In 2019, five U.S. cities were selected to receive a three-year grant to replicate the widely celebrated Providence Talks early literacy program. As the grant period draws to a close, we’re sharing their stories of what worked.
LENA - Building brains through early talk
Webinars (5)
Kindergarten readiness and conversational turns: Study results point to a boost from LENA Start
A study out of South Carolina has found a correlation between increased conversational turns and higher scores on the state’s Kindergarten Readiness Assessment.
Inside Early Talk: Our point of greatest leverage for improving children’s futures
We find ourselves in the unprecedented position to understand the early language environments of very young children and answer questions we’ve been hearing from the early childhood education field for years.
Integrating LENA Home into Early Head Start Programs
Learn how Early Head Start programs can integrate LENA into their supports for families. LENA Home, which embraces a trauma-informed approach, helps home visitors individualize their coaching and meet families where they are.
Providence Talks Replication: Early Childhood Innovation at the Municipal Level
Providence Talks was one of the first early language initiatives implemented at the municipal level, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Learn how the program is being replicated in five more cities.
Blog Posts (24)
How Early Head Start/Head Start grantees use LENA Grow to meet performance standards during federal review
“The federal review team was impressed that LENA Grow was something we were doing for our teachers in the classroom,” said Jon-Vincent Jamir, PACT’s Head Start Area Manager and LENA Grow coach.
Early literacy and early talk: Webinar highlights featuring author Maya Smart
In a recent webinar, author Maya Payne Smart shared her vision for our “collective power to raise our readers well.”
Providence Talks Replication: Sustaining growth and “working toward yes” in Birmingham
Having nearly quadrupled their reach in just three years’ time, Birmingham Talks is focused on a bright future.
Postpartum depression and early talk: My experience
What can you do to ensure you’re supporting parents experiencing perinatal mood or anxiety disorders?
Kindergarten readiness, parent education, and conversational turns: A statistically significant correlation in a rural South Carolina school district
A study out of Cherokee County, S.C., has found a correlation between parent participation in LENA programs and higher scores on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment.
Parent recruitment for LENA Start and LENA Home: Recognizing and responding to barriers
A recent Community Conversation among our partners inspired these new ideas about recruiting families for programs like Start and Home.
Reflective feedback in parenting interventions: Coming back to the “Why”
Programs like LENA Start and LENA Home can help parents reflect on their hopes and dreams and follow through on their goals.
Rural school districts: Challenges, opportunities, and LENA
Every rural school district has its defining features and challenges, but they all share a common opportunity: boosting early talk and getting a jump start on school readiness.
Early brain development in infants and toddlers: Six simple strategies
Early brain development depends so much on having back-and-forth conversations, even for infants and toddlers. Here are six tips to help you talk more!
Inside Early Talk: Our point of greatest leverage for improving children’s futures
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.
How to make video calls more engaging for infants and toddlers
Explore tips and strategies for making video calls more interactive for young children.
Virginia Beach adapts to virtual programming to boost child outcomes, reduce caregiver stress
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the team in Virginia Beach knew that they couldn’t afford to wait to transition to virtual programming for families and teachers.
Virtual retention: Strategies for keeping families engaged in a community program
There are intentional methods you can integrate within your virtual communication to cultivate a space that welcomes vulnerability, trust, and collaborative participation.
Launch Fund Grant Recipients 2020 – Welcome to our new partners!
In the month of June, we made awards to 12 communities to launch LENA programs. We are pleased to introduce you to our newest LENA partners!
Articles (23)
Overdeck Family Foundation awards LENA $4,605,000 in general operating support
A three-year grant of $4,605,000 in general operating support to LENA to further their work at using coaching to improve the key outcome of early language development.
Sioux City recognized for work in supporting early school success
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has recognized Sioux City with Pacesetter Honors for its work in 2019, including using LENA Home to boost school readiness for infants and toddlers.
‘Word pedometer’ aims to improve language development for children in Southwest Colorado
LENA Grow and LENA Home encourage teachers and parents to converse more with infants and toddlers in Southwest Colorado.
Can ‘word pedometers’ boost toddlers’ cognitive development?
New devices that measure words as they are spoken, similar to the way a FitBit tracks steps, promise a way to kickstart early development.
After One City Experiments With Toddlers Wearing Recorders and Sees the Number of Words They Hear Grow 50%, 5 More Mayors Will Pilot Innovative ‘Word Gap’ Program
Backed by promising research and a nearly $12 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Providence Talks model is expanding to five cities across the country.
What’s new in civic tech: Bloomberg Philanthropies replicates early childhood innovation program in five more cities
Bloomberg Philanthropies will replicate an innovative early childhood learning program in five new cities. The five new cities will get tech and software they need to replicate what was done with families in Providence, provided by LENA, a national nonprofit that works within the space.
Birmingham receives grant for talk-based early childhood learning program
The city of Birmingham was selected as one of five cities that will replicate a free, early childhood education program in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Hartford one of five U.S. cities launching language development program for young children
The city of Hartford is launching an early childhood program to support language development, inspired by an initiative launched in neighboring Rhode Island called Providence Talks.
Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces Replication of Mayors Challenge-Winning Early Childhood Learning Innovation in Five U.S. Cities
Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced the five American cities that will replicate Providence Talks, an early childhood education program that empowers parents and caregivers with tools to support language development at a critical age and help children enter kindergarten classroom ready.
Wearable device counts words Detroit parents say to their young children
Detroit is one of five cities chosen to launch a new program that equips children with special devices known as talk pedometers.
The Power of Conversation in Virginia Beach
How the city is investing in its future by replicating Providence Talks.
Bloomberg cites Providence’s success in expanding childhood language program to 5 other cities
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that Birmingham, Alabama; Detroit; Hartford; Louisville and Virginia Beach are picking up the program.
A smarter way to start
Smart Start of Davie County offers residents and early childhood educators free programs, including LENA Home, as it seeks to ensure quality childcare, education, health, and family support programs for all Davie children birth to 5
Grantee Spotlight Blog Series: Spartanburg County Public Libraries
Spartanburg County Public Libraries, a 2019 Grantee of the Mary Black Foundation, will implement LENA Start classes and LENA Home coaching visits for local families to support early childhood development.
Foundation Awards $765,125 in Grants
The Mary Black Foundation awarded $56,700 to Spartanburg County Public Libraries to purchase LENA technology and implement LENA Start and LENA Home.
It’s time to harness the power of interactive talk to boost school readiness
Research shows that experience shapes children’s development. Using LENA technology, adults can get the feedback and coaching they need to create responsive care-giving skills and habits.
Can a bit of technology called LENA help young brains develop language?
Bright Beginnings, a school that serves families experiencing homelessness in Washington, D.C. uses LENA technology to help adults increase interactive talk with children and improve their brain development.
LENA HOME – Developing children’s language
Home-Start UK is using LENA Home to improve early childhood language development, and hoping to expand the program in the years to come.
Early childhood language program launches second session in Wichita Falls
LENA Solutions expands to Wichita Falls and other Texan cities in order to reduce talk gaps and improve school readiness for young children.
Providence Talks: This Nonprofit Is Giving Children a Start in Life
Providence Talks encourages “enhanced conversation,” where parents are asked to use complete sentences and elaborate using descriptive words when communicating with their child.
The ‘word gap’ and 1 city’s plan to close it
Rhode Island’s Providence Talks is partnering with LENA to provide parents with resources to understand how they can improve their young child’s literacy.
How to end the word gap? Cities invest big in baby talk.
Cities like Providence, Rhode Island, are investing in early childhood talk programs like LENA to decrease the talk gap between children.
Talking with babies helps them bridge word gap
As talk is found to be increasingly important to the development of childhood linguistic and cognitive development, more communities are using programs like LENA to improve communication behaviors in families.