Researchers tell us that by the time children from low-income homes enter kindergarten, they have heard 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers. The result of this word deficit is a smaller vocabulary, which leads to slower learning.
Children learn words spoken directly to them, and the more words they hear at a very young age, the better prepared they’ll be when they start school. The tone and complexity of the words they hear also impacts later achievement. Parents who talk to their babies and toddlers frequently in an engaging way positively impact brain development and help them develop a strong vocabulary.
A recent study at Stanford University found that the difference between children growing up in language-rich environments and those who are not is detectable as early as 18 months of age. At that point many toddlers are already several months behind more advantaged children in language proficiency. And the gap grows. By age 2, they are about six months behind in both language proficiency and vocabulary. This disparity has enormous implications for their success in school and later in the workforce.
So what can we do? Talk, sing and read to children! Use daily activities to incorporate quality talking time – describe what you see during a car trip, identify fruits and vegetables at the grocery store and explain their color and shape. Turn reading a book into a scavenger hunt for items on the pages and ask children what they think might happen next in the story. Quality as well as quantity matters here, so instead of just using more words, communicate meaningful information, such as the apple is a fruit and it’s round and red. As you do, children will start to understand the words and their context, which is critical to building strong brain architecture that will support future learning.
Photo Courtesy of Sacramento Public Library
