earlytalks - YW Calgary

What’s Early Talks?

This free program for children under three years old, helps combat language isolation by increasing caregiver skills and capacity by promoting nurturing relationships; therefore, accelerating child language skill development.

Infants and toddlers in Early Talks families vocalized about 50 more times each week during the program than their peers.

For every month a child’s family is in Early Talks, the child almost doubles their language/early literacy development.

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What clients are saying:

“This program was incredible. We continue to use and implement our learnings on a daily basis.”

– Early Talks family member

“Our child’s language development was way ahead of the game thanks to this program. And some of the books we received at the end are his favourites to read!”

– Early Talks family member

“Every parent no matter the level of education can benefit from strategies and language tips learned in the Early Talks program. It was a great benefit to us.”

– Early Talks family member

How Does the Program Work?

Step 1: Children Listen

A child wears one of our LENA® devices, capturing their audio environment throughout the day.

Step 2: We Count

At day’s end, the audio data are uploaded to the cloud.

Step 3: The Magic Happens

LENA®’s proprietary algorithm processes the data, providing counts of conversations, feedback reports and more.

Step 4: We Coach You

Our facilitators review the data and regularly meets with participants to explain how to increase the baby’s language skills.

Interested in Early Talks?

For all inquiries, start the conversation by emailing us at earlytalks@ywcalgary.ca

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Did you know?

Babies need to hear about 21,000 adult words daily for optimal brain development.

20% of children spend their formative years in ‘language isolation’ lacking opportunities to engage in back-and-forth communication with adults.

According to research conducted by early-childhood development experts, language should be considered the strongest predictor of future success as students progress through their schooling.

Research since 1995 has indicated that success in school, potential career opportunities, lifetime income levels, mental and physical health and even behavioral issues like incarceration, drug use, and child abuse all hinges on the talk environment in the very first years of life.