What Do All Children Need?

This is a great article from KSL.  What is the best thing you can do for your infant or toddler to help prepare them for school?  Here is the answer!  And it's free! 

Conversing with an infant can feel like a one-sided exchange. But, it turns out, keeping up the conversation may be one of the most effective methods for closing Utah’s child achievement gap.

Researchers have found that in the first three years of life, children born into affluent families will have heard 30 million more words than children born into poverty. This word gap correlates with an achievement gap when they enter school. But what should have parents and educators on the edge of their seats is that reducing the word gap also tends to reduce the achievement gap. It seems that verbal interaction — even baby talk — stimulates a child’s brain in a way that advances their capacity to learn.

With Utah’s high birthrate and unusually high percentage of young children in its homes, the Beehive State should take careful note. And it’s not simply listening to words that is most beneficial. The words with the greatest impact are interactive verbal exchanges where intonation, word selection and facial expression are specifically in response to the child’s own expressions — whether intelligible or not. Enhanced verbal interaction helps a child’s brain forge new neurological connections, leading to greater educational achievement in later years. This can result in more success and social stability throughout life.

The group Envision Utah has joined the rising tide of enthusiastic advocates of the 30 million word initiative that encourages parents, teachers and schools to take steps to build children’s brains by talking and reading with them. One can, and perhaps should, quibble with the messaging surrounding this an other initiatives. For example, the sheer number of words, 30 million, can seem overwhelming to even the most conscientious parents. Yet community leaders and lawmakers shouldn’t quibble with the takeaways — meaningful linguistic interactions with infants can potentially help solve Utah’s school achievement gap.

Indeed, one of the most well-documented obstacles to adolescent academic achievement is the fact that some students have a distinct advantage going into school over other students. This difference refers to an observed pattern where groups of students persistently outperform other groups of students, usually correlated with socioeconomic status.

This achievement gap also tends to impose “heavy and often tragic consequences via lower earnings, poor health and higher rates of incarceration.” Researchers conclude that in the aggregate the economic cost of the achievement gap is equal to that of the Great Recession.

Endless field studies have found that it is exceedingly difficult to close this gap. In fact, schools are often considered successful if they simply prevent the gap from growing. This is why the initiatives that promise to potentially move the needle, getting parents and communities to talk more to their children, merit more attention and support.

It is rare to find low-cost solutions to complex and controversial dilemmas. When it comes to reducing the achievement gap, increasing the amount of verbal interaction with young children is something that everyone can do to help the next generation. Children born in impoverished circumstances have many obstacles ahead. But if more parents, siblings, friends and caretakers start talking and engaging, their future may become a little bit brighter with each new word.