“Learning doesn’t start on the first day of school, but rather on the first day of life,” said Dana Suskind, in her 2018 Meredith E. Drench Lecture, “Thirty Million Words: A Public Health Approach to Early Childhood Education” at Sargent. The first three years of a child’s life—during which 80 to 85 percent of brain growth occurs—are crucial to language development, and much of that development takes place at home, through communication with parents and caregivers. Deprivation of language due to factors like hearing impairment can have lifelong consequences for children’s language and literacy, as well as many facets of development, like spatial reasoning and socioemotional maturity.
That’s why Suskind, codirector of the University of Chicago’s TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, advocates for helping parents and caregivers to effectively communicate with children. Suskind, a cochlear implant surgeon, founded the Thirty Million Words Initiative—and published a book of the same title—to develop evidence-based interventions that “meet families where they are” in maternity wards, pediatricians’ offices, childcare centers, and at home.
In her lecture, Suskind talked about how the initiative supports children’s language development during these critical years. Seemingly simple modifications can have a big impact. For example: when taking a walk with a child, instead of pointing out what you see, like a triangular bush, Suskind suggests a more interactive approach, instead asking, “Where do you see a triangle?” That shift not only engages the child in conversation, but enhances their aptitude in other developmental areas; in this case, recognizing shapes. Even small changes to everyday interactions with children can make a lasting difference in their lives.
Video by BU Productions