Children’s Vocabulary Skills Predicted by Economic Factors Part II

Hello friends!

Earlier this week we shared a guest post from Peter Loft, Certified Incredible Years Trainer. Mr. Loft discussed his response to an article in the NY Times which asserted the value of early childhood education in connection to reducing economic inequality, poverty, and crime.

For those interested in this topic, we would like to share some further reading. Motoko Rich wrote an article just a few days prior to Kristoff’s article, titled “Language-Gap Study Bolsters a Push for Pre-K.”

This article examines new research from Anne Fernald, who found that young children from affluent families had far more advanced vocabularies than those from economically disadvantaged families. This gap began in children as young as 18 months old.

These studies and recent articles highlight the importance of early education and verbal interaction with very young children. Next week, we will begin a series of three guest posts from Incredible Years developer Carolyn Webster-Stratton. This series will provide in depth discussion and tips for reading with young children at various developmental stages (babies, toddlers, and preschool).

Stay tuned!

~The Incredible Years Team

Reference

Fernald, A., Marchman, V. A. and Weisleder, A. (2013), SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science, 16: 234–248. doi: 10.1111/desc.12019