July 31, 2014

A national "Talking is Teaching: Talk. Read. Sing" campaign debuted in Oakland last week with a personal appearance by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a city-wide "baby shower" at Children's Fairyland. The Oakland-based pilot project features billboards  and bus shelters displayed around the city, public service announcements, and a line of baby-friendly products (onesies, blankies, towels, etc.) designed to stimulate infants' growing brains by encouraging talking, reading and singing to them during daily routines.  First 5 Alameda County is helping launch "Talk. Read. Sing." with financial support and distribution of baby-friendly products  through various community partners. The overall campaign is funded by Too Small to Fail, a joint initiative of Next Generation and the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation, and the Bay Area Council.  

"Let's Talk about Bath Time" 

Research conducted over decades shows that from the moment children are born, they begin learning about the world around them. While people continue to learn throughout their lives, the most important years for brain development are the early years. Unfortunately, children from very poor families typically hear 30 million fewer words addressed to them by age 4 than higher-income children, creating a "word gap" than can impact brain development and lifelong learning. The "Talk. Read. Sing." campaign is designed to enhance vocabulary acquisition and reduce the word gap in order to help give every child the best start in life. 

Here's a video of why the campaign is important and how it can help children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iks37cJPG0I

Videos, Billboards, Blankies

In addition to the baby-friendly products and street level messaging, the campaign features three beautifully-produced videos created by the award-winning advertising firm Goodby-Silverstein & Partners ("Got Milk?"):

Talk PSA

Read PSA

 Sing PSA

For more information about the campaign, see TalkReadSing.org.  A version of this campaign is also being launched in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Lessons learned from the two pilot projects, as well as material produced, will then be shared so that other communities around the country can launch their own "Talking is Teaching" efforts. 

Buy One, Give One Free

Many of the campaign's baby-friendly products are being distributed free of charge at local hospitals, pediatric clinics, child care programs and through First 5 Alameda County partners, but items are also for sale at TalkReadSing.org under "Our Baby Line". With each purchase, the campaign will donate an item for free to a family in need.