SEEDS of School Readiness
 The Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) in collaboration with the Minnesota Literacy Council and ServeMinnesota is seeking to train early childhood trainers in the SEEDS of School Readiness curriculum, an emergent literacy curriculum for preschool teachers and caregivers.

“The seeds of literacy are planted before children enter school. Important literacy skills do not develop spontaneously, instruction shapes them” (Snow, Burns, and Griffin-1998). 

SEEDS of School Readiness is guided by the belief that literacy instruction--when developmentally appropriate, fun, and meaningful--can give all children the foundation they need in talking, pre-reading, and writing. The training has been tested on more than 1,000 child care teachers and professionals, including family child care providers.

 
Expectations & Requirements 
This training is open to employees within Minnesota Reading Corps sites that do not currently have a certified SEEDS trainer on staff who is able to train the Minnesota Reading Corps members and staff this fall. Each MRC site may send 1 person.

The selected trainers will deliver SEEDS training to Minnesota Reading Corps members and their staff at their Head Start, school, or childcare center annually in the fall. SEEDS trainers within the MRC network could exchange training services with another partnering site. This arrangement would be the responsibility of individual sites and would need to be negotiated between individual sites.

Current SEEDS trainers who have been trained within the past 2 years will only need to attend the one-day refresher on Friday, June 26. If it has been more than 2 years, the trainer will need to clarify with Kate Horst (khorst10@msn.com) about attending the week-long training due to the addition of new training materials.

Selected trainers will need to meet the following minimum requirements and expectations:

1. Five (5) years experience in Early Childhood Education
2. B.A. or equivalent experience in early childhood, parent education, or equivalent field
3. Ability to relate well and work sensitively with diverse populations from various familial and socio-economic statuses
4. Knowledge of current research and data related to emergent literacy development as well as social emotional literacy
5. Ability to effectively communicate both orally and in writing

As a SEEDS Trainer you would be expected to do the following:

1. Attend 5 total days of training in the SEEDS of School Readiness curriculum (June 22 - 26). All trainings will take place in the Twin Cities. Overnight accommodations, meals, and training materials will be provided free of charge. Mileage will not be reimbursed.
2. Be willing to be videotaped during training.
3. Be ready to interact, think, and do as we will expect participants in our trainings to do!
4. Sign a contract with SEEDS to provide a minimum of 36 hours of SEEDS training to Minnesota Reading Corps host sites (you will also have the option to train through the Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network).
   
   Questions: Contact Jane Reilly at jreilly@themlc.org or 651-251-9062