Spread the word about early talk

Who are Early Talk Ambassadors?

LENA believes that interactive talk with babies is an essential factor in early brain development, and so do Early Talk Ambassadors. Early talk Ambassadors care deeply about children and want to spread the word about the importance of talk with babies both in short- and long-term outcomes. They want to make a difference in the lives of families and children by sharing how important interaction is!

Why spread the word about early talk? Because every child deserves the best start in life that we can possibly give them. Join us in encouraging every teacher, parent, family, and caregiver to harness the power of conversation to build brains.

How do I join the Early Talk Ambassadors movement?

The only thing you have to do to join the Early Talk Ambassador movement is to share the importance of talk, whether through word of mouth, through online communication, or other channels. We’ve developed social graphics for Ambassadors to share, along with text posts that go along with each image. Share these on your Twitter, Facebook, or other social site to teach others about early talk.

Help others understand the importance of early talk
by sharing these graphics on social media:

Today I learned how important it is to talk with infants and toddlers. The amount of conversation children experience is related to their brain structure, function, and long-term developmental outcomes!

Serve and return interactions shape brain architecture. Follow @LENAearlytalk for tips on how to incorporate more back-and-forth interaction into your day!

Did you know that interactive talk is one of the most powerful brain-building tools available to adult caregivers?

The @LENAearlytalk research team has found that children who experienced more conversation between 18-24 months of age scored higher on tests of language skills, verbal abilities and IQ ten years later.

A strong relationship with a trusted adult is the best way to protect children from the negative health and developmental effects of adversity. @ChildTrends

Share these quotes about early talk:

Strong, responsive adult-child relationships are built on a foundation of serve-and-return interactions! #BrainBuilding

Children only grow up once. Let us work together to ensure every child has the resources and supports they need to thrive!

Responsive interactions build the brain architecture children need to access all the learning available in school.

To boost kindergarten readiness, some school districts are looking for ways to support children long before they arrive in the classroom.

Share these videos about early talk:

Language Isolation in Early Childhood Classrooms

The amount of interaction between early childhood teachers and young children varies widely through child care centers and classrooms around the country. In an exploratory sample of LENA Grow data, we discovered that more a third of children experience just four or fewer interactions per hour with a caregiver for the vast majority of their day.

Inside Early Talk: Our point of greatest leverage for improving children’s futures

Improving early language development is widely agreed to be the most effective — and cost-effective — way to address a wide range of societal challenges. Now, LENA has collected and analyzed its most expansive data set to date through the 10,000 children annually impacted by our programs for families and early childhood teachers. These data put us in the unprecedented position to understand the early language environments of very young children and answer questions we've been hearing from the field for years.

New research suggests conversational turns have unique brain-building power

Conversational turns are simple back and forth alternations between a child and an adult. Conversational turns are LENA’s proxy for quality “serve and return” interactions. Recent research has shown conversational turns to be one of the most predictive metrics of child outcomes. Most importantly, a string of recent studies have indicated that conversations have more brain-building power than adult words alone.

Dr. Rachel Romeo on the 30 million word gap and conversational turns

Dr. Rachel Romeo, post-doctoral researcher at MIT and Boston Children’s Hospital, gives an overview of the research on the achievement gap and how a child’s environmental influences — like socioeconomic status — can influence their brain development.