A Literacy Resource Specialist (LRS) coordinated school readiness activities for WIC families, both at the WIC Centers and in the community. The LRSs coordinated “Kids Corners” in the WIC Centers and worked directly with individual families. Kids Corners consisted of children’s tables and chairs, activity tables, colorful activity rugs, books, coloring sheets, crayons and other literacy materials and activities. In addition, LRSs identified resources in the community that supported school readiness, organized special events, including WIC field trips to the library and open houses at local programs for WIC families. LRSs worked closely with a library assistant from the County of Los Angeles Public Libraries, and with elementary schools that WIC children would attend when they “graduated” from WIC. By working closely with other agencies that specialized in school readiness and literacy activities, expanding these activities into the WIC setting, and educating families about early literacy activities, this project assisted WIC families in creating stimulating home environments and a “culture” that fostered literacy prior to school entry.

A centralized LBL software application was developed for the project. The system kept records and prompted staff with counseling scripts at each visit. The counseling scripts differed by child age, with the common theme of reading to children daily and interacting with them verbally whenever possible. Parents were encouraged to talk to their pediatric provider about any concerns regarding their child’s development. Evaluation of the project examined the impact of a WIC-based early literacy intervention on English- and Spanish-speaking, low-income families. The Spanish-speaking families showed a strong intervention effect. Exposure to the intervention significantly enhanced literacy resources and activities at home, which in turn led to greater school readiness in Spanish-speaking families.

For further information on Little by Little, please contact projects@phfewic.org.