"Thirty Million More Words by Age Three"

The Early Catastrophe says so! ... Thirty million more words by age 3!... And so it goes. According to this new ground-breaking study, a child raised in a high income household will know 30 million more words than his 'cousin', raised in a household with low income. ... Seven years later, to the astonishment of its authors, the initial results of this research still had a resounding effect on academic performance. ... Let us look further.

As we scramble to buy the latest toys, gadgets and enrichment programs for our children, dare we stop to ask why? Authors of this 2 1/2 year study have brought us back to our senses. A stimulating language rich environment is the key to the learning kingdom! We have the power to produce an Einstein, Edison, or Mike Holmes and change the game of learning for our children. 

The greatest computer in the world is the brain - not the latest techno wonder with its ever-changing dynamics and high costs. Those are simply tools, its supporting staff. ... With the brain, everyday is a new program originating from the trillions of neurons, cells that impact memory, learning, processing, attention and thinking. We have jurisdictional power to alter our child's learning journey using language, creatively and playfully. “Go to your room and play” is not good enough, anymore. 

Did Albert Einstein's or Thomas Alva Edison own a computer or smartphone? The last century produced some of the greatest thinking minds in history. Today's modern world is the most technically advanced society ever. I am privileged to be a part of that. The internet gives life to the Momsey blog. It is the icing on Momsey's cake. Before the icing came the ingredients for the cake: an education, the love of music and a love of words. Momsey's favourite book is an old, well-worn dictionary, a paper book originally targeted for play by a retriever puppy, nearly forty years ago. ... I was born into a family of 'unrich' hard working people, with limited education. My parents came to Canada, from the Ukraine, for a better life in the early 1900's. The education of their children of this 'uneducated' couple was always a top priority. They had missed out. Their children would not. In The Early Catastrophe,  investigators profiled 42 Kansas families of various socio-economic backgrounds - one barometer used in the study - tabulating all words used in all circumstances with parents, one hour per month for 2 1/2 years. The dramatic results: 30 million more words in higher income households. 

Children in richer homes experienced richer language outcomes by being able to draw from higher level language exposure. By the age of three, up to 98% of the words used by the child were direct reflections of daily interactions with a parent or other primary caregiver. This observation gave new meaning to the 'imitation game'! Teaching new words, in school, were ineffective long term, compared with the daily use of these words, in dialogue, with a primary caregiver, in the home. Boosting vocabulary resources -outside the home- produced short-term gain. Effective home study programs also lay the foundation for the child's ability to process future information, increase rates of vocabulary growth and understanding of advanced high school textbooks. ... (All families, the authors wrote, showed equal love, care and attention to their children.)

When our sons were babies, simple strategies, infused with language, became my toys of choice. We were not rich. Momsey was a stay-at-home, sometimes. During diaper changing, I would play the telephone game with each boy. Mimicking the telephone of its day, the cumbersome black land-line device of the 70's and early 80's, I would 'listen' with one baby's foot while 'talking' into the other. Down time was now playtime, another magical period of engagement with baby, as I changed his diaper. It was comical relief, also, while using his feet as a forum for language, in animated fashion. Laughter drew us together as I spoke in imaginative play, in this special moment of connection. ...Then there was the mirror game, a regular feature of Momsey's 'early' parenting style. The wonders of facial expression and conversational language, came alive as both mom and baby gazed, simultaneously, into a large wall mirror, an 'ever-changing glass pictorial'. Words were  now turned into moving pictures. ... We would laugh again. Our oldest son's severely early birth was already one strike against him and his future. Creating exciting moments for him and his brothers, with language at the core of these moments, ignited the wonders of words and the power they had to connect our sons to all their learning and life goals.

By the age of 3 1/2, our oldest had demonstrated poor language skills, with a low rate of vocabulary development but a deep love of animals, people, life and a passion for Lego. Many years later, he received, what his doctors and teachers thought would never happen, a university degree. In 1994, a ground-breaking program called Yeast Dough created by momsey helped to address all aspects of academic learning of at-risk primary children. It was never about baking but higher order thinking. I was a parent volunteer at the time.

Dough was about language, cognition and the art of asking questions in this novel approach to the special education primary curriculum. I had been asked by the primary intensive language lead teacher of the school to join her class.  This 'volunteer' field study - 8 hours per month - lasted 5 years!..[ (Jan. 2013)- "Puzzle & Poem", ."Gluten Word", "My Crueller" and (Dec. 2012) - "Two Second Rule", "Carbon Dioxide"] Her students were exceptional examples of the mind at play. 

The Early Catastrophe seems to foreshadow doom and gloom for children born into low-income households, born prematurely, perhaps, already developmentally delayed and probably headed towards special education. We as, parents, have the power - like Dorothy had in, The Wizard of Oz - to alter the developmental trajectory of our children. We need only to stop, look and listen, using the tools of interactive and conversational play as the foundation for the lifelong learning of our children. Money is one strong barometer of success. ... Language is the other, a more critical element, I believe.

In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Providence, Rhode Island, doctors, pathologists and other professionals are taking notice of The Early Catastrophe 's ground-breaking research and its implications, hoping to build upon its basic tenets, realizing that language is about life and health. Let us all remember that and pay homage to its message!