Library partners with LENA to help address 'talk gap'

COLORADO SPRINGS — LENA and Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) are pleased to announce an initiative to improve kindergarten readiness by encouraging parents to talk more with their children. LENA Start™ features parent classes that employ LENA “talk pedometer” technology to measure how much they are talking with their children and how much children are responding.

LENA Start classes help parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers (0-32 months) close the “talk gap” during the 10-week program. Research indicates that academic achievement gaps result because some children experience millions fewer words and conversations than their peers during the critical early years when babies’ brains are developing rapidly and building over a million neural connections per second. LENA Start provides a series of efficient, engaging parent sessions where caregivers learn to use data about their home language environment from LENA technology, along with simple strategies to increase interactive talk with their children.

PPLD’s sessions are scheduled for Tuesdays at 2-3 p.m., starting June 15, and on Thursdays at 6:30-7:30 p.m., beginning June 17. These will be held virtually by PPLD, and registration is required. Though offered in English, Spanish-speaking families can still participate using LENA’s parent guide and videos offered in Spanish. During the weekly sessions, caregivers connect with each other and receive tips on how to increase interactive talk with their kids. Participating families will receive three gift cards and 10 children’s books throughout the program, and young participants receive a gift at graduation. Find out more at ppld.org/LENAStart.

“We recognize and prioritize the critical importance of this stage when children’s brains are developing rapidly and they’re gaining cognitive, social, emotional and language skills,” said Melody Alvarez, Director of Family & Children’s Services for PPLD. “Healthy development in the early years of life provide the building blocks needed for a lifetime of wellbeing and educational success.”

PPLD’s initiative is one of many LENA Start sites around the country this year, but the only program offered in El Paso County, Colo. Since its introduction in 2015, LENA Start has been implemented by school districts, hospitals, library systems and social service organizations. Results from initial implementations show an 80 percent graduation rate, with improvements in four key areas:

• 73 percent of adult caregivers are speaking more to their babies.
• More than 70 percent of families are having more conversations with their babies.
• Families reported reading 56 percent more with their babies than before.
• Children’s language scores are growing almost twice as fast as comparison groups.

“The LENA Start model is laser-focused on simple, practical ways to help parents improve talk with their babies,” said Dr. Stephen Hannon, president of LENA. “Focus is extremely important, now more than ever. More than half the children coming into America’s schools today are low income, and the data show that they disproportionately start school under-prepared. Early language is the starting point in turning that around.”

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