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- About the Story
- Every parent wants to give their child a leg up in life. And experts say that word acquisition in the early years is crucial. Now, there’s a device that records how verbal your child’s daily experience is. Does it really give a toddler an intellectual boost? As Roger Cooper tells us, some parents aren’t waiting for an answer. (TRT: 8:12)

- ABC7.com’s “Talk Enough? Interaction Crucial to Child’s Development” Article
- Babies & Toddlers Too!’s “30,000 Words a Day Make Babies Smarter” Blog
- DenverPost.com’s “Bringing Up Brainy Baby” Article
- LENA
- OC Register’s “Diet of Dialogue Grows Baby’s Language Skills” Article
- Omniglot—The Blog’s “30,000 Words a Day” Article
- vidiLife’s “Young Children Thrive on 30,000 Words a Day” Video Blog
- Write Better’s “Young Children Thrive on 30,000 Words a Day” Blog
- Tags: Education, LAUSD, Science & Technology
30,000 Words a Day
Last updated: May 13, 2009
Reporter's NOTES
Roger Cooper
The LENA device has only been available a short time, but it’s attracting the attention of parents and some experts in child development. That’s because it holds out the possibility of harnessing the findings from one of the classic studies in child language development.
Working in the 1960s, Hart and Risley found—in part—that the more words a child hears from parents in the first three years of life, the better that child will do in academics and many other areas. In fact, some experts say that a child needs to hear 30,000 words a day.
Can this electronic device worn around by the child help create such a rich language environment through the reports it generates for the parents? The answer to that will require some studies and time. But we had great fun watching new parents who are using the device talk about what they’ve learned about themselves and how they’ve changed the way they communicate with their young person.
We invite you to tell us your thoughts about this issue.

