Spread the Word is a language building initiative in which the Children’s Museum of Atlanta (CMA) and the Atlanta Speech School address the fact that language rich environments and adult/child interactions are critical for brain development growth at very early ages, and that children’s academic success at third grade is built on the amount of talk they hear from birth to three years. Studies show
that high achieving children have twice the vocabulary at age 3 that low achieving children do. Much of this can be attributed to the amount of time adults spend talking to them. This conversational time is typically small in low-income families. Test scores at elementary schools in the targeted communities show that 37% of children are not reading at grade level by third grade (2014 CRCT preliminary test score results); a key indicator that they will struggle with future academic success. 50% of children enter kindergarten with no experience in pre-school or pre-k and do not know the difference between letters and numbers. This leaves them behind their peers and leaves teachers struggling to differentiate instruction. The trajectory of these children's lives can be changed if they are given language preparation and instruction and engaging language rich experiences such as museums. We will work with the families and children of the West Side to build a “literacy community”, an environment where language and conversations are a part of the culture and are passed from family to family. Spread the Word will create this environment by engaging community leaders, educators, and families in the design of the program, building on community strengths, and through community story programs, and engagement activities that expose children and families to language rich environments both in and out of their neighborhoods. A key goal of the program is to aid families and educators in creating new habits around language, having more conversations and reading more with their children to build language and literacy competence.
