This book provides educators, parents, and policy makers with an in-depth exploration of language development in early childhood, describing how it is fueled by responsive caregiver-child interactions and intertwined with social-emotional development, executive function, and literacy. The first half of the book presents a rigorous discussion of the research on early childhood development; the second half reviews various programs that support language and literacy development through home visits, parent coaching, book giveaways, and other means.

Single user only

I. Research on Early Development, Language, and Literacy -- 1. Laying the Foundations: Attachment and Executive Function -- 2. The Brain and the Developing Child -- 3. Joining the Community of Language User -- 4. Language Systems and Development -- 5. Language Environments and Language Development -- 6. Enlisting Science to Support Families -- II. Programs Supporting Early Literacy -- Parent Coaching Programs -- Play and Learning Strategies -- Video Interaction Project -- Thirty Million Words Project -- Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters -- Save the Children; Book Giveaway Programs -- Reach Out and Read -- Dolly Parton's Imagination Library -- Bookstart; Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos -- Family Reading Partnership -- Emerging Programs -- Promising Emerging Programs -- The Juniper Gardens Children's Project -- Háblame Bebé -- Providence Talks -- Project beELL -- Bridging the Word Gap National Research Network -- Children's Learning Institute's Interventions to Support Preschool Teachers and Parents -- The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading; Five Steps to Five -- III. Putting It All Together -- 7. The Economics of Providing Support in the Early Years -- References -- Index.