Did you know that children in low income communities hear 30 million words less than their high income peers by their 4th birthday? Children who hear more words have larger vocabularies, are better readers, and are more prepared for school. This gap is only attributed to parent’s knowledge. Dr. Suskind, Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago and Director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant program, sought to develop a method to help parents harness the power of language to build their child’s brain to impact their future. The 30 Million Words Project was developed in response to this achievement gap. It focuses on a curriculum that includes direct parent training in the home, use of social media, helping parents create a language rich environment, and setting goals; the initial results are very positive.
The great news is that her best practices apply to any child’s development. Her method focuses on a the “Tune In, Take Turns, Talk More” tool kit.
To learn more about enriching your child’s vocabulary check out this site: http://thirtymillionwords.org/tmw-initiative/