If you are skeptical that sustained interaction and reading can make a difference in your child’s life, then you need to meet Zeke.

What is possible if you try is simply amazing…

Oral language, what you say and what you read can have a big impact on your infant, and the life that your child will ultimately lead. In this video Vanessa walks you through some of these steps and why it is important.

In the video she references a handout which can be found HERE.

See more in this video…

It is one thing to be regular and mechanical about reading to your child. But how do you make that transition to the point where your child now loves to read and can’t do without it. The next video offers some  ideas…

How to Instill a Love of Reading

With your child ANYTHING can happen. With your child, ANYTHING can be. You have to believe. You have to read.

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In the video below please find some great tips for how to read with your child if they are in the range of 9 months old (more or less)…

The idea is that if you read to your infant child most studies show you child will get ahead, and have a better chance of staying ahead.

This research is so tried and true, that it was featured nationally on CNN…

In the video below please find some great tips for how to read with your child if they are in the range of 4 months old (more or less)…

What image comes to your mind when you hear or read those two words together? To some it may signify telling the truth as opposed to telling a lie. To others it might reference word choice as if to say something funny or say something mean.

But looking at it another way, there is ample research which shows words matter to the very youngest among us and can have a huge determining effect on the quality of life which will be lived tomorrow by the infants of today.

Wow. What does all that mean?

In 1995 two researchers discovered that infant children of wealthier families had heard and been exposed to 30 million more words by the time they reached age 3, compared to the infant children of families who were less well off. Those children who hear more words begin kindergarten with bigger stronger vocabularies, are stronger readers, and get higher test scores. These children exposed to more words also have better processing functions and better understand instructions at earlier ages.

How many children never reach their full potential in life simply because their parents did not understand there was a window between birth and age 3 when they could have made more of an effort to read and verbally interact with their newborns? The opportunity is easy to miss because of our prejudices and misconceptions about what kinds of messages, words, and understandings of what our infants can process. Why would I read or carry on an adult conversation with a 2-month-old pooping and burping machine?

Well, when the words cross the child’s ears, the words become imprinted in the child’s brain. The child can’t speak the word. The child does not know what the word means. But the brain is processing that verbal imprint, almost like a CPU. So, the brain is working, and the more words flooded into the brain, the more that silent work, the search for processing and understanding, is taking place.

Almost everyone can remember a time when they were stunned when a cute little 3 or 4-year-old just blurts a complex thought induced sentence.

The Not-For-Profit North Central Regional Betterment Coalition (NCRBC) thinks it is time to help more parents raise better kids by advocating for more parental and grand parental reading and verbal engagement with all new 0-to-3-year-olds.

NCRBC President J. Burt says the mission has a dual imperative.

“We want all children to grow up to have the most satisfying life they can possibly have, and if we do that, we know we will be increasing the quantity of the number of quality people living in LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam counties. That helps our communities, our employers, and helps to attract more new employers.”

NCRBC got started in the 2000’s when a government report found that what was going to hold North Central Illinois back economically was an over abundance of low skilled low wage jobs, a shortage people living here with any kind of advanced degree or certificate beyond high school, and a significant drug problem. In 2009 NCRBC convened a gathering of 165 people made up of business, government, and educators to hear an address by former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley on the issue. For the past 7 years NCRBC has been the sponsor of the Discover Manufacturing Career Expo, which creates an opportunity for high school students to tour all aspects of a local manufacturer, and then participate in sessions with more manufacturers and instructors at Illinois Valley Community College.

Now NCRBC is preparing to launch a multi-pronged effort advocacy campaign to get more kids exposed to more words. By partnering with the region’s birthing hospitals, including St. Margaret’s Health, the group will provide literature on the importance of reading to be distributed at pre-natal classes, hospital discharge packs, and from pediatricians at the 6-week check-up. In addition, the human resource departments of the region’s larger employers will be asked to distribute the reading advocacy literature to their employees who are expectant parents and grandparents. A digital advertising campaign is planned to help reemphasize the message.

Between the uber availability of smart phones, and access to the public library system there is no shortage of materials for parents to read to their infants. In fact, a great place to start is to read this article out loud to your infant. If you want children to have the best possible life, then words matter.

In the video below please find some great tips for how to read with your child if they are in the range of 2 months old (more or less)….

In the video below you will get a sense of just how far and how wide the research goes about the impact of reading to your child.

So it is one thing to know in your head that your child will have a better life is you regularly spend time reading to and with him or her. But what if you are not sure how to get started? Just watch below…

Your child was born smart

What happens next is up to you.

This may be the happiest moment in your life. You now have the responsibility of a new life in your hands. What are your best hopes for the life of your child (grandchild)?

Read to your child.

Read to your child aloud, at least 15 minutes a day, and more does not hurt. The more sophisticated the reading, newspaper or magazine articles, the better. Even better is if you carry on normal regular conversations with baby almost pretending he/she is an adult.

Credible research shows if you read and interact with your child this way, between birth and age 3, your child will have heard almost 30 million more total words compared to others.

This research shows children who hear more words, spoken by you and family, will start out ahead. Children who get ahead, tend to stay ahead. All of this will work together to improve many facets of your baby’s ability to read, understand instruction, and integrate. And so the reverse is also true. The less your child hears, the less he/she will understand from the talk of others. The further behind your child starts out in life.

For many, the idea of purposefully increasing the amount of words heard by children starting right away at birth is new, primarily because of preconceived notions.

But what happens is that the words cross the child’s ears. The baby does not know what it means. The baby can’t say the word. However, the new mind of the baby is thinking about what was heard and is processing it like a CPU.

If you want more information, or request additional help, there are a lot of resources we can share with you.

Let’s get started right away. Read this article out loud to your baby.

In the video below please find some great tips for how to read with your child if they are in the range of 2 months old (more or less)…