Upon being in this class for a few weeks, I was finally reminded of the idea I'd been searching for since we began. Paradoxically, it felt at once almost tangibly close and yet out of reach. (There are always so many swimming around in my head at any given time that they sometimes get rather rude and shove other ones toward the back.) So, while I believe the other ideas I've mentioned still have merit, this is definitely the one I'm most passionate about.
Several years ago during my graduate program in instructional design, I decided I should read something by Maria Montessori. I was very familiar with her name but only somewhat familiar with her ideas, and I loved her observations and recommendations for teaching children. It turns out that back when she was researching and writing (over 100 years ago now) she found that children who heard more language did better than those who didn't.
Fast forward a few semesters to when I was reading Clayton Christensen's book "Disrupting Class". Low and behold, he cited contemporary studies with exactly the same findings!
My mind was then drawn back to a comment a professor made while I was an undergraduate in Elementary Education. I remember them sorely lamenting the fact that the U.S. government spends so much money on preschool programs. I was taken aback. Their reasoning: based on this research, government funded preschools are remedial programs. Instead of working to prevent the problem by creating programs that encourage parent/child language interactions, they instead provide interventions after the problem has already been created. Perhaps the most tragic part of this for me is that research also shows that these losses (not hearing enough language while little) can't really be made up. So, children in such situations start out behind and tend to stay there.
To the best of my knowledge, at this point in time (at least in the U.S.) there are still no companies, programs, or non-profits seeking to solve this problem. I'd like to change that if at all possible.
Below is the end result of the Big Idea Canvas I created regarding this idea. Note that there are two possible endings.
(1) For parents of babies and toddlers who (2) are unsure what to do to help their children become
successful, (3) Language for Littles (4) helps raise awareness that talking with their children is one of
the most beneficial things parents can do. (5) Unlike ongoing and current research in this area which
has merely confirmed that a hundred-year-old problem still exists, Language for Littles (6) provides
support, resources, and incentives to parents endeavoring to spend more time talking with their
children.
(5) Unlike current preschool programs designed to serve children already at risk, Language for Littles
(6) endeavors to address the problem at the source by providing support, resources, and incentives to
parents endeavoring to spend more time talking with their children.
Several years ago during my graduate program in instructional design, I decided I should read something by Maria Montessori. I was very familiar with her name but only somewhat familiar with her ideas, and I loved her observations and recommendations for teaching children. It turns out that back when she was researching and writing (over 100 years ago now) she found that children who heard more language did better than those who didn't.
Fast forward a few semesters to when I was reading Clayton Christensen's book "Disrupting Class". Low and behold, he cited contemporary studies with exactly the same findings!
My mind was then drawn back to a comment a professor made while I was an undergraduate in Elementary Education. I remember them sorely lamenting the fact that the U.S. government spends so much money on preschool programs. I was taken aback. Their reasoning: based on this research, government funded preschools are remedial programs. Instead of working to prevent the problem by creating programs that encourage parent/child language interactions, they instead provide interventions after the problem has already been created. Perhaps the most tragic part of this for me is that research also shows that these losses (not hearing enough language while little) can't really be made up. So, children in such situations start out behind and tend to stay there.
To the best of my knowledge, at this point in time (at least in the U.S.) there are still no companies, programs, or non-profits seeking to solve this problem. I'd like to change that if at all possible.
Below is the end result of the Big Idea Canvas I created regarding this idea. Note that there are two possible endings.
(1) For parents of babies and toddlers who (2) are unsure what to do to help their children become
successful, (3) Language for Littles (4) helps raise awareness that talking with their children is one of
the most beneficial things parents can do. (5) Unlike ongoing and current research in this area which
has merely confirmed that a hundred-year-old problem still exists, Language for Littles (6) provides
support, resources, and incentives to parents endeavoring to spend more time talking with their
children.
(5) Unlike current preschool programs designed to serve children already at risk, Language for Littles
(6) endeavors to address the problem at the source by providing support, resources, and incentives to
parents endeavoring to spend more time talking with their children.
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