Thirty Million Words summary

Language is much more than just speech and words; it’s foundational to learning. A poor early grasp of language by kindergarteners will hamper their educational achievements down the line.

Kids that lack a decent understanding of language upon entering kindergarten will quickly fall behind their peers as their reduced ability to translate sounds into meaning takes its toll on their learning. As a result, they miss out on information, further exacerbating their struggles.

Language development is the basis of learning in general – but what determines whether a child will have a supportive language-learning environment in their infancy? Does it depend on how rich their family is? Or perhaps on how much their parents speak to them?

Surprisingly enough, a child’s socioeconomic status isn’t the deciding factor when it comes to their academic success – at least according to a rigorous six-year study published in 1995 by social scientists Betty Hart and Todd Risley.

Criticism can be upsetting for kids, causing them to retreat into their shells, while excessive praise can make them dependent on the opinions of others for motivation. So how can you bring out the best in your children?

Start by helping them become confident that every goal is approachable and achievable. This means teaching your child that no matter what challenges they face, they’ll be able to overcome them through perseverance.

So, what else can you do to aid your child’s language development and bridge the 30-million-word gap? One good strategy to increase parent-child communication is to follow the three T’s: Tune in, Talk more and Take turns. Let’s take a look at the first two:

First, tuning in to where your child’s attention is will enhance their learning development. Say your kid is sitting on the floor playing with building blocks. While you may think it’s a good idea to try to shift the activity to storytime, a better idea is to join in with your child’s current activity.

Talking to your kids is central to their language learning. In much the same way that tuning in implies meeting your child where she is rather than shifting her focus, it’s likewise important to talk to kids about what they’re focused on. Here’s how:

First, talking more is about using narration to turn mundane activities into opportunities for brain development. Narration merely entails describing to your child what’s currently happening; it’s a great way to fill her ears with language, thereby increasing her vocabulary and strengthening the links between sounds and the objects they correspond to.

The last of the three T’s, Taking turns, is all about engaging your child in conversation by responding to each other’s gestures, sounds and words; this technique is designed to encourage your child to speak.

An essential aspect of successfully implementing the third T is to give your child the extra few seconds he needs to think of a word, instead of saying it for him. While this will initially mean he hears less language, it will lead to conversation, providing more opportunities for language learning in the future.

Now you know some strategies for helping children with their language learning. But how can you be sure that your kids and others have a solid foundation to lead successful lives?

An important step is to support parenting programs and spread the word about how important the first few years of intellectual development are for a child. In other words, let people know about the difference a good early language-learning environment can make.