edWebinars
«Back to all edWebinars- This event has passed.
Creating Happy, Healthy Early Readers: Proven Strategies to Support Emergent Readers
Thursday, February 26, 2026 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EST
Presented by Lisa Blume, M.Ed., Instructional Designer, Nemours Children’s Reading BrightStart!
Moderated by Laura Wilhelm, Ed.D., VP of Professional Learning Services, Kaplan Early Learning Company
Sponsored by Kaplan Early Learning Company
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Discover why literacy is more than just reading—it’s a foundation for lifelong health and well-being. In this dynamic edWebinar, you learn why one of the nation’s largest health systems has made literacy a core commitment and how it connects to critical social drivers of health. We share proven strategies for sparking a love of reading in young children and creating meaningful, engaging experiences that build essential literacy skills.
Walk away with research-based strategies and practical ideas you can immediately apply in any early learning classroom. Don’t miss this opportunity to make a lasting impact on the children you teach—and the communities they grow up in. This recorded edWebinar is of interest to PreK-3 teachers, librarians, and school leaders.
About the Presenter
Lisa Blume, Instructional Designer for Nemours Children’s Reading BrightStart! in Jacksonville, Florida, delivers literacy-focused professional development and curriculum training to school districts, early learning coalitions, and Head Start programs. She supports early childhood educators, parents, and caregivers as they promote early language and literacy development in young, diverse children. Prior to this role, she spent 17 years teaching in the early elementary classroom. Lisa holds a B.S. in early childhood education and an M.Ed. in elementary education from Texas Christian University.
About the Moderator
As the Vice President for Professional Learning at Kaplan, Laura Wilhelm, Ed.D., draws on decades of experience teaching young children and early childhood professionals, starting with toddlers in the 1980s, followed by PreK-third grade in urban and suburban schools, and as a university lab school director. Since earning her doctorate in ECE curriculum and instruction in 1999, she has served as a program director, full professor, national validator for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and a site visitor for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Programs (CAEP). She enjoys planning professional development, speaking at conferences, leading study tours, visiting early education programs around the world, and returning home to her family. She is the author of The Neglected Child: How to Recognize, Respond, and Prevent (2013); Treasure Baskets: Heuristic Learning for Infants and Toddlers (2017); Enticing Environments for People Under Three (2021); and Living Loose Parts: Creatures of Curiosity (2024), all from Gryphon House.
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Join the Classroom Management for Early Learning community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
For more than 50 years, Kaplan Early Learning Company has been a champion for play. From our research-based curricula to enriching classroom environments and innovative technology solutions, Kaplan’s products and services inspire a lifelong love of learning in children and educators. We are architects of learning good and defenders of the imagination. We live for inseparable bonds and open minds. We encourage the eager and inspire the inspirers. We transform lives through play.
