I spoke to professor dana suskind, md, founder and director of the thirty million words initiative and author of the book of the same name, about how something as simple as talking is linked to lifelong success. That is, a child from a highincome family will experience 30 million more words within the first four years of life than a child from a lowincome family. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. We culled it down to three basic things a parent needs to do to provide a rich language environment.
Thirty million words 2015 explains the importance of language in a childs early development and longterm success. Founder and director of the thirty million words initiative at the university of chicago, suskind provides an extensive analysis of why it is imperative to. Thats why one of the philosophies of the thirty million words initiative tmw is parents are childrens first and most important teachers. Thirty million words research reaches parents through book, programming nov 4, 2015. The founder and director of the thirty million words initiative, professor dana suskind, explains why the most important. Thirty million words belongs on the shortlist of books that every parent, teacher, and education policymaker should read.
They can lead, eventually, to the skill of problem solving. The founder and director of the thirty million words initiative, professor dana suskind, explains why the most importantand astoundingly simplething you can do for your childs future success in life is to talk to him or her, reveals the recent science behind this truth, and outlines precisely how parents can best put it into practice. The founder and director of the thirty million words initiative, professor dana suskind, explains why the most importantand astoundingly simplething you can do for your childs future success in life is to to talk to them. Bt boces and area school districts have joined sunybroome in promoting the multicommunity read of this tome that seeks to encourage conversation as a bridge to elevated. Building a childs brain, explores the importance of constantly talking to our kids. The multicommunity read of the book thirty million words will serve as a national communityliteracy pilot to be shared by childrens reading connection once it is fully developed.
The founder and director of the thirty million words initiati. Thirty million words research reaches parents through book. The thirty million words project is an innovative multimedia curriculum designed to harness the power of. Dana suskinds work as a pediatric surgeon with the deaf helped her to understand the amazing power that words have on a childs development. Suskinds lectures stress the importance of early language exposure for developing children and draw on her own experiences with patients and neuroscience research. The founder and director of the thirty million words initiative, professor dana suskind, explains why the most important and astoundingly simple thing you can do for your childs future success in life is to to talk to them. The 30 million word gap the role of parentchild verbal interaction in language and literacy development.
And that gap has a persistent impact on learning, literacy, and education. The thirty million words project is an innovative parentdirected initiative designed to harness the power of parent language to build a childs brain and impact his or her future. Leslie lewintersuskind the founder and director of the thirty million words initiative, professor dana suskind, explains why the most importantand astoundingly simplething you can do for your childs future success in. A trip to an art exhibit could introduce the word landscape, while a trip to a pizza restaurant might introduce kneading dough. Low socioeconomic status, disparities, early language, intervention, parent implemented. It is aimed at helping parents understand that they are the key architects. Dana suskind, is an innovative, evidencebased intervention program designed to help narrow the language gap between children from lowerincome families and those in wealthier households. The 30 million word gap by age 3 by university of kansas researchers betty hart and todd r.
Thirty million words tells the story of a remarkable womans unrelenting mission to give every child the chance to thrive. Our approach harnesses technology, works across systems, and informs how to bring best practices and interventions that work to scale. A typical middleclass child enters 1st grade with 1,000 to 1,700 hours of oneonone picture book reading, compared with an average of just 25 hours for a child from a low. Why 30 million words are critical to your childs future. Thirty million words initiative parenting language to. In addition to a lack of exposure to these 30 million words, the words a child from a lowincome family has typically mastered are often negative directives, meaning. In their study of 42 midwestern families, hart and risley physically. That eyepopping figure is one of the reasons the study has been so sticky over time. Thirty million words initiative parenting language to build. Praise for thirty million words suskind has written a book that gives parents the tools they need to maximize their childrens potential, one word at a time. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Please join us may 21 july 31, 2018 for a book discussion of thirty million words. Pick up the key ideas in the book with this quick summary. The single most important thing you can do for your childs future success in life is to talk to them.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading thirty million words. The new book by surgeon dana suskind, thirty million words. These blinks outline the optimal early language environment for a child and highlight the ways parents can help their children during these critical years. Many children will know how to say 100 words by the age of 21 months and. Npr ed the new book by surgeon dana suskind, thirty million words. But thats not the total number of words thats the gap between the number of words children from languagerich families hear and the number. The tmw curriculum combines education and technology in a multimedia platform. Building a childs brain dutton, 2015, is an extension of the program. Why 30 million words are critical to your childs future success. Think about new vocabulary words that might come up on a field trip as part of the experience.
The thirty million words tmw initiative, directed by dr. The thirty million words initiative is an innovative parentdirected program designed to harness the power of parent language to build a. Building a childs brain, explores the importance of constantly talking to our. The thirty million word gap a summary from the early catastrophe. The term 30millionword gap often shortened to just the word gap was originally coined by betty hart and todd r. Thirty million words center for research informatics. Early literacy find this book at your local library dr. Tune in, talk more, take turns by dana suskind md source. Dana suskind, author and founder of the thirty million words initiative, explains the power of language and how parents can tune in, talk more, and take turns building a childs brain. Building a childs brain, suskind says she first encountered the apparent effects of the word gap among deaf. The founder and director of the thirty million words initiative, professor dana suskind. New research demonstrating the importance of communicating with your child right from birth.
A simple how or why allows a child to respond with a variety of words, thoughts, and ideas. Before children set foot in a classroom, their main source of knowledge comes from within the home. We personally assess every books quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. Thirty million words project university of chicago news. Nov 4, 2015 three ts uses words to feed toddlers brains. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. The founder and director of the thirty million words initiative, professor dana suskind, explains why the most importantand astoundingly simplething you can do for your childs future success in life is to talk to him or her, reveals the recent science behind this truth, and outlines. Has thirty million words by dana suskind been sitting on your reading list.
Director of the thirty million words initiative, dr. Building a childs brain kindle edition by suskind, dana. An excerpt from our correspondents new book on where intelligence comes from and why exposure to words as a child matters. Pregnancy and newborn parents, other caregivers, and early childhood educators will be moved and inspired by this work. What parents can gain from learning the science of talking. Working together with researchers at the university of chicago, suskind and her team have created an. Suskinds involvement with early childhood education and literacy comes from a rather unique perspective. Children are paired with a junior league volunteer that reads the selected book and participate in creative arts and crafts related to the book. The book thirty million words says that openended questions, that dont have a yes or no or oneword answer, are the way to go. Praise for thirty million words suskind has written a book that gives parents the tools they need to maximize their childrens. Building a childs brain with the thirty million words. The most powerful thing we could give poor kids is completely free. In suskinds new book, thirty million words, she explains the research behind the word gap in detail, along with her researchbased initiative of the same name, aimed at boosting childrens brains in the first three years of their lives.
Thirty million words is a metaphor for richness in language environment. Suskind has written a book that gives parents the tools they need to. Risley in their book meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young american children, and subsequently reprinted in the article the early catastrophe. The thirty million words of the title refer to the number of words children hear from birth to 3 years of age. Give children ample time to learn the meaning and uses of new words before moving onto other words. Adam alter, new york university, author of drunk tank pink anyone who cares about children, anyone who cares about the future of this country, should read this book.