Articles

January 21, 2017 By Kate Gammon Tech Can Make Your Conversations with Kids Way More Effective Kate Gammon tells the story of LENA Start from a parent's perspective.

November 19, 2015 By Stephen J. Dubner Does “Early Education” Come Way Too Late? In our quest to reform ECE, we may be overlooking the learning that takes place at home.

July 8, 2015 By Carolina González Techie Tools Teach Parents to Talk to Toddlers Smartphones and other devices help parents teach and reach their little ones.

April 21, 2015 By Sarah D. Sparks The Vocabulary Gap Key to Vocabulary Gap Is Quality of Conversation, Not Dearth of Words.

January 12, 2015 By Margaret Talbot The Talking Cure Margaret Talbot takes a deep dive into the Providence Talks program and its use of LENA technology to measure talk.

October 14, 2014 By Tom Ackerman Providence Talks Graduation An Al Jazeera piece highlights the Providence Talks program and shows families on graduation day.

September 26, 2014 By Antonia Cereijido Bridging the Word Gap A radio piece on Latino USA highlights LENA technology, its use in the Thirty Million Words initiative, and the importance of speaking to young children in your native language.

July 21, 2014 By Maureen Kelleher Using Digital Recording Devices to Encourage Talk with Children An article in New America Ed Central featured LENA's technology and commentary from LENA's co-founder and chairman, Terry Paul.

July 11, 2014 By John Tulenko Coaching parents on toddler talk to address low-income word gap This PBS Newshour piece examines strategies being used to increase conversation in the homes of families who are part of the Providence Talks program, as well as the program's use of the LENA System.

April 18, 2014 By Euronews Get them early, the key to educational success A Euronews Learning World article and video examine various approaches to increasing early childhood learning around the world. LENA's language analysis technology is featured in the second segment as an important tool in Dr. Dana Suskind's 30 Million Words project.

April 1, 2014 By Lisa Hack Voice as biomarker: Using vocalizations to screen for autism A Contemporary Pediatrics article highlights the work of D. Kimbrough Oller, PhD and other researchers who are using child vocalizations as a measure to screen for autism spectrum disorder.

March 26, 2014 By Motoko Rich Trying to Close a Knowledge Gap, Word by Word A New York Times article and video on new programs that focus on the home environment of very young children and how the use of LENA's Digital Language Processor (DLP) technology can benefit these initiatives.

March 17, 2014 By Jennifer Ludden Efforts To Close the Achievement Gap In Kids Start At Home National Public Radio ran a story on the efforts to close the word and achievement gap in Providence, Rhode Island, using LENA with home visitation.

February 22, 2014 By In the Beginning was the Word The Economist reported on the growing scientific evidence on the importance of parent talk and its implications for policy. LENA is noted as a tool to help close the gap.

February 3, 2014 By City of Providence Launches “Providence Talks” Providence, Rhode Island won Grand Prize in the 2012-2013 Bloomberg Philanthropies' “Mayors Challenge” competition with a proposal to use the LENA System for recording and reporting children's language environment as part of a pioneering initiative to improve language development in children ages 0-3. The “Providence Talks” program, which took first place in the competition against 20 finalists selected from 305 applicants, rolls out this spring with a pilot of 75 families, and is expected to grow to 2,000 families by 2015. The LENA donated its full participation in Providence Talks, including all equipment, software and staff time.

August 24, 2013 By Richard H. Thaler Public Policies, Made to Fit People Richard H. Thaler, an economist from the University of Chicago, notes that research findings in social and behavioral science can be used to improve public policy. One example is the word gap between poor and affluent families. He discusses the programs of Dr. Dana Suskind and Providence Talks, both aimed at minimizing the word gap, including their use of LENA as a tool to provide feedback to parents.

June 25, 2013 By Mike Vuolo How to Raise Verbal Children Lexicon Valley, a Slate podcast about language hosted by Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo, discussed the importance of talking to your kids. Betty Hart and Todd Risley's research, "Providence Talks,"" and LENA were all part of the discussion.

June 29, 2009 By Paul Nyhan UCLA Study: Give Young Children a Chance to Converse The more you converse with your baby the more you help his language development, according to the study of 275 families with children age 2 months to three years.

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