Weyerhaeuser supports experiential learning for NSU Early Childhood and Child and Family Studies majors

NATCHITOCHES – In 2011, the Northwestern State University Early Childhood Education program was redesigned to integrate service-learning and experiential learning into every course, ensuring candidates engage directly with community needs while developing professional skills. Projects range from gathering school supplies and books to assembling and distributing family literacy bags for children living in poverty, as well as providing individualized tutoring for students performing below literacy benchmarks.

Central to the program is the creation of family literacy bags, which include donated books, school supplies and parent education materials. These bags support families by encouraging shared reading experiences, fostering a love of literacy and helping families build or begin home libraries. The recent purchase of supplies for the literacy bags was funded by a grant from the Weyerhaeuser Foundation.

NSU Early Childhood Education and Child and Family Studies students Natalia Olvera, Aryannah Allen and Rylee Adams assemble family literacy bags.

Parent guides in the bags outline simple, effective strategies for teaching early literacy skills, such as recognizing concepts of print, tracking text with a finger, connecting illustrations to meaning and asking higher-order questions. These activities promote vocabulary growth, comprehension, fine and gross motor development and social-emotional learning. Provided at no cost, the literacy bags become a lasting resource that families keep permanently, strengthening long-term educational support at home.

NSU Professors Michelle Brunson, Faith Birdwell, Debra Jo Hailey and Jacque Horton consider experiential learning to be a vital component of teacher and childcare preparation programs because it transforms knowledge into practice, fosters reflective and ethical educators, and prepares teachers to meet the complex needs of young children in real-world settings. Ultimately, this project helps NSU students bridge theory and practice as they gain greater understanding of child development principles and build their professional identity while improving outcomes for young children and their families.

For more information on NSU’s Early Childhood Education service-learning initiative, contact Brunson at faziom@nsula.edu.