Our Programs
LINC provides a scaffolding of support that increases both children’s and parents’ access to literacy-building opportunities, raises expectations, generates an understanding of grade-level literacy skills, and provides simple reading strategies to support parents in helping their children, regardless of their own ability to read or speak English.
Community Programs
LINC organizes the community around enrichment activities that emphasize the message that, “Reading success is a community-held value.” Whether a simple blanket spread under a shady tree at the park, literacy street fairs or a costumed animal-themed literacy celebration at a local library, these events engage community members and help cultivate a culture of reading.
LINC cultivates opportunities to discovery the power of reading throughout our communities. We adapt to provide literacy tips and resources in all sorts of environments, from community events to daycare centers to preschool fairs.
Get ready to celebrate! These monthly virtual programs are themed around major reading holidays like Read for the Record and Back to School, or around culturally significant festivities like Black History Month and Indigenous Peoples' Day. Combining exciting stories with reading tips, music, and crafts, these events bring the excitement of a reading party into families' homes.
Collective Impact
City’s First Readers, a New York City Council initiative coordinated by LINC, is a collaboration of nonprofits and libraries united to develop and deliver effective early childhood literacy programs in New York City. We empower parents, teachers, caregivers, and community institutions with the necessary tools to ensure that all children, regardless of their social and economic backgrounds, have a solid foundation to start school successfully, thrive academically and have the opportunity to succeed beyond their school years. Partners include Brooklyn Public Library, The Committee for Hispanic Children & Families, Inc., Jewish Child Care Association, Jumpstart, New York Public Library, Parent Child Home, Queens Library, Reach Out & Read, Video Interaction Project, Hunts Point Alliance for Children, and New Alternatives for Children.
The Pinkerton Foundation designated LINC as the lead partner for its innovative “Reads” initiatives. South Jamaica Reads and East New York Reads build a spectrum of services designed to provide continuous literacy support for children from birth through fifth grade. Started in 2013 and 2014 respectively, The Reads Initiatives are already showing promising results, including improved 3rd grade English Language Arts test scores, increased out-of-classroom literacy opportunities, and a surging awareness of the importance of reading. Our partners include City Year, Parent Child Home, Queens Library, Reach Out & Read, READ Alliance, Reading Partners, Springboard.
NMECC works to ensure that families with young children in Northern Manhattan can embark upon lifelong trajectories of well-being— physical, social-emotional, and educational. NMECC is committed to building healthy communities through collaboration across healthcare, educational, recreational, religious, social, government, arts, advocacy, and wellness organizations.
Parent Workshops
Baby Talk
Is your baby starting to learn words or identify objects? This series of workshops is an introduction to how to develop early language skills with your child. We’ll offer tips you can add to your daily routine to take your child’s vocabulary to the next level. Together, we explore how activities like singing, playing, talking, and reading with your child can support their lifelong learning.
Serve & Return
Did you know that all day long, babies are giving us silent “cues” to their feelings, wants, and needs? This workshop series is dedicated to understanding what cues an infant is serving up to us, and how to build up language skills through how we return attention to them. Caregivers will leave with a greater understanding of how language is developed in their childʼs brain and how they can use simple, everyday tips to build their relationship with their child.
Little Babies, Big Feelings
This series is all about Social Emotional Learning for the whole family! We will explore the big emotions children feel, using easy tips to support our little ones to understand and care for their emotions. By talking over strategies for reducing stress while raising future readers, we will discuss how emotional development is tied to language skills and learning together.
Why Our Toddlers Talk and How to Respond
Is it clear when your baby is talking to you? This session gives caregivers insight into 4 different types of toddler communication and how to respond. Learn about the tools that you can use to detect which type of communication your toddler is engaging in, and the most effective responses to further develop their language skills.
Building Vocabulary and Comprehension Through Social Emotional Learning
Did you know that feelings are often the first concepts children try to communicate through words? This workshop series is about building vocabulary through identifying our emotions and how to grow in our emotional intelligence as both adults and children. Caregivers will leave with daily tips to build their child’s vocabulary and empathy.
Print Concepts
How does writing work? Learning your way around a book includes developing print awareness. Print concepts or “rules” allow us to understand written messages and make meaning out of words. In this session, caregivers will learn how to identify print concepts and practice them with their child during their daily reading activities.
Reading Starts with Hearing
Did you know that babies mimic how their families talk? Before we can read, we learn how to listen and how to talk. During this session, families will learn how children climb the “staircase” of listening and speaking. These skills are the foundation of learning to read. Together, we will explore how to build and teach your child the steps to listen, speak, and read, each day at home.
How to Build Phonemic Awareness
What’s the smallest unit of sound in a word? A phoneme, and it sits at the top of what we call the phonological awareness staircase. In this series, caregivers will learn to pull “phonemes” out of words, making the recognition of familiar sounds into a fun, daily practice that supports their child’s readiness to read.
Phonics Rich Home
What does a phonics rich home sound like? In this series, caregivers will learn how to create phonics rich homes - environments filled with opportunities to support a child’s ability to recognize letters as they get ready to read. These skills can easily be applied to households where families speak multiple languages.
Parents are a powerful force. They are the backbone of the LINC model. Parents have the ability to shape and influence their children’s future. LINC’s Very Involved Parent Workshop celebrates our parents who wish to take a greater role in shaping the future of their communities.