Everything you need to meet with your legislator.  

Step 2: Attend your meeting.

Before meeting your legislator, it’s a good idea to practice what you’re going to say. You can use this sample script to help:

Introductions: “Hi, my name is [NAME].  I am a constituent in [NEIGHBORHOOD NAME] and volunteer lobbyist for Forest Schools for Illinois.  We are a group of parents and educators who are working to: 1) raise awareness about the value of outdoor education for all children, and 2) make outdoor preschools legal in Illinois.  (Let others introduce themselves).

Our goal:  We want the Illinois General Assembly to pass a bill in the 2020 legislative session to amend the Illinois Child Care Act of 1969. This amendment will allow the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to create licensing standards for outdoor preschools in Illinois.

Testimony: I am invested in this issue because (insert a short, powerful personal story.  This is the most important part of your end of the conversation).

At this point, the conversation may go a few different ways. (To review the information you’ll need to be familiar with, as discussed below, please see this page, which has links to the documents you’ll need.)

Some legislators may not be familiar with outdoor preschools. Review our Forest Preschool FAQs so that you’re able to answer questions like, “What is an outdoor preschool?” and “What do children do when the weather is bad?”

Or if the legislator is familiar with the idea, they may want to know what the benefits of outdoor preschools are. To that end, you should also download, print out, and review our fact sheet and the Heckman curve. Also, you should review and print out the Legislative FAQs, which has lots of data-based talking points that will help make the case. Try to familiarize yourself with these concepts, but do not feel like you need to memorize them. You can refer to the fact sheet as needed; the point of the conversation is to stress to your legislator the benefits of outdoor preschools and that they are not currently allowed to exist under Illinois law.

Once you’ve answered as many questions as you are able—and written down those you don’t know so you can follow up—move onto the close. Remember: you cannot close a deal you did not offer. You must ask for your legislator’s support!

The Ask:  Will you co-sponsor our bill to establish a pilot program to license outdoor early learning and childcare programs in Illinois?

If NO: What are your concerns?  (Employ active listening; take note of their concerns and use them in the report-back.) How can we work with your office to address them?

If YES:  Thank you!  Will you help us to reach out to your colleagues to ask that they sign on as co-sponsors of the bill?

Wrap-up:  Thank you very much for making time to meet with [ME / US].  We’ll be sure to follow up. (Hand over Fact Sheet and Heckman Curve.)