Pick up the Baby. Look at the Baby. Talk to the Baby.

Last week, we were talking to a prominent early childhood expert. We were trying to map out the pathways for children to develop good reading skills by the time they reached third grade (no small task). We had factored in instructional techniques, summer reading programs, and attendance initiatives, all of which have clear connections to literacy in school-aged children. In looking at the things that predict school success from birth to five years of age, however, it became a lot harder. Nutrition, health, whether there are books in the home; all kinds of things impact whether a child is ready to go to school.

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After talking for a while, our colleague sighed heavily--the kind of sigh that comes from spending years working on an issue, convening and serving on national panels, and looking for a silver bullet. She said that the more they looked at early childhood development programs and the younger the age group in question, the more basic the issues became... The earlier they went in the childs life, the more the essential parenting behaviors seemed influential in building a developmental foundation, and the more they looked, the more alarmed they became as they found them to be missing. They worked with programs where they were telling people, Pick up the baby. Look at the baby. That phrase has been kicking around in my head all week. Weve started using it around the office for any time you are working on the fundamentals, especially fundamentals that you assume are already in place.

This week, two excellent articles came out, adding a third element to the above phrase: Talk to the baby. The New York Times did a wonderful piece on the importance of talking to children, and an interesting new technology that measures how many words a child hears. We recently did a survey of 128 moms who receive home visiting services in Baltimore City, and for 26% of them, the TV is on in the home 24 hours a day. Unfortunately, words heard on television do not contribute to a childs development. This is one of the reasons that the American Academy of Pediatricians advise against television exposure for children under two. If the TV is on, you are less likely to be talking to the baby.

What else do you think contributes to parents talking to, playing with, and reading to their children?

References:

The Power of Talking to Your Baby by Tina Rosenberg: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/the-power-of-talking-to-your-baby/

Media and Children by the American Academy of Pediatrics: https://bit.ly/Z6tT2k