Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children

Both authors, heroes of mine, deserved and got accolades for this work. I give it to every relative and friend who has a new baby, as I think that every parent should understand the development of their babies' brains. This is well written and is a must read for anyone in human services.

Here's some not-so-new news: Poor and rich families talk to their kids differently which may result in why the later group does better academically than the former. Hart and Risley's book thoroughly investigates what is said in poverty, low SES, professional, and elite families over 10 years (both data compilation and analysis). Most interestingly is the nature of the TYPES of utterances said. The prevalence of directive (i.e. giving orders or chastizement over misbehaviors) dialogue increases as the SES of a family decreases. On the other hand, the prevalence of conversational (i.e. exploration, discussing about things, and problem solving dialogue) talk increases as the SES increases and decreases as SES decreases. As an early childhood professional, I think it speaks volumes to experts in emergent literacy and parent education. Parents MUST talk to their children as intelligent adults would talk to them--not as babies or in a condescending way--if they are to promote optimal language, literacy, and communication proficiency for later life.

Hart and Risley have created an easy to read volume that speaks readily to parents, policy makers and educators. This book is a must for anyone who truly wants to understand the relationship between the way we interact with children and the evolution of their intellectual development. If you are interested in poverty prevention, early literacy intervention or the impact of family based literacy on childrens' academic success, you will be inspired by the work of Hart Risley.

This book is one of the by-products of one of the most dedicated efforts to understand variances in the development of language. One of the reviewers of the book states that the work "...is a detective story of the most serious academic kind." Yet the book is written in a manner that would allow it to be required reading for "Parenting 102" if not "Parenting 101". The implications for parenting and public policy are profound