baby college

"Before age 3, well-off children hear 20 million more words than poor children.

By age 3, a child of professionals hears 500,000 encouraging remarks and 800,000 discouraging.

By age 3, a child of parents on welfare hears 80,000 encouragements and 200,000 discouraging.

Discipline contributes to their development. Children of parents on welfare are physically disciplined and spoken to far more harshly than those who have parents that work in the professional world."

These facts are from my favorite radio program (podcast): This American Life, Episode 364

Paul Tough reports on the Harlem Children’s Zone, and its CEO and president, Geoffrey Canada. Among the project’s many facets is Baby College, an 8-week program where young parents and parents-to-be learn how to help their children get the education they need to be successful. Tough’s just-published book about Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem's Children Zone is called Whatever It Takes. You can see a slideshow of more photographs from the project here.