Full course description
About Talk With Me Baby
The brains of infants and toddlers are growing rapidly and in great complexity in relationship to the environments around them. Now, more than ever, is an important time to enrich the social and language interactions between caregivers and infants. An abundance of research has documented the importance of early, rich language interactions and the impact it has on social, emotional, educational, and health outcomes. The first three years of a child’s life is a critical point in brain development. Exposure to language at this time can lead to a more robust language and vocabulary foundation, which can translate to enhanced literacy later in life.
Talk With Me Baby (TWMB) is a nationwide initiative that was launched in Georgia through partnerships with the Emory University School of Nursing, Emory University School of Medicine, Georgia Department of Public Health, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Marcus Autism Center, Rollins Center for Language and Literature at the Atlanta Speech School, Get Georgia Reading, and the Georgia Department of Education. This initiative raises public awareness of the concepts of language-rich transactions and the impact it has on early brain development.
History of Talk With Me Baby
Reading is a foundational skill necessary for academic and life success. Third grade reading has emerged as an important benchmark, whereby children move from learning to read to then being able to read to learn. However, in 2015, only 34 % of 3rd graders in Georgia were reading proficiently. Furthermore, the graduation rate for high school in Georgia was only 72% that year. This initiated a public health crisis and a call to action for Schools of Nursing in Georgia to train their students on ways to educate and coach parents to engage with their babies emotionally, socially, and linguistically.
Pledge by Emory University School of Nursing
In 2016, Emory Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (NHWSN) pledged to integrate TWMB into prelicensure nursing curricula. As one of the original partners of TWMB, Emory School of Nursing has answered the call to action to ensure 100% of Emory prelicensure nursing students are trained on TWMB and how and why to engage caregivers on the topic of early language exposure.
Nurses play a significant role in the lives of parents and children. As one of the most trusted professions, nurses hold a unique position to empower and coach parents on the way to engage socially, emotionally, and linguistically with their developing child. Prelicensure nursing students are the future of our nursing profession and thus are poised to enter the nursing workforce with necessary knowledge for promoting language-rich interactions.
Have Questions? Contact Us
Dr. Susan Brasher, PhD, RN, CPNP, FAAN
Director of Talk With Me Baby at NHWSN