“Heeeellllooo! Aaaaare you smiiiiiling, baby?” There is a special term for this expressive, lyrical way parents talk to their babies – parentese. 
Parents have known for a long time how important it is to talk, read and interact with babies. But, new research published in the National Academy of Sciences from the University of Washington I-LABS, (Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences) has finally shown this to be true.
By using non-invasive brain scanning machine called MEG, I-LABS has been able to measure the brain activity of infants while they listen to different sounds. The research shows that the special way we talk to our children encourages healthy speech development for babies – months before they begin to talk. And, that babies need to hear speech sounds and practice imitating them for long before they utter their first words.
This evidence is important because it reinforces how crucial the first few years (and months!) are for a child’s healthy brain development. Because of this policy makers here in
Washington have been pushing for greater access and quality for childcare and early learning programs. This past session a bipartisan group of legislators sponsored the Early Start bill that would have greatly increased funding and quality standards for childcare and early learning in our state.
Unfortunately, the Early Start bill died in the Senate. But, these new findings coupled with a statewide push to make sure children are ready for kindergarten means the bill will most certainly be making an appearance again next year.
In the meantime, keep up that baby talk!