somewhere close to her family. She’s grateful for all that she has learned in the program so far and appreciates the chance to do good while laying the groundwork for her career as an educator.
“It’s a great way to see what goes into teaching,” she says. “Plus, giving back to the community and getting to know people has been really, really good. It’s brought me out of my shell. I would recommend it!”
If you want to help our youngest learners, visit readingandmath.org/programs/early-learning-corps to learn more about ITI and join.readingandmath.org to view open positions!