Too Small to Fail
A National Effort to Help Kids
Succeed
TooSmall.org
@2SmalltoFail
Too Small to Fail—
Tackling the Word Gap
Family reading, talking & singing habits
Percent of Children, Birth to Age Two, Who Had Family Member Read, Sing, or Tell Them Stories
70%
60%
65%
59%
59%
50%
50%
55%
43%
42%
40%
29%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Other
White
Sing or Tell Stories
Black
Hispanic
Read
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These activities take a toll on early vocabulary
Total Vocabulary
1200
High Income
600
Middle Income
Low Income
200
16 mos.
Source: Hart & Risley (1995)
24 mos.
Child’s Age
36 mos.
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And it’s not just the number of words
New research has found that by age 2, a 6 month gap in language development is apparent.
The vocabulary that a child has by the age of 4 is one of the best predictors of how they will do in school.
MAGNIFY ATTENTION
Raise awareness among parents and caregivers about the power of their own language-rich parenting,
about how much their words shape their baby’s future
&
MOTIVATE ACTION
Prompt parents, grandparents and caregivers to talk, read and sing even more with their young children each and every
day.
MAGNIFY ATTENTION
Univision Partnership: Engaging Hispanics Across Multiple Partnerships
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Network News
Program Integration
PSAs
Local News Content
Online / Mobile
Social Media
Radio
Local Events
MAGNIFY ATTENTION:
Model Behavior & Mobilize Businesses
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Hollywood Strategy
– Integrating Model Behavior into Television
Shows Watched by Target Audiences
– Integrating Messages into shows watched
by Opinion Leaders
– Further Develop Key Media Partnerships
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CGI America Commitments
– Develop several key commitments for
CGI America – e.g. hospitals, pediatricians, Text4Babies
– Build on and refine existing early childhood commitments
MOTIVATE ACTION:
Cities Strategy
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Criteria for Selecting Cities
– Strong Commitment to Investing in Early Childhood
– Lead Partner on the Ground
– Interest in Testing Out Community-wide
Intervention
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Key Components of Cities Strategy
– Targeted Media Campaign
– Community Touch Point Campaign (e.g.
pediatricians, home visitors, libraries)
– Development & Testing of Interventions
Early Summer 2014:
Launch in Tulsa & Oakland
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The Problem We are Addressing
Young children need frequent language rich
interactions but some children in California
are getting much less than they need to
be successful in school and in life
WHY DOES IT matter?
YET ALL THESE MOMS
SHARE SIMILAR DREAMS
Turning the world
into a learning opportunity
“TALKING IS Teaching”
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Contextualized Prompts for
Doctors’ Offices, Buses, Grocery Stores
Tote Bags and Clothing Line
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Television and Radio
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Website and Social Media
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SESAME STREET
PARENT TOOL KIT
VROOM APP FOR ANDROID
NEXT Up
 TV Airtime in coordination with F5
California
 Physician and Family Toolkit
 Hospital Systems
 Large Scale Community Events
 Community Replication Guide
 Expanded Creative: grocery carts,
event collateral, placemats…
In Your Community
Our objective:
Create a Turn-Key Campaign for Easy Replication
• Learn from experience in Tulsa and Oakland
• Make improvements based on findings
• Document experience
• Give communities access to materials this fall
Thank You.
Susan True
(831) 239.4019 | susan.true@krfoundation.org
Ann O’Leary
(415) 689.5747 | info@toosmall.org
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