Vocabulary – Early Literacy Skill

I like to track things to help me with early literacy education.  I heard an interesting news clip several months ago, and I wanted to document it before I forgot!  The clip cites a 1995 study indicating that young children with a large vocabulary have a better chance at doing well in school.  The story goes on to tout a new device called a LENA which will track the amount of words a child hears in a day.  I don’t really advocate this expensive device; I don’t think it is necessary.  However, it is necessary for parents and caregivers to talk to their children.  Books are a great tool for giving parents vocabulary for their children to hear.  Back to the study – it says that the during the first four years of life, children should hear 25 million words or 17,000 words a day.  Very interesting…