"There's a direct connection between the number of words that a child hears at home and the child's literacy skills when they get to school." That's what Sarah Walzer, executive director of Parent-Child Home's national office, said in this Seattle Times article.

A program that operates in 164 places across the nation including Seattle, was created by a clinical psychologist who concluded that the best way to reduce the number of high school dropouts was to start reading and playing in ways that build vocabulary when children are 2 and 3. Having worked briefly for an early childhood development organization before I came to the Partnership, I know this to be true. A young child's brain is most active at the age of 2, which is why early learning is so important!

The Seattle program is sponsored by the Business Partnership for Early Learning (BPEL) and the city of Seattle. Focused on helping low-income and immigrant families, it consists of home visitors who meet with parent and child twice a week for 23 weeks or 46 times a year for two years. The home visitors model reading, play and conversation with the goal of encouraging conversation between parent and child. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? You'd be surprised at how many parents are unaware of how much a child can learn in those first five years and even less aware of how the knowledge gained (or not!) can impact a child's success in school.

"I thought kids learn just at school," one mother wrote in her evaluation (of the program). "But after this program I notice that kids learn at home and I can help."

Kudos to BPEL and the Parent-Child Home Program! Keep up the good work. We need every parent out there to come to this pivotal realization.